WAITING FOR THE LATEST PURCHASE TO ARRIVE- ELECTROCOMPANIET EMP-1/S SACD-CD PLAYER

As some of you may know, I purchased a used Marantz SA 1 SACD player for a low price not too long ago.  I knew it needed work; the display was black, and the player wasn't reading discs correctly.  I repaired it, then chose to refurbish it a bit with new audio caps and new power supply caps.  It really is a fantastic-sounding player.  Despite its age (20 - 25 years old), it will outperform much newer SACD players costing $2000 - $4000, but the SA 1 was, after all, $7500 new, but again, long ago!

I just did something, and I hope that I didn't make a mistake.  If I did, it could easily be fixed.  I bought a 10-year-old Electrocompaniet ECP-1/S SACD-CD Player.  It includes the factory remote, it's in very nice condition, guaranteed to be fully-functional, and it was very highly praised by TONEAUDIO magazine.  

HOW IT HAPPENED: While the SA 1 is working fine now, and I did find 2 brand new lasers for it, I am concerned due to the age of the unit and the fact that, Marantz does not have a single part available for this player.  I realize it's a disc player, but it was $7500.  One would think that they'd keep a few key parts around for such a premium product.  The Marantz Parts Policy, as I was told, when the model has been out of production for 10 years, they dispose of the parts.  I asked him to verify "dispose".  He made it clear that it means "throwing the parts away".  Just between you, me, and the fencepost, I think that's nuts.  It is, however, a phenomenal-sounding player in its current refurbished status, seriously threatening the analog dominance currently present (which totals $18K).  That is really saying something!

The Electrocompaniet player (moving forward, the ECP-1S) was offered in both stereo and surround versions.  The surround version was over $9000 new, and the stereo version was over $8000 new.  It was said by Jeff Dorgay of TONEAUDIO magazine that unless you had a truly extraordinary analog system, this player will do fine.  He also did comparisons against a $15K Wadia 781SE and the SimAudio Moon 750 at around $13K through his reference system, and said between the three, it was a matter of taste, with the ECP-1 offering a more "analog" kind of sound.

Another reviewer for TONEAUDIO stated that the ECP-1 exceeded his reference player, an Ayre 5xemP, for ease of the sound, grainlessness, dynamics, bass slam, and low-level detail retrieval.

I cannot ignore this.  So, the player I bought was a killer deal.  We'll see how it sounds.  I know that if nothing else, WORST case, I can get my money back out of it.  It does offer balanced outputs (which is great).  It doesn't weigh anywhere near what the Marantz does, but the Marantz SA-1's weight is largely due to overbuilding of the chassis.  If it were put in a normal chassis, I wouldn't be surprised if the weight dropped by 50%.

This was a chance to get into something newer for a very reasonable price that may just sound superior.  THAT is what I'll be finding out.  I will, for the sake of a good time, keep updating this post as things go along.

JUST A NOTE: Before purchasing, I did check on parts availability.  They have parts!!  Laser assemblies, transports, and entire replacement boards.  If I keep this player, just to be safe, I will be purchasing a couple of spare lasers.