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

I usually do. Brain farts happen man.

Tom

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

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

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.

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.