Marantz SC 11 S1 Pre amp

Wow, I sure can stimulate discussion...

...anyone?

Thanks for the input Zormi. I am surprised that no one here seems to have any experience with either of these. I recently purchased the Sc 11 s1 and am just now getting a chance to use it.

So far,I'm impressed. It isnt broken in yet, but i'm really impressed with the amount of fine detail it presents. It does not sound "solid state", tho it is a little "drier" than my tube pre. The soundstage is not as wide,but again, it is still breaking in. The unit is gorgeous to look at and built like the proverbial brick shit house! It seems "quicker " than my other pre, and really does a great job of presenting the leading edge of sounds and separating instruments without being cold or clinical. In a nut shell, I am quite impressed so far,and having been using tube pre's the last 20 years, I must admit that I am surprised by what I have heard so far. I' will update in the future if you would like.

Oh yea Zormi, i meant to add that I simply called Markertek and had them make me a set of XLR cable with the pins reversed on one end. Custom 2 ft. length with, high quality Canare cable w/ neutrik connectors for about $52.00!

Daco, doing that would reverse the polarity of my phono and any other source...

Twang, the phono stage is excellent. At least the MM section that I am using is,have not tried the MC. This was not a mere add- on,it is quiet, fast and dynamic. On the new Neil Young re-issue there is a drum stroke in one song (cant remember offhand which song,only played it once so far)that literally made me jump up in my seat,sounded like it was right in front of me. An APO pressing of Count Basie had everyone in the house swinging, my son even came out of his room to check out the album and sat down and listened intently for awhile before remarking how "cool" it was. I am very happy with this pre so far.

Meant to say the re-issue of "Harvest"

I would love to try the SA11-S2 just for the fact that aesthetically it would look beautiful with the pre compared to the black Sony 5400.From what I've read it seems that most people regard it highly,and assuming its built as well as the pre I bet it's quite impressive.

Zear, I no longer own it. Though I still think it is an excellnt pre amp, after a year and a half with it I found it lacking the tube magic I had become accustomed to for the prior 20 years, so I sold it and went back to a tubed pre. The phono section in the Marantz I found to be excellent, and the unit as a whole was clean, fast and dead quiet.I could live with it happily if need be, but I guess that I will always prefer a tubed unit.