Sale on Marantz PM Ki Ruby Integrated!

@jbhiller  Hope you have fun with your new piece of gear!  Our common thread is that we both had a PL integrated.  I will be interested in your impressions of this fine Marantz integrated.  I don't recall a prolonged break in period for this amp.  I'll keep my mouth shut for now so as not to bias your impressions.

Oz, Yes, I have a bottle of Rabbit Hole open right now!

@corelli, yes, I had the Primaluna Dialogue HP, their highest end amp at the time.  I probably shouldn't have sold it.  It was a good 10 degrees in Chicagoland when the Ruby was dropped off.   I should've given it 8 hours to warm up.  Instead, I plugged it in after an hour in the house.  It sounded a little wonky for the first 30 minutes and after an hour or so the fog cleared. 

I'm holding back on making a conclusion or two before I spend some real time with it.  Let's just say that I'm having a great time!  The phono stage, which Ken I. said was an accomplishment and worthy of Koetsu carts, is spectacular for the money.  I have a Manley Chinook and this thing plays closely in many areas in its league.  It's probably not quite as good, but damn is it sweet, smooth and BIG sounding.   Big, big surprise to me.  

 I had the very same PL unit as you.  One nice thing is that you can leave the Marantz on 24/7 and being class D it barely gets warm--but might speed up things settling in.

PS-that is high praise for the phono section.  I am embarrassed to say I have never used it!  (I do all my LP listening via a headphone based system)  Will have to give it a try.  

I do have the Ruby CD player as well and no surprise to two pieces work very very well together.

So, yes, I just left the Ruby on all day and night. Virtually no heat. Dead quiet, nary a peep out of the thing at idle.

This is a wonderful product. I cannot fault it in any way so far. Some things I’ve noted.

• The Ruby is substantial, weighing ~35lbs. It’s a Class D amp too. Quality construction.
• The speaker binding posts are some of THE BEST I’ve ever encountered. I mean it. They are massive, custom copper things. They clamp down on spades like a shark.
• Everything about the product says smooth, tight tolerances, and ergonomically subtle and appropriate. Someone (likely Ken I) really cared about every angle of this thing.
• I wonder if Marantz should have added just a touch more bling to it. It does not need it, but it might help consumers distinguish it more as a truly up the chain product, as compared to their garden variety home theatre/receiver lines down stream. Please don’t misread this to mean it doesn’t exude quality. It does. It’s just from photos and marketing I’m not sure folks would say, "hey, this is like buying a McIntosh or Luxman integrated." Its build quality is that nice.
• Sound wise, I’m pleasantly surprised at how I don’t even think, "Class D" when I listen to it. That’s a testament to its sound signature. I’ve owned two Class D amps and heard a handful (nothing over $5K though). The Ruby has body to the weight.
• The MC phono section that Ken I said was worthy of amplifying a Koetsu is super. I’m running it with two carts--a Kiseki Purpleheart and Benz LPS. It’s totally worthy. Keep in mind I’m used to a Manley Chinook phono pre.
• Because vinyl playback is a bit laborious and nearly wasteful to me for break-in I listened most of the day yesterday to digital sources. However, during my evening session I went back to the MC and all vinyl. I haven’t gone back to digital yet. Soooo satisfying.
• I haven’t really had a non-tube amp solution in this room that moved me when listening to my Klipsch Cornwall IVs. This one does, which makes me want to try more.
• With respect to digital sources, I didn’t buy the Ruby SACD/DAC unit (yet). I’m using a Doge Audio Tube DAC and Audiolab transport--mostly using Roon to the Doge though. Sound is wonderful.
• It’s probably too early for me to try to put the sound into words, which is tough for me anyway. To me, there’s many ways to a bake a cake and I really don’t care if the designer used 1, 2, 3 or no eggs in the mix. If it sounds good, it is good. I really like the big soundstage and 3D quality to it. There’s a huge helping of detail without sounding too precise. There’s a smoothness from top to bottom. While the sound is not fat as some of my tube amps, it is not thin or dry--those are qualities I had issues with in my two previous Class D products. It has real weight.
• The packaging and manual were put together with care and exude elegance. No fooling. It took me by surprise. Marantz lets you know this guy was made in Japan.

It’s amazing that this integrated goes for $4k and Music Direct has it for $3k right now. You get much for your money. Sorry if I sound like an advertisement. I just feel it’s true. Really lovely and fun piece. I’m nervous that I’m going to find a way to put some different loudspeakers in here, like Wharfedale Elysians or Q Acoustics Concepts. Oh lord!