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Hi-Rez Highway: REVIEW: Reference Audio Mods Marantz SA-8001 SACD Player (Modded) by oofer

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REVIEW: Reference Audio Mods Marantz SA-8001 SACD Player (Modded)

216.110.206.186


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Model: Marantz SA-8001
Category: SACD Player (Modded)
Suggested Retail Price: $899+mods ($2000)
Description: 2 channel SACD/CD player
Manufacturer URL: Reference Audio Mods
Model Picture: View

Review by oofer ( A ) on January 19, 2007 at 15:15:40
IP Address: 216.110.206.186
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for the Marantz SA-8001


So one day last month, I am listening to a Netflix movie. Gee, that sounds good. I can hear background noises, low speech, music is clean. I figure I will try a CD. Uh oh! The CD sounded a touch harsh, let's say, but better than my Marantz SA-8001. The Marantz was smooth, and clean sounding, but it was obvious I was missing layers of information that my six year old Sony DVD player was finding. This is NOT what I spent the extra money for when I purchased the Marantz SA-8001. Sure playing SACD was great, but ultimately the Marantz was suffering terminal congestion of some sort and needed to go to the doctor.

Enter Kyle Takenaga and Reference Audio Mods. RAM had modified my PS Audio HCA-2 into an entirely new universe of sound. They were honest, did quality work, and shipped back the unit carefully as well as quickly. I called Kyle to discuss modding the Marantz SA-8001. He was really pleasant to deal with, and spent the time explaining what mods did what and inquired about my system to match the mods to my system where possible. We ended up agreeing to use an upgraded set of coupling transformers, silver instead of copper, and silver WBT Nextgen female chassis mounted outputs. The rest of the mods were pretty much as described on the RAM site. More on that in a bit.

I disengaged my SA-8001 from my system, took pictures of the unit without its cover on, put it in its crate, and sent it off during the height of the holiday shipping season down to Riverside, CA where Kyle does his magic. Kyle sent me an email when the unit arrived, and set about the modification process with the unit. Kyle called me when the unit was done to settle up and report on what he had done. He wanted to break the unit in for a couple of days before he sent it on to make sure everything was working and even out the sound in the process.

Well, the SA-8001 arrived back in a little less than a month in its factory packaging but with extra bubble wrap to help protect it. Kyle had mentioned that the unit needed more break-in, maybe 200 hours or so, but I immediately took off the cover to see what had been done and take the after pictures to match the before set I had taken.

The clean, over-orderly stock unit now sported a distinctly different picture. Gone was the entire output section. Cotton insulated wires were snaked this way and that with great quality point to point soldering. Rows of Rubycon capacitors had replaced stock units. Two massive Audiocom Silver coupling transformers on wooden platforms were mounted where the out put section used to be. A Furutech chassis mounted male IEC/AC connector replaced the stock unit, which was a pleasant surprise. There was a lot of glue holding wires into place and it was distinctly out-gassing. Specially made diode bridges and buffers were mounted on wood. All in all, the thing had the certain air of a mad scientist's work. Would it burst into flames? Would it improve the sound? Did I even want to plug it in?

Hell yes I did. Sorry to report that there were absolutely no pyrotechnics. No arcing sparks running up the wiring. Nope. I plugged it in, turned it on, and absolutely nothing happened.

Oh, yes, put in a disc! What came out set me on my keister. Gone was the smooth almost tentative sound of the Marantz I had sent away. Now, my test discs had immediacy, clarity, tonal balance. In engine modification terms, the horsepower was similar, but the torque had doubled. The Marantz SA-8001 had jumped into the same universe as my modded HCA-2.

I let the unit cook for days before I put my ears to it again. Maybe I had been wrong. I listened to my Sony DVD player, and concentrated on music I knew for years. Eva Cassidy, Patricia Barber, James Taylor, Miles Davis, The Wailin' Jennys. I was getting my ears tuned in.

Okay, lets fire up the SA-8001 all broken in. Besides the lingering glue curing smell, the unit gobbled up my first SACD. Excellent sound started rolling out of my speakers. Clear, detailed, balanced and did I mention clear? Sorry. Yes, the Maranatz SA-8001 not only can be improved, it can change its very character. I was cycling through my CD's, like a maniac, listening to favorite passages. Wow, oh wow, and WOW again.

Power supply mods are always good, but I think the Superclock 4 and its attendant power supply really made a huge difference in allowing a clearer signal to come through. And I think they added dynamics I didn't expect.

The new output section added the dark matter. Here we have quiet, but powerful quiet. Dead quiet. The kind of dead quiet that really makes the dynamic range of SACD's burst forth.

Okay, all is not perfect, and I need to mention what I didn't like. The SA-8001 had a headphone jack and op/amp that allowed me to listen without powering up my whole system. I really liked this little perk. Alas, it no longer gets a signal. I wish I had known this was the case to begin with as maybe there is a way to provide this op-amp power and a signal that Kyle might have been able to provide. OTOH, maybe it would come at a cost to the dynamics of the unit's overall output. I just don't know. But I liked having the late night option of plugging in my headphones.

The other minor complaint I have is the prominent use of glue to reinforce the interior connections. Kyle and I talked about this. He said that it was a reliability issue. There is some mighty fine, as is pinpoint, soldering here. The kind of soldering that might come undone in rough and tumble shipping. The glue was a reinforcement that seemed to work.

It is still out gassing; so I expect some glue odor for a while. I think, ultimately, this will subside, but it does disconcert, nonetheless.

There is an odd, slight switching noise when the unit switches to SACD playback. This is just a small electronic popping noise, but I didn't hear it before. This may actually be another indication of how much more information is getting through. Again, I just don't know, but it is not something I am worried about.

I can say without hesitation that my RAM modded Marantz SA-8001 SACD/CD player is a very, very different beast than the refined, restrained unit I sent away. I sent away a nice family sedan. I received back a Benz AMG. They might look the same on the outside, but that's where all similarity ends. Great job, Kyle. Thanks so much.


Product Weakness: none I can define other than those small reservations expressed in the review
Product Strengths: Clarity, Dynamics, Thorough modification,


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: PS Audio HCA-2 (modified by Reference Audio Mods--way worth it) + DIY Neotech NEP-3001(UPOCC) Power Cord( from VH Audio) with FIM 302 & 303 UPOCC connectors
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): PS Audio PCA-2+HCPS + VH Audio DIY Flavor 1 (made in the flavor 4 fashion) with FIM 302 and 303 UPOCC connectors.
Sources (CDP/Turntable): see oofer's system in Inmate Systems
Speakers: JBL L200t3 (recently reconed) + LCY 100K Ribbon super tweeters+ACI Force subwoofer
Cables/Interconnects: see oofer's system in Inmate Systems
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical, Jazz, Folk,
Room Size (LxWxH): 15 x 20 x 16
Time Period/Length of Audition: Three Weeks
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Reference Audio Mods Marantz SA-8001 SACD Player (Modded) - oofer 15:15:40 01/19/07 ( 6)