2. digital
  3. 137205-1252

Marantz SA-10 arriving Monday!

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.
128x128blueranger
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,745 posts
 
blueranger
Hope you are dialing in the SA-10 this Labor Day Weekend.  Happy Listening!
blueranger's avatar
blueranger OP
719 posts
 
I'm away today but plan on giving it a good listen tomorrow. I left town and unplugged everything becauuse of storms. I will get back tonight and maybe listen a little more. All the new stuff has made my stereo sound much better. I played it safe by making  a vertical move sticking to the same brands.i have taken some of the more shrill sounding CDs from tbe 80s for a spin and they do sound a lot better. 
astru
19 posts
 
I got a Marantz SA10 last week, and I only have about 50 hours on it. While it is better in most respects than the Sony XA5400ES and XA9000ES that I also own, it exhibits a brightness that is quite annoying. Many female voices present a brightness/grain that was absent from Sony’s rendering (especially on SACDs). For example, Jacintha’s voice is super smooth, detailed, and beautiful on Sony, but gains a mild yet annoying shrill with the Marantz. Similar findings for Jacqui Naylor, Vanessa Fernandez, Julia Fordham and even Holly Cole. Do you experience anything similar with your player/system?
I do not have anything else bright in my system, from KEF Reference speakers to Luxman C900u and M900u amplification. The effect is a little less pronounced when switching interconnects from AQ Cheetah XLRs to Gabriel Gold Revelations RCAs, but not gone.


blueranger's avatar
blueranger OP
719 posts
 
I haven't noticed any shrill except for a couple of days the AC was out. I had a Sony XA5400ES 5 years ago and this flat out beats it. Give it another 100 hours and use a good power cord. Try the filters too. Good luck
astru
19 posts
 
Thank you for the fast reply! I thought the filters only work for CDs and not for SACDs. I am using a Wolff Carbon PC, so that should not be the issue. However, one other change that I made with the arrival of the SA10 is that I installed an Oyaide WPC-Z mounting frame with carbon plate on the outlet for the dedicated power line. I can only hope that is the source for the brightness. I have to add the Sony back and A/B test, and remove the new outlet frame. I will post the findings.
More to discover