Very happy with Marantz SA-14S1

Posted by GratefulBob (A) on May 25, 2016 at 22:38:19

In Reply to: RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players posted by airheadair on May 25, 2016 at 16:21:07:

Just a few months ago I purchased the SA-14S1 from Music Direct. My need was SACD playback, though the entire set of features appealed to me. Also in the rack is a Bryston BCD-1 (beautiful CD playback, but no SACD).

Right out of the box I liked the sound of the SA-14S1, for both CD and SACD. Compared to the Bryston? I felt the Bryston bested it, and one day did a critical listening comparison and felt the Bryston strongly bested it. Ok, I could live with that, the Marantz still sounded very good and gave me SACD. But I read in a few places that the Marantz players really like a long break-in period. So I played it a lot ... and somewhere around ~70-100 hours of playback, it became significantly more ... liquid, more fully fleshed-out, more real - more like the Bryston. So I did another comparison. This time, though I could hear differences, it was harder to pick a winner. I was thrilled - the Marantz, very good from the start, was really sensational after a good amount of playback.

So ... buy one and give it plenty of play. I think you'll be happy from the start, and once broken-in I can't imagine you won't be delighted. And, yes, Music Direct has a nice return policy - you'll have time to give it plenty of play and be sure you are really happy with the sound.

I can't comment on using the DAC with computer input just yet, though I do expect to use this (and I plan to use the direct connect of iDevices, too). All in all, I think it's a wonderful machine with a broad and useful set of features.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - DAC in Marantz SACD players - airheadair 20:41:53 05/24/16 (15)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - AbeCollins 08:49:30 05/28/16 (5)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - airheadair 09:10:02 05/28/16 (4)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - AbeCollins 07:31:30 05/29/16 (3)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - airheadair 09:24:54 05/29/16 (2)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - AbeCollins 20:10:24 06/02/16 (1)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - airheadair 21:19:08 06/02/16 (0)

RE: "I was told that the SA-14S1 does indeed have the Burr-Brown 1792 chip." - Ivan303 16:40:57 05/25/16 (2)

RE: "I was told that the SA-14S1 does indeed have the Burr-Brown 1792 chip." - airheadair 16:44:35 05/25/16 (1)

My guess is that they changed mid-production. - Ivan303 17:22:01 05/25/16 (0)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - fantja 14:32:54 05/25/16 (5)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - Ivan303 16:47:33 05/25/16 (0)

RE: DAC in Marantz SACD players - airheadair 16:21:07 05/25/16 (3)

Very happy with Marantz SA-14S1 - GratefulBob 22:38:19 05/25/16 (2)

RE: Very happy with Marantz SA-14S1 - fantja 21:25:27 05/28/16 (0)

RE: Very happy with Marantz SA-14S1 - airheadair 22:55:03 05/25/16 (0)

Follow Ups

Very happy with Marantz SA-14S1 - GratefulBob 22:38:19 05/25/16 (2)

RE: Very happy with Marantz SA-14S1 - fantja 21:25:27 05/28/16 (0)

RE: Very happy with Marantz SA-14S1 - airheadair 22:55:03 05/25/16 (0)

Very happy with Marantz SA-14S1

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