Advice for New Digital Source

Mike Reeter

I'm calling on the members knowledge to help with a purchase of a new Digital Front End. I have had a Jolida JD-100A in the house for what seems like the past ten years. While it still plays beautiful music, it's limited. I'm wanting to move into some SACD material and maybe some Hi-res choices one day.

Please understand that I have NO need for a Universal player or a 5.1 (or more) channel playback, the new player or device will be for two-channel only.

My goal is to get the best sound I can out of one box, whether it be a DAC or SACD Player, and stay within a budget of $2500. I've narrowed my choices down to the following

Option 1- I currently have an older Oppo Universal DV-980 H, an SACD capable player, that has very FEW hours on it, I've been thinking about using it as a Transport and purchasing a new DAC to bump up the SACD playback (if that's possable) and utilize the new DAC for digital files also.

Option 2- Purchase a new Marantz SA-8005 as a source and utilize the onboard DAC as needed. Well below budget and would allow for the purchase of quite a bit of new material.

Option 3- Purchase a new Marantz SA-14S1 as a source and use the onboard DAC as needed. I would buy this player if I thought, at twice the price, it had twice the sonics as the SA8005. I know it has a lot of great features, but it's at the top of my budget.

Any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

honestaquarian

Best advice I can give you is stick to your own advice as you already have it worked out in at least one of those scenarios.
No on can advise you on what your ears will ultimately hear or what you will end up liking.
(*please not the use of and spelling of the two different words-Advice and Advise.Not trying to be snarky but I see a LOT of people on here using the word "Advise" when they mean "Advice"*)

Mike Reeter

honestaquarian wrote: »

Best advice I can give you is stick to your own advice as you already have it worked out in at least one of those scenarios.
No on can advise you on what your ears will ultimately hear or what you will end up liking.
(*please not the use of and spelling of the two different words-Advice and Advise.Not trying to be snarky but I see a LOT of people on here using the word "Advise" when they mean "Advice"*)

Yep, readin' and rightin' was never my strong suit.

Mike Reeter

DSkip wrote: »

I highly recommend Option 2 and 3. The Oppo will not be a solid transport. The Reference series is a step up from the SA-8005, but I can't comment on which one would be the better fit for your situation. Either unit will offer the DAC capabilities you are seeking as well as giving you a better transport built into the actual DAC/digital hub.

Derek, I think that's the direction I'm heading in. I've not had the opportunity to demo the Marantz players, as my local Dealers don't have either model in stock.

Makes for a difficult decision, one of the reasons for the thread. Thanks for your input!

steveinaz

A multi-input DAC would be my advice. It makes your system a swiss army knife and the DAC will "upgrade" everything connected to it. You could buy a top-flight BR/multi player and a great DAC for $2500. My BM DAC2 and Oppo 103 were $2300 total. I can play anything; CD/SACD/Flac/DSD/Wav/etc, etc......via USB, Hard Drive, Network, etc, etc.

Nightfall

Option 2 + money leftover to buy music. Can never have too much music. At least you're not stealing it like someone we know around here.

steveinaz

The better your DAC, the less important your transport becomes.

machone

I went with option 2 and I love it. It is versatile and sounds great.

voltz

I choose option #2 also and I am very happy with the player and its DAC. I use the DAC part with my IPOD & PC full of Flacs and a hand full of HiRez DSD files.
Plus I have a growing collection of SACD's!

Mike Reeter

steveinaz wrote: »

A multi-input DAC would be my advice. It makes your system a swiss army knife and the DAC will "upgrade" everything connected to it. You could buy a top-flight BR/multi player and a great DAC for $2500. My BM DAC2 and Oppo 103 were $2300 total. I can play anything; CD/SACD/Flac/DSD/Wav/etc, etc......via USB, Hard Drive, Network, etc, etc.

steveinaz wrote: »

The better your DAC, the less important your transport becomes.

Steve, I know from your experiences over the years that you have "found your sound" and I hope that's where I'm headed also!

Although I know your DAC has a small footprint, I'm short of rack space and a "one box" solution is probably going to be the more desirable.

I own NO Digital Files, I have the space for, and don't mind having physical material, a stand alone DAC or one in a combined unit will not be used much at all, just want it there for future use, maybe streaming music and that's about it...for now.

