Masrantz Sa-11S1 /w RAM Full upgrade?

Flye
We've done so much comparing over the past year. I am part of a large Audio Society up in Boston. That the conclusion is a Marantz SA-1 can never be matched by a Marantz SA-11 regardless of the secondary mods.

It's almost like saying your modified Chevrolet Camaro is going to be better than my Austin Martin V12 Vanquish -which I do own too. The Camaro is cut from a lower cloth to begin with.

Not taking anything from a Marantz SA-11 or the mod. but the SA-1 is in a much higher league of performance.

Again there is a reason why Marantz SA-1 was $7500 and very limited and not discounted. Verse the Marantz SA-11 $3500 and highly distributed and discounted to street price to about $2250 average. Marantz wanted to make there statement when introducing the SA-1 since Philips their parent company did C0-invent the technology with Sony. More or less the Marantz SA-1 was released to put the Sony SCD-1 to shame. If you looked insided a Sony SCD-1 there is nothing really special about it. Verse the Marantz SA-1 is like a work of art and best of the best in parts.

Dear Lawyerman,

Again, soooooo wrong. What is it inside the SA-1 do you understand/feel is so superior electrically versus the sa-11 or even the SCD-1 for that matter? Again, I like both machines in modded form and possible even prefer the SA-1 thus I am not biased toward the SA-11. My whole point here is that the (modded) SA-11 kills the SA-1 (stock) hands down, without any questions...something your grandma will hear.
Some Points:
-Parts quality for both machines are very equal
-Dac chips: SA-11(SM5688's) SA-1(TDA1547's) Both are nice
The problem with the SA-1 is the "fancy" multiple dac
mixing circuit which they implemented with 4 TDA1547's.
Looks good on paper though mutes resolution and
transparency.
-The SA-11 contains a far better clocking circuit over the
SA-1.
-Output Stage-SA-11 has the edge here. Much better HDAm circuitry with reduced number of coupling caps. Simply more transparent and resolving.
-Power Supplies- Equally average at best. Both use discrete voltage regulation circuits for the analog HDAM circuits. Nothing great.
Drive- Edge goes to the SA-1. Only based off the mechanical side. It is more heavy duty.
Chassis- The SA-1 weighs more.

One more point- The modded SCD-1 also kills the stock SA-1 hands down.

Best regards,

Kyle Takenaga

Don't take offense Lawyerman,but the SCD-1's construction is beyond reproach,even better than that of the SA-1.It might not be as pretty inside,but nothing on the market is better built than the SCD-1.And I've never heard that there was a consensus one was better than the other.The SA-1 having a warmer sound and SCD-1 a more detailed sound.The SCD-1 transport is still one of the better on the market and puts the SA-1's to shame,unless you consider that one of those inconsequential parts.Gary.

another reason NOT to upgrade -

Because it is "a marantz"....which are NOT exactly know for their reliability..

they do make fantastic sounding cd/sacd players.. but there are too many horror stories and actual "personal" experiences' with transports

maybe the latest models wont run into the MULTIPLE problems of the previous models..time will tell

too bad marantz doesnt make a seperate dac....i would buy one in a heartbeat...

btw,

would suggest a killer power cord and very good isolation that can be used when you change out...