I'm sold on my Technics SU-G700M2 and the matching SL-G700 SACD player. Technics doesn't like it being called a Class D design as they've taken it further, doing all of it in house with no off the shelf designs, but it is what it is.
After breaking in, it's getting more and more analog sounding as the days go by. I haven't done this for a very long time but when I'm not watching TV or doing serious listening, I have the radio on all the time to my local jazz station. Radio never sounded so good, and it doesn't hold a candle to the SACD player.
All the best,
Nonoise
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Still trying to understand that massive leap from the 700 at $2700 to the 1000 at $9500.
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Me too. But by taking a good look at the innards, the power supply section is more robustly developed, it's phono section is as well, and it uses better parts gleaned from the top level products they've designed beforehand. Throw in balanced inputs, dual speaker posts, etc. and it's something I'd love to have if I only had the money.
I saw a video of the release of the SU-G700M2 and they said their goal was to make it faster (in line with it's big brother) and lower noise levels even more. Not having heard the first version, I'll take their word for it. 😄
All the best,
Nonoise
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@nonoise
I know based on previous comments you are experiencing excellent sound quality playing discs via your SL G700. How do you like it when functioning as a digital streamer?
Charles
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@charles1dad ,
Hello there. Sorry to say, but I don't do streaming. Although everything is built into the Technics and reviewers love the sound they get out of it, I'm just not into the process of it all.
On another thread I mentioned just how great good old FM sounds so that suffices for my background music. What I find amazing is how the sound keeps improving with CDs. At around the 6 week mark, it just filled out to the point where I stopped fiddling with the pots on my JBLs and experimenting with the filter settings on the Technics SACD player.
It just keeps getting better. The musicians are very dimensional and almost lifelike. Digital artifacts are gone (except for poorly recorded CDs-thankfully few) and the sound has taken on an analog quality to it. No Class A/B amp I've had sounds like this. I think the matching SACD player has more than a hand in this as it was going through the break-in period when this all happened.
All the details I love are still there but they refuse to draw attention to themselves and simply blend in with the flow of the music.I was considering different speakers until the digital sound dissipated and now my JBLs sound full and rich but with no bloat or smearing. Heck, even the TV sounds fuller than any soundbar I've had and reminds me of what old tube TVs used to sound like: relaxing.
There's a calmness to the music that can scale dynamically when called for and settle back down, showing the range it can hit without breaking a sweat. I guess you can tell I'm loving it.
Now, I don't know how much the speakers play a part in this but with this integrated, I'm getting pretty consistently wide sound staging that can go a yard out past both speakers and retain great center stage imaging. I couldn't get that with my old Marantz.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@nomoise,
Technics certainly has the resources and talent pool to get it right when they commit to the task. Based on your listening descriptions, they hit this one out of the park! Glad to know that you have found a very satisfying long term solution for your music loving needs.
Charles
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Curiousjim and nonoise - thanks for the education about improvements in Class D amps - and especially Technics new equipment. I have never considered Class D but this Galium Nitride innovation sounds amazing going forward. I have always been a Krell guy when it comes to amplification, but it looks like I now have other options to explore when my current equipment ‘ages out’.
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@nonoise
Question, do you have a lot of SACD’s and how do they sound using the SLH-700?
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Nonoise, I wish I had a local jazz station to listen to. I do not use the internet radio, seems to be about like satellite radio, meaning it sounds washed out.
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@curiousjim
I don't have a lot of SACDs but when using the SL-G700 SACD player the difference between CDs and SACDs are now more easily discernible. I've never heard this much difference before.
I won't so far as to say that it's a night 'n day difference because of all the blowback I'd get but you can just hear more of what's there. It sounds better sorted and more real. There are still CDs that are every bit the equal, sound wise, so it all depends on the recording.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@boxcarman
I hear ya! I have the same feelings about internet radio as you. It just doesn't sound right. Right now, with my current set up, FM sounds so close to how CDs sounded with my older Marantz set up (PM15S2 integrated and SA15S2 SACD player) that I'm beginning to think it sounds possibly better, at times.
There's still life in FM.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@nonoise
The reason I was asking about SACD’s, I only have a few as well and playing them on an older Oppo 93 and a newer Sony multi player, I could hear difference’s, but was nothing earth shaking in two channel, (although 5.1 on Dark Side Of The Moon is fun.)
My current setup is a 6000CDT to a Pontus ll to a H390 and I’m pretty happy with it. I also bought a New Node N-130 to play with. Through the software, you can use TuneIn Radio and find some decent Jazz and my wife found some 80’s station out of Germany she’s really enjoying.
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@curiousjim ,
Sounds like a great set up. My Technics can also stream internet radio and if and when I get around to it, I may try that route as well but it will require a long length of cable from the router and a way to lay it out in my room.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@boxcarman Nonoise, I wish I had a local jazz station to listen to. I do not use the internet radio, seems to be about like satellite radio, meaning it sounds washed out.
Getting a little off topic here, but wanted to let you know of some better sounding jazz stations online that are worth trying: The Jazz Groove, Naim Jazz, Jazz Radio Schwarzenstein, Radio Swiss Jazz are a few. I agree there are a lot of them that sound flat and washed out, these are pretty good.
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@nonoise
Originally I bought a 100’ cat 6 wire, but now I’m using a Netgear Powerline extender. You run a short cat 5 cable from the router to one unit that plugs into the wall and the second unit is plugged in right behind my amp. It has two Ethernet sockets on it one goes to the Hegel and the other to the streamer. So far it’s working great.
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@curiousjim
I checked that out and I prefer not to use Bluetooth as I'm a firm believer in hard wiring. Sizing things up, I think I can go the "under the carpet" route (I have a big one between me and my rig) and end up using only about 20-25' of cable from the router to the Technics, but that's still a ways off for me.
Thanks for the heads up.
All the best,
Nonoise
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@nonoise , It’s not Bluetooth, it’s straight off your router. Both the Hegel and the Node show up like any other device. The Node has a Radio Paradise MQA and it’s rock solid.
Check it out.
NETGEAR Powerline adapter Kit, 2000 Mbps Wall-plug, 2 Gigabit Ethernet Ports with Passthrough + Extra Outlet (PLP2000-100PAS) https://a.co/d/c6EdDK2
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@curiousjim ,
Thanks for the correction....I'll check it out.
All the best,
Nonoise
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