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.
blueranger
cool_jeeves
37 posts
 
I got an SA10 for myself a few months ago, and I must say that it is an incredibly natural sounding player, plus great detail retrival, slam and musicality. I spent serious time on RCA vs XLR, and settled on a suitable pair of XLRs (VDH Second).

I want know two things - is there a concept of a firmware update? should one screw around with this given that the player is doing very well as it is ?

Secondly, how does one play off a USB stick? how does one control browsing? When I try it just says format "unsupported".
anwar
119 posts
 
@cool_jeeves Format the USB stick as FAT32, otherwise it will not get recognized. Also, USB stick or external SSD power consumption must be less than 5V 1A. I’ve tried Samsung EVO internal SSD as external drive (with SATA to USB adapter) and it does not get recognized.

Please organize the songs in the USB stick by folder, then from SA-10 remote, press the MODE button to browse the songs by folder.  Browsing folders can be done using the 4 arrow buttons + ENTER above MODE/TRIM.  Once you start playing song with ENTER button, skipping songs use the regular buttons.

I recommend you try listen to free DSD downloads (from the USB stick) as the SA-10 sounds the best with DSD.

https://dsd-guide.com/where-can-you-find-dsd-music-downloads#.XjPSLGgzZaQ
riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook's avatar
riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
995 posts
 
Use a better Power chord than the stock one and you will notice a big difference. The Luxman Power Chord on EBAY which sells for around $175 comes highly recommended by several on the SA-10
cool_jeeves
37 posts
 
Hi Anwar. That is pretty good. I will certainly try. But my USB stick is only 32GB. Can only download limited stuff. I will need to burn DVD blanks for DSDs and listen to them. Which is what I have been doing. But interesting that USB can also be done.

What max capacity pen drive do you think will stay under 5v 1A?

anwar
119 posts
 
@cool_jeeves As long as you use USB stick or external/portable SSD (such as Samsung T5 rated 5V 0.8A), it will stay under 5V 1A. The limit specified by Marantz is:

This unit can display a file structure with up to 8 levels, up to 1,000 folders and up to 2,000 files in 1 folder.

My recommendation is to use USB storage below 500 GB, otherwise SA-10 struggles (takes too long) when reading the folder structure after SA-10 input switched to iPod/USB.

Please also note that Windows 8 or 10 cannot format large USB storage as FAT32, need to use third party tools.
More to discover