Marantz SA-11S1

Well, I've had the SA-11S2 player for a few years now. The S2 (as you probably know) shares a transport with the top-of-the-line SA-7S1 player so it is a step up from the 11S1. This player replaced a Cary 306 in my system at a big cost savings. The Marantz is splendid on both RBCD and SACD. Always musical, never harsh (unless the recording itself is harsh). It gets the upper harmonics of violins right. I'd classify the soundstage as mid-hall in general but this is more dependant on that actual recording than anything else. At the same time, I find it reproduces plenty of detail - what one would hear in the concert hall, not the hyper detail that "audiophiles" seem to crave. Hope that helps in your decision process. I can highly recommend the 11S2 (haven't heard the S1).

I've had a Sa11S1 for a couple years now and really am very fond of it, a great player for the money. After experimenting with tweaking it, I've recently found that the Boston Audio Tuneblocks give a really remarkable upgrade to the performance. Krisjan's experience mirrors my impressions. As "mid-hall" or "upfront," I don't know. It seems a fairly neutral conduit that just lets through what ever the recording engineer's mike pattern was. As to negatives, sometimes it has a hard time getting direct access to a track deep in a disc with many tracks. Say if you want to access track 26 on an opera disc with 40 tracks, that sort of thing. I also like the fact that lacks the audio-autopsy hyped up detail that some players have.

Thanks for everyones help. I bought one that popped up yesterday on Agon. I am looking forward receiving it as I hear nothing but good things about the SA11.