Digital Drive: REVIEW: Marantz SA-8260 CD Player/Recorder by John Gratsias

Model:	SA-8260
Category:	CD Player/Recorder
Suggested Retail Price:	$1049
Description:	Multichannel SACD player
Manufacturer URL:	Marantz
Model Picture:	View

Review by John Gratsias ( A ) on December 05, 2003 at 21:37:49
IP Address: 64.254.97.10

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for the SA-8260

A recent analogue upgrade elevated the sound of my turntable so much above that of my CD player that I could no longer bear listening to CDs. I felt that the time had come to replace my 11-year-old Sony X779ES, so I started scouring this forum for suggestions. From what people were saying I was expecting to get a player that would be a significant improvement over what I currently had, and was fully willing to spend $3k to get something like an SCD-1. I had resisted upgrading my digital front-end all these years because I did not believe that sufficient advances in technology had taken place to ensure a clearly audible difference in performance. After all, the redbook standard had not changed, and my CDs would not miraculously obtain more information. But in the face of the substandard sound I was now getting, I cast away my doubts and settled on the SA-8260, which was not only highly praised, but also available locally as a cost-free demo.
Following a tip from fellow member Rishi (thank you once again!), I visited Bay Area Audio (an excellent and highly recommended shop) where the people there were kind enough to let me take home for a day the only 8260 demo they had in the store. I plugged it in immediately after getting home, and was eagerly awaiting the next day to dawn (Thanksgiving) to start listening to it.
I must admit that I really wanted to hear huge differences between the players, and was rooting for the Marantz to trounce the Sony so I could once again approximate the sound of my analogue rig. Compared to my turntable, the Sony sounded indistinct, plodding, confused, so I was looking for something a lot cleaner, airy, bouncy, but yet powerful and mellow.
Initially things went well: the Marantz sounded a bit cleaner and more airy, with vocals appearing slightly more intelligible. Further listening though started revealing some negatives too: the bass did not have either the power or the extension of the Sony, and there was something else in the sound that bothered me and could not put my finger on. Since the sound was a bit cleaner, I attempted to compensate for the lack of bass heft by turning up the volume, and then the problems started becoming more prominent: the sound had a mechanical/electronic quality to it that made long-term listening unsatisfying. After listening to an entire album non-stop I was left with the impression that the player was adding some hash to the sound, rendering it unnatural and uninvolving. Moreover, the increase in volume did not really fill in the lower registers; bass still seemed a mental affair, not a visceral one like the Sony was presenting.
The images the Marantz was painting (I'm not referring to soundstage layering here) were better delineated, almost stark (in a good sense); the ones from the Sony were more blended, even confused one could say. But there was an unmistakable organic quality to the sound of the Sony, a sound that drew you closer to the music and made you want to listen to record after record. One could say that the Sony had a warm, fuzzy, and cuddly sound, and different people would interpret these adjectives either as positive or negative. To me "velvety" seemed more apt, but the Sony also possessed the ability to literally pressurize the room with its rendition of bass frequencies, which is an addictive feature and is also what I experience at live concerts.
Listening to the Marantz one song at a time I sometimes felt that I liked its presentation better, but the more extensively I listened to it, the more its problems started grating. Maybe that's the digital sound that everyone's seems to be complaining about, a sound I had never personally experienced with the Sony, which had always sounded non-fatiguing to me (suave is a more appropriate word).
In the end there was no contest: the Sony was a more satisfying player, and deflated I returned the Marantz to the store the next day. At least there was one positive outcome of this comparison: I realised just how good the sound of the Sony is, so I have now started enjoying CDs again.
I'm still on the lookout for a superior CD player, and I have an Ack! dac on order. John at Bay Area Audio said that the only player they thought was head and shoulders above everything else was the Audio Research CD3, but it will take me some time to mentally adjust to its price tag before I take it home for an audition. However, I am now not as confident about the new candidates being better than what I already have. The comments about the particular sonic traits of the two players above may have given the wrong impression that it's a matter of getting one or two things right and then we have a winner. I was actually looking for significant differences, ones that would settle the issue within ten seconds of the first CD playing -- the kind of differences I heard when I upgraded my phono stage.
For reference, I listen to indie rock (Bats, Great Crusades, Spiritualized, etc.) at a volume of about 96dB at the listening seat, and that is the only explanation that I currently have of why my experience is so much different than that of all the other people on this forum who think so highly of the Marantz: maybe at lower listening levels the Marantz does sound good.
John
P.S. I did not listen to any SACDs; I do not own any nor do I anticipate ever owning one.

Product Weakness: Lack of bass power, a mechanical/electronic (unnatural) sound, a sense that the player is adding artifacts.
Product Strengths: Slightly more intelligible vocals, images have sharp boundaries.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Aragon 4004 MkII
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Meitner PA-6i+
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Sony CDP-X779ES / VPI HW-19MkIV w/ ET2 & Clearaudio Sigma
Speakers:	NHT 3.3
Cables/Interconnects:	Kimber 8TC biwired / AudioTruth Lapis
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	See text
Room Size (LxWxH):	21' x 13'6 x 8'
Room Comments/Treatments:	See my profile
Time Period/Length of Audition:	One day
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Audio Power Wedge 1
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition

Product Weakness:	Lack of bass power, a mechanical/electronic (unnatural) sound, a sense that the player is adding artifacts.
Product Strengths:	Slightly more intelligible vocals, images have sharp boundaries.