I've been hearing and reading all I can about this player during this last year. I have a 6005 right now and it's a nice player but not as good as my analog rig (10k) so it's not a fair comparison. Elizabeth mentioned that her SA-10 is better than her analog. I will be comparing the 2 SACD players side by side. I have at least 3 CD's in which I have duplicates. I'm fascinated about how the circuitry upsamples to DSD SACD. Well not exactly but somehow an improvement over Redbook CD. I have a 2" thick maple block coming in the same day for it. It's going to be a long weekend. I know it can't work miracles on all CD's. If there is jitter in the recording then supposedly you will never get that out. Speak up if I'm wrong about that.
I have a lot of favorites. Sacds. The Who "Who's Next" The Best of the Byrds, Best of the Zombies. Regular CDs would be The theme from Shaft. Who's Next. Steve Hoffman remaster.
All thank you for your comments and your insights. A few weeks ago my old Micromega CD player died and comments in this forum helped with my decision to purchase a brand new SA10 last week. Although, I have not explored all capabilities, it sounds excellent and certainly an improvement over the prior unit. It sounds great with excellent recordings and very good with average stuff. It has excellent pace and no sound coloration. All instruments have proper voicing and are well defined in space. Music files from iPhone 6 sounded very good as well but inferior to CDs. The music material used were mainly from American and Japanese jazz artists and wide range of blues, recorded at various time periods. The whole frequency spectrum is covered properly, with very articulate base, when captured in the recording. The sound from the headphones was great as well (used Shure 1540 and Sennheiser HD1). The rest of the equipment and cables are from FM Acoustics with speakers from German Physiks. I hope this may help others that consider buying an SA10 SACD player. Once again, thanks for your insights.
bluerangerMarantz players are solidly built, even the lower-tiered models.Agreed, that some components do need a little damping material help. What are some of your fave CD or SACD titles spun though the SA-10? Happy Listening!
I did put some dedicated damping material on top but it did not make any difference. I knocked on it and it was solid with no ring. Not so with my phono preamp. It rings when I knocked it and then I put tge dedicated damping material and it really did make a difference in my analog set up. The more a component rings, the more the component will sing with damping material.
Close to 4 hours a day listening. I leave it on 24/7 and turn off system before and electrical storm. It is a big step up from the SA-8005. Some vinyl is better in my system. Maybe 1\2. Analog warmth/smoothness that is inherent to the medium. I got a 4 inch maple butcher block about the same time and it was a sonic enhancer. Not too much. Not too less. I had tried marble, MDF/cork/rubber/steel rubber spike cup combos. The SA-10 when it beats analog however its a clear winner. It depends on the engineering of each recording
Summer is notorious for sucking dry our energy across the U.S.A. due the excessive heat. The same can be said for Winter sucking dry our energy for excessive cold. Spring and Fall seems to be the middle ground, systems sound better due to less energy demands.
Good to read that your SA-10 is settling into the system.
@anwar I think z1es USB output signal is not strong enough compare to pc Because in Japan sony official website,it mention 18444r USB power is stronger than 18120r, that's why the bass is less compare to pc ?
Probably 4-800hours. Some of which was running off hours. It sounded better than ever yesterday but for some reason my stereo sounds best in the fall anyway. Go figure that!
@thelefthand yes, Z1ES USB Audio output from Z1ES was improved with the latest firmware, but the bass is a bit loose compared to tighter bass and better slam when playing SA-10 from discs or USB drive.
I also have Intel NUC7i5 with China-made (Zerozone) 19V 100W linear power supply; with optimized Windows 10 and HYSOLID and also Linux-based Euphony Audio (trial version) and USB Audio into SA-10, it sounds pretty close to SA-10 playing discs and USB drive.
@anwar sir ,did you update the firmware of z1es 18444 then connect with sa10 again？ Any improvement sound of the music？Because you mentioned that "it sounds inferior compared to playing CD/SACD directly on SA-10"
Thank You for the update. After 200 hours the player will really open up and sing. It only gets better from here. Hope you are well and make a full recovery soon. Looking forward to your next incremental update.
Yes! I've been out over 3 months for surgery. The unit has been playing non-stop 70 percent of the time and idle some. I'm in a unique situation where I could hear it break in from day to day. I've listened to a ton of music. More than I've ever had in any 3 month period.
I heard a very expensive system at an audio store Saturday that I'm not naming. One brand system CD player preamp and amp. Around $30k plus and a pair of $20k plus speakers. I was hoping to hear something spectacular but it was a letdown. Anyway the overall presentation was lean and not full bodied. I would have liked to have the SA-10 to compare. To be fair the room was larger than mine with a higher ceiling. I'm content with my system and upgrading isn't in the near future. The SA-10 is a keeper and until streaming matures it will be spinning discs
feel free to list your system gear, like Elizabeth, so that those of us who search for a demo can have a running list of brands that are sonic matches with this very special player. Due to its price, there will be a limited audience and or interest from the majority of the audiophile community. Additionally, there is a small niche' of us who own massive CD, SACD collections that continue to grow every year. This is not a bad thing at all.
I look forward in reading all of the wonderful details and experiences from you guys, gals, that own this spinner until I can score an audition. Staying tuned...
Well over a hundred hours. Got it July 30th. It's been running 80 percent of the time. I've been out recovering from surgery since June 29th. Listening maybe 4-6 hours a day. It's sound is captivating. It will draw you in. I found myself listening to the same CD twice in a row many times. The sound just makes listening pleasurable. I tried some badly made discs and even though it didn't transform them it took a large part of the stridency out. An example of some great discs are Victory at Sea by Telarc is awesome. The Theme from Shaft (80s version) is also superb.
not sure if the same can be said for the other regular living stereo cd releases, but i have a living stereo cd release for dvorak new world symphony and it sounds amazing to my ears. is sacd really all that much better?
For newer classical listeners the "Living Stereo" sacd of the Brahms and Tchaikovsky violin concertos with Heifetz and the Chicago Symphony is hard to beat. An old recording with the classic three neumann microphone technique. It sounds wonderful and Heifetz is my favorite violinist.
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