New toy just crossed the US border! Marantz SA-7S1

VR3

Always type long posts into Microsoft word............

treitz3

I usually do. Brain farts happen man.

Tom

pitdogg2

I've done that so many times Tom I now highlight and copy after every few sentences. Saved my bacon many times. That way i only have to try and remember the last few sentences. Or if i get po'd about it I can paste to a word doc for later.
Fwiw.

treitz3

lightman1 wrote: »

He has to try 17 different IC to the pre to make sure he thinks what he wants to hear is right.

I missed this post on the thread refresh. Sorry to inform you but those days are long gone. I have already situated all of the PC's in the rig for optimum sound and the Transparent Reference IC's ain't budging.

Literally, the only thing I did was change out the CDP and rearrange the location of the Jolida JD-9 MKII phono preamplifier. Everything else remains the same.

Just for sheits and giggles, I will place the Jolida CDP back into the loop with another TA Reference IC that was slated for the BSG QoL and add just a stock cord plugged directly into the wall to do an instant A/B but that won't happen until this upcoming weekend most likely. Yeah, not a "fair" test but it is what it is.

Tom

txcoastal1

Fair test in my book. Is the JD100 stock or modded?

treitz3

Stock. The only things that were added were 12AX7 EI Gold Pins, sorbothane footers and an upgraded PC (which she responded well too). I may have a spare PC Audio Prelude around here somewhere but I don't think it will be long enough and it won't be plugged into the RG 400Pro.

That's why I'm saying that it's not "really" a fair fight.

Tom

treitz3

Oh, and tube dampers.

Tom

treitz3

Review of the Marantz SA-7S1 – Part 1 of 2
Be forewarned. This is a long and multi-post review. Please disregard unless you are interested…

Once installed, I listened to a familiar track and within the first 15 seconds I knew I was on to something special. What I experienced made me have a comparable feeling to my wife giving birth to my one and only son. Giddy, nervous, excited, scared, hopeful, overwhelmed and a great sense of the feeling that is the greatest of all…love.

I will say something that I have never spoken of, typed, or even something I thought I’d EVER would say throughout my entire life. The following is a profound statement and should not be taken lightly. It is if I didn’t install a Reference player. It was as if I changed out the entire rig. The amp, subs, the speakers, cabling all the way down to isolation equipment, tube dampers and various other small tweaks. It was so significant that not only did it seem as if I changed out the entire rig, it was as if I had already installed the dedicated 20 amp lines as well. Coming from me, that is a profound statement.

The system that performed before me now, I simply did not even recognize. Since the Jolida has been my reference source (for redbook digital) for such a long time, I built my rig and every aspect of it to my exacting tastes. Even small tweaks and changes were readily apparent to me, good or bad. I was intimately familiar with every single aspect of the reproductive effort and even the slightest change was detectable within a short time, no matter how subtle.

Okay, before I move on, I’d like to take a moment to talk about the build quality of the Marantz SA-7S1. First off, as I previously mentioned, this unit is HEAVY. Really heavy and rather awkward to lift due to the sheer size of the unit. She’s built like a freakin’ tank but dawns the look of a priceless work of art at the same time. I couldn’t tell from the photos that as you look at it in person, would look so aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The photos just made it look between something that was a run of the mill piece of gear to perhaps something that was slightly fancy. It looks a little different when it is sitting before you.

I couldn’t tell from all the photos I had seen of this unit whether it was champagne color or silver. I couldn’t even tell from the original A’goN listing photos. It’s neither. It’s both. It’s kind of like a mix of the two, neither one exaggerated. Overall, a pleasant color that doesn’t draw attention to itself while situated in the rack with the other gear.

One would have to reserve a little extra length to fit it into your rack due to the side walls that keep going beyond the rear of the unit (pretty cool looking), along with plenty of additional room to slide the unit in while still being able to support the 50 or so pounds of awkward weight. You won’t care about that until you go to install it. Then that fact will become a very important point.

The transport opens quickly, very quietly, with authority and simply wreaks of quality. I’ve personally never owned a transport deck of this quality. It feels tight, is easy to situate the disc in low light conditions, closes quickly and quietly and has yet to skip or show any hint of not being able to read anything other than a DVD-A so far (which it’s not supposed to do).

