[
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2008, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]
64.12.116.141
In Reply to: RE: With so much hype surrounding this player ... posted by TBone on April 10, 2008 at 10:51:50
The truth probably does lie somewhere in between—as it usually does. I’m not going to dissect Dr. S’s review word by word, but I do trust the guy’s ears. We share a mutual friend, and he and I tend to agree on audio more often than we don’t.
I’m not saying the SA-7S1 is the end-all/be-all of digital reproduction—preference plays a huge part here, as it does in anything related to audio—but it’s impressed me mightily, and I’m not nearly as easily impressed as I used to be.
I’ve owned some pretty nice ‘tables in the past—and, as I said, almost bought the Walker—but I just got tired of the endless analog hassles (and cost) and personally didn’t feel that the upsides outweighed the negatives. I still feel that way, but that’s just me.
I don’t entirely agree with your assessment that any excellent digital player will eat significantly into LP spinning. It depends on the individual. I know a bunch of audiophiles who have terrific CDPs and yet still listen almost exclusively to vinyl. These guys I referred to in my original post are vinyl FREAKS who used to break out in cold sweat whenever the word “digital” was uttered. The fact that the SA-7S1 wrought such a change in their thinking, and behavior, speaks volumes to me.
Anyway, I don’t want this to turn into another tired digital-vs.-analog debate. I’ve had enough of those to last a lifetime. We don’t exactly see eye to eye on that point, and that’s fine. And, yes, the Marantz has been hyped to death, and that may well result in a critical backlash at some point, but I stand by my enthusiasm for the player—and will continue to do so. I’ve heard and owned digital (and analog) gear costing well over 30k, and I still consider the SA-7S1 special.
BTW, a friend of mine recently auditioned the Akurate DS in his home. He said it was very good overall, but he didn’t hear anything that really floored him. He also said it sounded kinda sterile. Plus, the user interface apparently sucks, at least from what I’ve seen and heard. YMMV, of course.
Follow Ups:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2008, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]