Lawyerman wrote,
"Why would you spend almost double for the SA-11 s.1 when it could never reach the pinnacle of the Marantz SA-1 or Esoteric X-01 Limited Edition players."
With all due respect...How do you come to this conclusion?
Based off listening? IMHO, the SA-1 is simply different from the SA-11 in it's stock form. The SA-1 being overly warmish and tubey while the SA-11 offering better pace and resolution though a bit colder. Your pick depends on taste and system matching. Both players may be heavily modded to sound superb. After hearing both machines in stock and heavily modded form I feel your statements are absolutely wrong and misleading. Listen first then decide.
Best regards,
Kyle Takenaga