Upon startup, SACD’s and standard discs take right at about a second to a second and half to pre-read the disc. This is many times faster than many of the players I have seen throughout my travels. That Denon DVD-2910 seemingly took 4-5 seconds before it came back with its own decision as to whether it wanted to play the disc or not. I have come to appreciate the speed at which it now takes to actually get to the music. This is an aspect that was something that was never a gripe before but is a great asset now that I know quickness exists in getting to the one thing that matters….the music playing.

treitz3

The remote is something that I haven’t really played around with yet. I have only used stop, pause, play and forward/backward. It wasn’t until tonight that I even realized that it had a repeat one/repeat all function. I’ll have to follow up on the rest of the functions on the remote later, not that anyone cares what a remote does beyond getting the music to play. I will say that it has many functions I haven’t yet tried and if one has a Marantz Pre or integrated, it will control the main system input and volume as well.

While I still prefer the remote of the Jolida as a murder weapon….er, uh….I mean remote, this remote does have some weight to it and a good, easy to navigate (at least for the basic playing functions) buttons, even when there is zero lighting in your listening room. Alright, enough about the remote for now. I’ll follow up later on this.

Here is a re-cap of the gear associated with this review – Scroll down to the next post if you are already familiar with the rig;

PS - Richard Grey 400Pro Power Supply to –

CDP - Marantz Reference Series SA-7S1,Nerve Audio PC and Transparent Reference IC's to –

TT - Music Hall MMF-5 w/ Goldring 1012Gx cart, Joe's "The Clamp", isolation footing, the 25th Anniversary Edition Nitty Gritty DS Record Cleaning Machine in Jatoba finish and optional smoked acrylic cover. The "Shark" steam cleaner for additional cleaning effectiveness and superior LP playback performance. Jolida JD9 MarkII tubed phono pre w/ Tung Sol Gold-Pin 12AX7 Tubes, Analysis Plus Power Oval 10 PC and Transparent Reference IC's to –

PRE - Dodd Audio MLP tubed pre-amplifier with custom wood remote and 4ea. 12AX7Ei Gold-Pins, isolation footings w/ custom cord to separate PS and pre. and from RG 400Pro to PS w/ Transparent Reference IC's to –

AMP - Musical Fidelity AC3r Dual Mono SS amplifier w/ PS Audio Prelude PC, AudioQuest CV-8's that have the 72v battery pack upgrade to –

CROSSOVER - As mentioned, the crosssovers have been removed from the cabinets. A custom cabinet enclosure was manufactured to hold three levels of crossover components. 1st level, the original crossovers that came with the speakers. 2nd level, the tweeter network with all VR3 Abott series upgrades (his top tier line). 3rd level, bass and mid-bass network. This is actually two crossover networks in one enclosure so we can very rapidly change from the original crossovers that came with the speakers to the upgraded crossovers. Custom aircraft aluminum chassis, powder coated black and spiked w/ custom cord to speakers and NL4 connections to –

SPEAKERS - Tyler Acoustics Lynbrook Signature Series one piece towers in Ribbon Mahogany. The speakers have been completely disassembled and rebuilt/finished from the ground up, resealed, damping material added, crossovers removed from the cabinet. Also, upgraded wiring, back plate and NL4 connector that connects back to the crossover networks.

SUBS - Stereo set of Tyler Acoustic custom subs, each with 500w plate amps, spiked, Target stands that are also spiked w/ AQ King Cobra IC's and MIT "Y" splitter cables coming from the MF AC3r

treitz3

The very first night the Marantz was installed and I had listened for hours and hours, into the wee hours of the night. I found myself waking up in the listening chair at 5:42 in the morning. I didn’t even realize that I had dozed off and even though I was playing at a level that all frequencies and aspects of the reproductive effort were easily heard, it did not disturb the family, which were to the room next door and across the hall. There was no overponderance of the lower frequencies to travel through the floors/walls…which brings be to the bass/mid-bass.

The lowest of frequencies were a DRAMATIC change in the reproductive effort. This was not subtle, this was not somewhat noticeable. It was immediately distinguishable whether in the room or across the house, regardless of location. Even outside.

The Marantz SA-7S1 has brought my digital very close to what vinyl can do sonically. Something that I had read about here and there but something that I dismissed as hearsay or , shall I say, hog wash. This unit brought me very close to what vinyl can offer me (in my rig). That was an unexpected surprise.

