Sale on Marantz PM Ki Ruby Integrated!

@jbhiller   Glad you are pleased with your purchase.  I smiled as I read your preliminary remarks.  It very much parallels my experience and it should continue to impress.

My intro to Marantz intergrated's began around 10 yrs ago.  I was driving Magnepan 1.7's with a well regarded hybrid 225wpc power amp.  On paper, perfect match. But it just did not move me.  I decided to redirect this second system towards a simpler integrated amp and purchased a Marantz PM-8005.  My intent was to go with a speaker more appropriate for such an amp.  I was floored when I hooked up this amp to the 1.7's  Gone was the somewhat sterile and flat sound stage.  The music now had a wholeness to it with a wonderful soundstage that I just loved.  No edge whatsoever. And so began my Marantz journey.

The Ruby takes all these qualities to a higher level.  

I find the Ruby fundamentally neutral but it does lean in a smooth, musical, and dimensional direction with very nice body and weight.  But I never feel like I am lacking in "detail".  To my ear, the musical color is saturated and beautiful.  

I have used this amp in two different systems and the results are the same.  I am most amazed in how it drives my Tekton Electrons SE's.  The front baffle is only 28 or 30" off the front wall, so my soundstage expectations normally would be limited. But I am amazed by the large wall of sound that just washes over me.  Now this is a tip of the hat to Eric Alexander of Tekton as well as Ken I of Marantz.  This combo is synergistic.  The Ruby is in no way put off by low impedance loads.  Instead, it puts out ridiculous amounts of clean and controlled power.

Hope you continue to enjoy this unit.

P.S.  I agree on the issue of front panel cosmetics.  It is very nice overall for sure, but I sure would have liked a larger more impressive digital display for my aging eyes!

Yes, Corelli, I seem to be mirroring your view on this machine.  I'm trying to motivate myself to plug the Chinook in to compare the Marantz's phono stage. For now, all I know is that I'm stunned at how good this phono stage is.  

I was not in the market for a Marantz and did 0 research on this guy before buying it.  I just wanted to try it.  I think my confirmation bias was on the low end of the spectrum. I wasn't expecting anything--maybe a slightly dry picture given it is solid state and Class D.  It surprised me!

You must have been very pleased to land on this amp, as it sounds great and it solved your issue.  Sometimes that an take multiple purchases, returns, sales, etc. to get right. 

So I did get to hook up the Manley Chinook tube phono stage.  It's arguably better than that in the Ruby, but not by much. I thought that I would hear sweeping differences.  The Chinook may have a bit more air and space, but on good recordings I cannot tell or miss the Chinook.  

What is really nice to hear in my system is the Ruby integrated's ability to play well with my Klipsch Cornwall IVs.  

I broke down and bought the Ruby SACD/DAC.  I'm surprised these didn't sell out overnight at $3k.  Can't wait to get it in the mix.  

Jbhiller I also bought the Ruby Sacd player at MUsic Direct  i know this is the RCA version of my SA 10, I have the SA 10 on champagne color, the Ruby is black.Originally I want to buy the Technic sacd player but it stay on $2999 . Rubys sacd player price drop to $2999 I called right away and Cohen told me the Ruby sacd player is selling fast on the price drop.

Great stuff @jayctoy !  
 

yes, it would seem that at $3000 both pieces are a fantastic deal, and the CD digital audio converter unit might just be a steal. For all the stuff that Audiophile‘s to throwing money everywhere this thing could make a great back up for some people who have even very high in systems.

this might be a bit of a bold statement and I’m not sure I can actually make it: it seems the Ruby gear at $3k cannot easily be matched in build quality alone. I mean, I’m not sure of a whole other devices out there at the $3000 price point there built like this. That’s real value.