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In Reply to: RE: Marantz SA-7S1 upgrades? posted by jkm on August 06, 2015 at 09:11:19
Far be it from me to stand in the way of someone trying to tinker and see if he or she can improve things, but what it motivating this?
Is the sound bad?
Especially for Marantz gear, I'd imagine the stock caps would be the best sound.
BTW< excellent SACD player. I nearly bought one of them, but got an Ayre C-5xeMP instead. But ... I always think "what if" :-)
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As audiophiles, we take what's obsolete, make it beautiful, and keep it forever.
Hey! I have a blog now: http://mancave-stereo.blogspot.com or "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/mancave.stereo
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The output coupling caps are Elna Silmic II. These are very nice electrolytic caps, but the absolute best are Black Gates. However, BG's are now obsolete and command ridiculous prices. Most available now are fakes, so don't fall for it, unless you really know who you're dealing with. If you can be certain they are genuine, the cost might be worth it for this player.The Silmic's tend to smooth out high frequencies, which is the primary reason the stock Marantz players have a very smooth, somewhat laid back sound. There is excellent resolution and spatiality, but the highs are just not quite entirely open and the bass can be very slightly thick.
The BG's will provide all the best qualities of the Silmic's with tighter bass, and they will also open up and extend the highs without producing any brightness. Quite a trick, and NO other electrolytic cap can do it.
Many have tried various combinations of lesser caps with small film cap bypass, but this can lead to some odd resonances or smearing of the signal.
Perhaps in the SA-7, the output caps have been put back-to-back in series to form a non-polar electrolytic, which can provide lower distortion, but that also might actually magnify their laid back qualities. I have never seen the inside of an SA-7; I am projecting from my SA-11, which is the next cheapest model. The circuit of the SA-11 has space on the PCB for back-to-back caps but only a single cap is installed. I expect the boards for the SA-7 and SA-11 are the same or very nearly so. I removed those four caps and installed genuine BG's, resulting in the improvements I described above. I have not made any other modifications other than adding a bit of damping material to the frame, (already superbly isolated but not damped), the cover, and the laser enclosure.
In a player of this quality, I really suspect that some mods are merely a gimmick to milk dollars from people intensely interested in obtaining the best sound. I believe that the mod to the output caps (at least four, possibly eight) would provide the single biggest improvement. Seek out someone who can do that, and you'll probably achieve nearly all there is to get from this superb machine. You will spend 10% of the original cost, and easily get a 10% or more improvement. Spend all that other mod money on SACD's.
Peace,
Tom E
Edits: 08/11/15 08/11/15
TomE-
why are the BG obsolete?
because the corporate world is a screwed-up place
well known that they have been out of production for quite a few (8, 10?) years
Tom E
Interesting...
it seems to me that a group of individuals could get together and start producing BG again?
You make good points.
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