I was immediately taken back by the lowest registers of reproduction. This thing extracts lower register information that I didn’t think possible from any digital source. What I “thought” was a low note from the Jolida was actually a complete joke when comparing it to the Marantz. This unit will hit the lowest of seemingly unbelievable low with ease, texture and finesse without effort. This was clearly to me, the single most pleasantly noticeable aspect. Kick drums are now as close to “in my room” as I have ever heard in any system. The punch, the impact and quickness are, in crystal clear terms, nothing short of incredible.

Like I said, I don’t even recognize my own system anymore. Nothing is the same with the only exception being that I am still in the tenth row. There is no “in your face” sound stage. *wipes brow*

The vast improvement of the lower registers was so different, it now sounds like my mains have turned into mains that no longer needed subs to augment the lowest of frequencies. It turns out that yesterday, I went to turn off the subs and VERY surprisingly discovered that I had already done so when I was playing around with things the day before. I had forgotten that they were already powered down. This would have been blatantly noticeable prior to the introduction of the Marantz, with zero exception.

When I powered up the subs again, the change was so slight, I had to strain to hear any change. Yes, it slightly augmented the sound but unless I was playing a track that contained an organ, a train or thunder? I could now care less whether the sub was on or not. In most cases (and in the case yesterday), I wouldn’t even know if they were off or on. This has never been the case. Ever. It was always easily noticeable to anyone, not just me.

I played a track off of the Burmester CD- 03 CD from Yim-Hok-Man after adjusting the volume level to the previous song, “Stimela” from Hugh Masekela (another favorite reference track of mine). The song is #10 on that disc, called “The Poem of Chinese Drums”. It is a track I am intimately familiar with on my system. I have also heard this track on many, many systems over the years.

When Stimela ended and the Poem of Chinese Drums hit? I involuntarily blinked, swung my head away from the speakers and ducked, placing my hands in front of my face as if someone had triggered a shotgun blast that emanated from the rig. Holy crap Batman! I can count on two fingers how many times I have experienced something that impactful, forceful and so doggone fast coming from any stereo system in my life. Jesse’s system (F1nut) is the only system I have heard along my audio journey that has THAT kind of impact, quickness and sheer real life situation sound pressure that hits with complete and unadulterated authority as quick as it goes. It not only hits you in the chest, it goes through your entire core and it’s gone as quick as it comes. Unreal.

treitz3

In the next couple of days, I will be composing the following aspects of the review;

The imaging, sound stage

Presentation, spatial locational cues

Frequencies, overall

Loud versus soft / varying degrees of listening

Difference now between SACD and RB layers

Deficiencies of current rig / improvements I’d like to make

Overall end result

This upcoming weekend if my “Honey Do” list isn’t too terribly long, I will offer a review of the following;

Direct comparison of Jolida -vs_ Marantz

For now, my butt hurts from sitting on this office chair and I have a well-deserved date with the pillow. It has been a pleasure listening to the rig as I typed this out.

Thanks for reading. More later.

Tom

P.S. Adele’s albums still sound undesirable. The recording is still VERY important. That’s one deficiency the Marantz did not overcome. *slaps forhead*

P.S.S. I did not proofread, so please forgive any errors. Too tired to care at the moment.

erniejade

Thanks for sharing. Great writing! Sounds like it is a wonderful unit that I would like to get my ears on one day.

BlueFox

Tom, sounds like a wonderful new toy. It's great that it fit right in with your current gear, and is working at its best. I always felt that cabling and tweaking the system is to let the gear work at its best right from the beginning. It's not to 'tune' something to fit into the system.

Enjoy.

muncybob

Great write up! While I know my budget will probably never afford a piece like this it's still enjoyable reading your review. Am looking forward to more

Erik Tracy

Thanks for sharing - nice review. Closely matches my own experiences with my SA-KI Pearl.

After you get more familiar with the unit, it would be nice for you to share your thoughts on the selectable filters for RB and SACD.

Enjoy the sonic goodness!

VR3

I'm glad you are enjoying that CDP broski!

Now... who told you... 5 years ago your weakest link was the Jolida? Who? Who Tom! :-D

treitz3

Now that time has flown by....what do you think about physical media and the Marantz now?

Be truthful and don't fib or I'll have Russ pee on your bushes (I heard he does other things for hire as well, so spill it!).

I know, I know, you have this and I have that....well, something that I need to work on with streaming but still. That's besides the point. Spill it puddin'! Talk to us...

Tom