New Marantz SA11S2?

The JPS Labs digital power cord is also decent

This repartee between MrTennis and Zear really drives home the fact there is a often a large disjunct among us regarding the way we perceive sound. I do not wish to be rude to MrTennis, he has a right to his opinions, biases, and preferences. Hopefully, he'd not find it out of line if I made the observation that he does tend to initially state his opinions in a rather didactic manner that discounts subjectivity. As a SA11S1 owner, I to am at a loss to explain his perception of thinness. If anything, I'd say that some might find it the reverse of that. Perhaps his perceptions could be, in part, a system compatibility issue. The importance of compatibility was again demonstrated to me when I recently had to remove my SA11S1 for a repair and reintroduced a Cambridge 640c cd player that I thought I knew the sound of. Quite a number of system changes have taken place since the last time I listened to it; new interconnects, Boston Audio XL footers, better power cords, and different amplification. The sound of the Cambridge changed so much I couldn't reconcile it with my past memories. As a reviewer MrTennis knows the importance of system context, I'm not suggesting otherwise at all. Perhaps (likely) nothing would change his opinion. All I'm saying is that, for myself, sometimes I often think I'm sure of the sonic signature of a component and then I hear it in a new context and the limitations of my knowledge are made painfully apparent.

Photon46,
I suspect that the Bent TVC might not be matching in Mr. Tennis's system. But he is a reviewer and he hears perfectly than any one of us. So what you say about the Marantz is not valid :-)))

Photon46 - Well said!

I have three different SACD players - the Ayre C5xe-MP, the Mcintosh MCD500, and the Marantz SA11S2. And I have moved them back and forth amongst my three systems just to hear the differences. And the differences are not always subtle. System compatibility often if not always is a huge factor in this hobby!

I am very pleased with all three players. The Ayre is the best of the three; the Mcintosh and Marantz are very close in quality and do not lag the Ayre by all that much (to my ears and in my systems!).

I have not had the opportunity to audition the Ayre. I would agree to the statement made by 4musica regarding the McIntosh and the Marantz. Very simalar and both are very good players.