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Anyone have a chance to compare these? Any comments on whether there are improvements in any respect? I had an SA14 ver1 and it was great on SACD but thought there were better sounding redbook players.
Follow Ups:
Here you will read the truth as I heard it in my home.Caveat Empteur
I agree with your comment.
The player tends to be more analytic than older ones in the same league as Sony XA9000es, not as musical, no coloration . But the later has six channels output and i-link.
Don't know about the direct comparison of the SA11s1 to the 14v1 or v2 as far as my ears are concerned but local Marantz dealer has kept the various Marantz SACD players as they have come out just to compare. He doesn't necessarily believe in "new and improved" but he really likes the SA11S1 and so do I. Audition it for yourself.
I have owned the SA-11 for several weeks and, in my system, it is an extraordinary performer -- especially for its price -- on both CD and SACD. It may not be as a good as a high quality vinyl system, but I have never heard digital that is. I have had recent and extnesive experience with the Marantz 8260, Sony SCD-1, Sony XA-9000, Meridian G08, Bel Canto DAC-2 and Audio Logic 2400. I liked all of these units, but the Marantz is much better than most of them -- although I would like to have the Audio Logic with proper cables and tubes as a redbook DAC and use the SA-11 as a transport, the SA-11 doesnt give up a lot to the A.L.
What type of sonic characteristics does it have? I know Marantz is kind of warm in mid range. Does it give good analytical performance?
The player is more straightforward than and not as warm as the 8260, though I liked the 8260 in its pricerange. The SA-11 is musical and full bodied, detalied and timbre is very good -- the player is not especially colored or overly warm. Its SACD section is excellent. It is, on both SACD and CD, more analogue in its presentation than other players I have heard in this price range(although CD may miss the final degree of realism available with very special DACs or more expensive one-box players). Evidently, reb finds the player overly analytcial, thin and/or bright, but my experience is different from his. Again, I do nto think it is as good as a good record player, but I have not heard digital that is. SACD playback from the SA-11 is as close to vinyl as I have heard. I wonder what players reb is comparing it to and which ones he likes better.
I've had my SA-11 for over a month now and during that time it's become even sweeter and smoother than I would have thought possible. This is definitely NOT a harsh or aggressive player. Indeed if I was to be critical then I would say that it may be a little too laid back on many discs. Now that the player has bedded in I'm finding that many CDs are best with filter 3 and noise shaping on. These filter options are definitely not a gimmick as some critics are claiming, and I'm certain that anyone who owns a SA-11 will definitely agree. If reb thinks this player is bright and harsh then he definitely has major problems elsewhere in his system. My Infinity EMITs are not tolerant to even the slightest hint of grain, glass or edge, and this player has less of those qualities than I've yet heard from CD. Critisism of the bass is also way off the mark but I can sort of understand the origin. The bass is so clean and free of false bloom that many listeners will no doubt interpret this as lacking in some way. However, if your amps and speakers are up to the task of producing perfect bass to 20Hz (as mine are) then what you'll hear is the the most extended, cleanest and detailed bass imaginable. It beats the absolute pants off my Meridian 508.24 and the SA-12s1 that it replaced. If this player is giving you weak bass and agressive highs I think it might be time for a speaker or amp upgrade, or possibly both. If you don't trust my judgement on this then wait for the review in Stereophile and you'll find all my comments 100% verified. Yes I'm that confident.
If analytical is what your after, then you would love this Marantz.
I sold my SA11 after 1 month. Basically it completely sucks, especially on redbook. Weak bass, emphasis on upper midrange and highs. There are two now on Agon for 1k off if you must have one.
In your Audiogon thread you admit that the SA11 is better than the SA14, so it can't be that bad. To many people, the SA14 "Japanese electronics" sounds a lot better than many long-standing "high end" CD players.
Stefan D.
I never made any comments about SA14 in the Audiogon thread, so please re-read it. Nor did I start the thread. Marantz stated to me that the SA-11S1 is "consumer electronics".
Ok, I re-read it and it was AVGURU, not you sorry."The Ayre and Electro aspire to do many of the things the Esoteric and Reimyo do albeit on a smaller magnitude. That's what makes them great players. The SA 11 is not in the same class any of these players. It is better than the SA 14 (vers 1 & 2) but it only improves upon the weaknesses of those units. The new multiple filters and balanced outputs are just marketing gimmicks..in truth filter 1 is the only useful setting and the quircky balanced outputs bring nothing to the table in terms of improved sonics."
Still the original poster asks how it compares to SA14's, which is more relevant than how it compares to these other obscure brands of consumer electronics.
Stefan D.
I've not heard any of those other players either, though I'm sure they must be very good. I've owned a SA-11 for over a month now and i regard it as a very special player. It surpasses anything I've either owned or heard in my system and that includes several other high end players. If your preference is for an 'in your face' type of sound then the SA-11 is probably not for you because it is a little laid back compared with many other similarly priced players. Sonically it seems to be closer to the original SA-1 than either the SA-12s1 or either of the SA-14s, but the filter and noise shaping options allow for some useful fine tuning on redbook CD.
Lastly, my advise is to treat reviews in this and other forums with caution. I own an SA-11 so obviously I'm biased towards it, particularly as it's still a new toy. AVGURU may well be correct with his appraisal but my advise is to wait for the passage of time and a larger consensus of opinion to develop. Reviews in Stereophile and other mags are more likely to be accurate because the long time reviewers tend to be less brand biased than the rest of us. Having said that, I've never bought anything based on a review. At the end of the day the only ears that count are your own 2.
I just sold my SA-14 V2 which I was thought was excellent on SACD and Redbook intending to purchase a SA-11. I used it 99% for SACD because I have a Reiymo-777 DAC for Red Book. I assumed that the SA-11 would sound even better on SACD. I'm wondering if your unit was defective in some way as other reviews are very positive about it.Have you replaced it with anything at this time? I have looked into the Sonys including the 3000ES sold in Europe for about $1,100 but a professional reviewer strongly urged me not to buy any of them. Don't need a universal player or multi-channel. I have read numerous reliabilty issues with the Chinese made units and I won't buy them either.
agreed on redbook play. I was going to opt for the sa-11,until I purchased the whest DAP-10 active analog add-on & looked no further it made such a dramatic improvement in soundstaging seperation of instrumentation & bass response & even bettered the sacd output..
Works particularly well with Jazz cds...
Heard the SA-11 demo at dealer at was impressed as well with many filter options you can tailor the sonics....
I'm surprised the Whest info didn't post much but the only detailed(whest) mag review is in hifi world UK july '04...
See the following link in Japanese, column 26
http://www.stereosound.co.jp/hivi/bestbuy/04w.htmlAnother one in SA-CD.net
http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread/3145//y?page=first
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