Mike Reeter

Nightfall wrote: »

Option 2 + money leftover to buy music. Can never have too much music. At least you're not stealing it like someone we know around here.

machone wrote: »

I went with option 2 and I love it. It is versatile and sounds great.

voltz wrote: »

I choose option #2 also and I am very happy with the player and its DAC. I use the DAC part with my IPOD & PC full of Flacs and a hand full of HiRez DSD files.
Plus I have a growing collection of SACD's!

Looks like Option #2 is pretty popular! This purchase will more than likely be my "End Game" player, I want to make the right call.

Thanks for every ones input so far, much appreciated!

erniejade

Warning! The jolida (depending on what tubes and power cord you have on it) is hard to beat and going down this road is not easy. I had a jolida and was trying to get into sacd. Started out with a denon, then a pioneer d9 and a couple of others. What I found was the jolida playing the redbook layer and the others playing the same sacd, the jolida to me still sounded better. To me the jolida had a warmer plumper musical sound.


Option 2 is a solid option but don't get rid of the jolida until you know you can live without it. I made that mistake to help cover the cost of the next unit.

Mike Reeter

erniejade wrote: »

Warning! The jolida (depending on what tubes and power cord you have on it) is hard to beat and going down this road is not easy. I had a jolida and was trying to get into sacd. Started out with a denon, then a pioneer d9 and a couple of others. What I found was the jolida playing the redbook layer and the others playing the same sacd, the jolida to me still sounded better. To me the jolida had a warmer plumper musical sound.


Option 2 is a solid option but don't get rid of the jolida until you know you can live without it. I made that mistake to help cover the cost of the next unit.

Well, You have nailed it my friend, that's been my biggest fear, spending a ton and end up not bettering the Jolida.

With some good tubes in it, and decent down stream gear the JD-100A throws a beautiful 3-D, Holographic Soundstage that is incredible for a player in it's price range.

I won't sell the Jolida as it won't fetch near what it's worth to me.

Tough decisions...

erniejade

Im not sure what area your in but if you can find a local dealer, bring the jolida with and try a marantz out. The marantz is a darn good sounding player but its different sounding vs the jolida. If you do pick up a marantz, go through skip. He will take care of you.

tonyb

It's the tubes man lol. Going from Tubes to SS takes some getting used to. Normally that process is reversed. Very few SS pieces come close to that musical tube sound.

That said, streaming digital usually dictates some tube component in the chain to slap you back into reality SQ wise. Personally, I would not sell the Jolida and just buy a dac. A good dac will allow for future streaming, the Jolida keeps you grounded in the physical media happy as a clam.

Mike Reeter

erniejade wrote: »

Im not sure what area your in but if you can find a local dealer, bring the jolida with and try a marantz out. The marantz is a darn good sounding player but its different sounding vs the jolida. If you do pick up a marantz, go through skip. He will take care of you.

I have two Dealers in my immediate area, but neither one has either of the two players that I'm interested in, in stock. I'll have to make a sizable road retip just to demo one.

tonyb wrote: »

It's the tubes man lol. Going from Tubes to SS takes some getting used to. Normally that process is reversed. Very few SS pieces come close to athat musical tube sound.

That said, streaming digital usually dictates some tube component in the chain to slap you back into reality SQ wise. Personally, I would not sell the Jolida and just buy a dac. A good dac will allow for future streaming, the Jolida keeps you grounded in the physical media happy as a clam.

Yeah Tony, you might very well be right, I might just try the DAC route and forget about SACD.

I've had my eye on the Eastern Electric Mini Max DAC for a while, might very well be the way to go. Thanks for your input guys!

bikerboy

Sacd can't be"played" through a dac. The only sacd will be from the analog outputs of the cd player. Unless you do some real computer tricks. Build a twisted pair audio buffalo IIIse and use your jolida as a transport. About $600 to $1000 depending on how you build it. Then get an I2S source. Have you ripped your cds to flak?

Mike Reeter

bikerboy wrote: »

Sacd can't be"played" through a dac. The only sacd will be from the analog outputs of the cd player. Unless you do some real computer tricks. Build a twisted pair audio buffalo IIIse and use your jolida as a transport. About $600 to $1000 depending on how you build it. Then get an I2S source. Have you ripped your cds to flak?

