Marantz SA-10

cmach

Thank you for the quick reply to my query. Any comparison between those 2 Marantz players would be very interesting. Also of interest, would be Dan's position when he chose to offer his modifications to an already very good (performance/price-point) SA-8005. Another thought, it would be pretty cool if Marantz obtained a modded-SA8005, then, built /designed the newer SA-10 Reference player.  Not many of you guys own a Modwright 8005. I wonder how many Dan built? Are mods/repairs still available via Dan?

I have a staked interest as well because I own a Marantz SA-11S2 Reference player.  No doubt an Esoteric or Luxman spinner would offer stiff competition.

Luxman is in full comeback mode, although, this company does discontinue their players a little too fast for my disposition.

At this level, it all comes down to preference or brand taste. Staying tuned...

Happy Listening!

I’m not a fan of the Marantz house sound.  I used to own the (unmodded) 8005, sold it because imho the treble was m.i.a.  Fwiw when I heard the SA-10 at a dealer a few years ago it sounded like the 8005 with more expensive casework.

I put my bias about Marantz out there so you can contextualize my opinion.  I would at least try to explore some competitors, hopefully in your own system, before pulling the trigger

I don’t know about your Modwright player but I own a Marantz SA 10 and my previous player was an Esoteric KO1. The Marantz is better in about every perameter which really surprised me. A great value for the $.

I had Marantz SA-7003 which I don’t like. It uses similar D/A converter (CS4398) and output stage like the SA-8005. Now I have 2 units of Marantz SA-10 in different systems.

SA-10 is not SA-8005 with expensive case. There is no D/A converter from other makers. Instead, Marantz developed their own FC-PGA based Marantz Musical Mastering (MMM) which up samples all signals to DSD 4x and sent to analog output stage after passive filters. The designer, the late Ken Ishiwata, said DSD 4x is already an analog signal.

The SA-8005 Modwright mods do not change the D/A inside.

After having SA-10 for few months, I stopped using my analog rig which costs 4x of SA-10. SA-10 can also be used as a DAC. It’s XMOS-based USB audio interface implementation is very good and has USB ground galvanic isolation.

SA-10 can compete with much more expensive SACD players. SA-10 excels with SACD/DSD files. To the poster, I suggest you give a try. There is no need to modify the SA-10. However, please take note the SA-10 needs long time to break in.

hamr

Thank You for the SA-10 vs. Esoteric KO1 comparison. I have not auditioned the SA-10 (on my short-list), but have spent time with the Esoteric DV-50/DV-60 players and enjoyed their SACD playback only.

Happy Listening!