No, I haven't, I really don't own that many CD's. I was just thinking about exploring SACD and was looking at a couple of SACD capable players that also allow access to their onboard DAC's, just incase I ever needed that option.

I've watched the threads by you and Rich and building your DAC's with amazement, I'm a fair hand at a lot of things, but building electronics is not one of them!

I've about decided to put this on hold until I can find a Dealer that has one or both of the Marantz players in stock that I can at least demo in the their store.

heiney9

Mike Reeter wrote: »

erniejade wrote: »

Im not sure what area your in but if you can find a local dealer, bring the jolida with and try a marantz out. The marantz is a darn good sounding player but its different sounding vs the jolida. If you do pick up a marantz, go through skip. He will take care of you.

I have two Dealers in my immediate area, but neither one has either of the two players that I'm interested in, in stock. I'll have to make a sizable road retip just to demo one.

tonyb wrote: »

It's the tubes man lol. Going from Tubes to SS takes some getting used to. Normally that process is reversed. Very few SS pieces come close to athat musical tube sound.

That said, streaming digital usually dictates some tube component in the chain to slap you back into reality SQ wise. Personally, I would not sell the Jolida and just buy a dac. A good dac will allow for future streaming, the Jolida keeps you grounded in the physical media happy as a clam.

Yeah Tony, you might very well be right, I might just try the DAC route and forget about SACD.

I've had my eye on the Eastern Electric Mini Max DAC for a while, might very well be the way to go. Thanks for your input guys!

If you go the Mini Max Route be sure and atleast get the dac Plus. There is a big difference between the original and the Plus. Of course the new Supreme fits your budget as well. It does DSD, which I ultimately decided wasn't worth the extra cost for me at this time.

I also concur keep the Jolida until you are sure you have found a suitable replacement you're happy with.

H9

steveinaz

Some DAC/Pre's have analog inputs as well. Just saying. A player such as an Oppo, can be connected via RCA's for SACD playback AND connected via digital for all other formats.

That's why my suggestion was given. An excellent multi-input DAC can become the "hub" of any system, and allow you to use the far superior digital/analog sections of a great DAC. This way you don't have to drop a ton of cash on each and every source component.

Mike Reeter

steveinaz wrote: »

Some DAC/Pre's have analog inputs as well. Just saying. A player such as an Oppo, can be connected via RCA's for SACD playback AND connected via digital for all other formats.

That's why my suggestion was given. An excellent multi-input DAC can become the "hub" of any system, and allow you to use the far superior digital/analog sections of a great DAC. This way you don't have to drop a ton of cash on each and every source component.

Makes perfect sense!

steveinaz

Champagne taste and beer money dictates that I have to be efficient...LOL

heiney9

steveinaz wrote: »

Champagne taste and beer money dictates that I have to be efficient...LOL

Not really, it just makes sense from a flexibility stand point. Plus, I am a firm believer in most stand alone dac's are better than an "all-in one". Not always, but many times more bang for the buck.

Plus, I am limited in space for gear too, so that's less pieces also.

I have had stand alone dac's for a LONG time. The EE Mini Max Plus is stunning and very flexible so I have ZERO regrets.............as I'm sure you do also with the Benchmark.

Can either of our pieces be outdone by a stand alone player? Sure, but the cost will be a lot!

H9

Mike Reeter

Thanks for the input guys! Appreciate it.

Derek, I will take your offer into consideration, in a perfect world I would like to find a place that has both the 8005 and the 14S1 to have listen/comparison.

But when it comes time to buy, I know who to call!

erniejade

Skip steps up to the plate!!!!!
Mike this is the perfect way to check it out. In your own home on your own equipment. Remember the sound will be different. Different isn't bad. Many prefer the 8005 to the oppo since it has warmer sound. Several people I know just use the 8005 as a all in one for sacd and as a solid dac. For the money and what you get its hard to beat.

steveinaz

Mike, the good news is that hi-fi products now offer so many directions you can go---and have a really nice system, for not a crippling amount of money.

Mike Reeter

I just love the comradery around here when everyone is doing their best to help you SPEND some cash!

steveinaz

Oh heck yeah, I LOVE spending someone elses money.