Post by Johnno December 8, 2004 (11 of 97)
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Thanks again for the information about burn-in, Marc. The dealer said it needed a lot of time and suggested I play something through it over and over. I'm wondering whether simply leaving it on (as I will be anyway -- I've never turned my CD-7 off) is all that is needed.
What do you think?
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Post by Johnno December 8, 2004 (12 of 97)
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I forgot to mention that I rang the dealer up yesterday to tell him that the cheque was in the mail and he told me that the player would be personally delivered on Saturday morning.
I'm obviously very excited about that.
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Post by Marc P December 9, 2004 (13 of 97)
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I tend to never turn of my player. Don't think it helps with the burning in proces.
When I first got my player I left it playing for 48 hours before listening to it for the first time. And it sounded ok but not as good as it does now.
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Post by cafepeng December 10, 2004 (14 of 97)
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Johnno said:
As you've probably guessed, I put a cheque in the mail earlier last evening and should have mine by Friday. I'm not going to sell the XB940, though. I'll hook it into my other, smaller system.
Johnno, So you think the SA11 sounds better than your VSE modified XB940? Would you describe the differences as substantial? Perhaps when you have lived with the new machine for a while you could describe those differences for us. Thanks.
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Post by Johnno December 11, 2004 (15 of 97)
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cafepeng said:
Johnno, So you think the SA11 sounds better than your VSE modified XB940? Would you describe the differences as substantial? Perhaps when you have lived with the new machine for a while you could describe those differences for us. Thanks.
No, I didn't say that at all -- at least I didn't mean to. I've only just hooked the SA11 into my system, so it wouldn't be right of me to make such a bold statement so early in the piece. However, I will say that even at this early stage the sound the SA11 produces is enormously rich and full, while the top end has both smoothness and extension, with strings and percussion such as cymbals sounds wonderfully realistic.
I wil report back after a fortnight or so of running in.
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Post by Johnno December 11, 2004 (16 of 97)
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One thing I wasn't aware of until the carton arrived on Friday evening was just how big the player is. It's HUGE! When I saw it at the dealers it was sitting in a closed-in shelf so I could only see its front panel. It's also pretty heavy although, from memory, not as heavy as my CD-7 (which I haven't handled since I set it up some years ago). I staggered out to my listening room with it -- and then found I had to reorganise half my other gear because the player is so deep (over 350 mm), although it's only slightly wider than my XB940. I eventually got it all sorted out (after about two hours) and I'm very pleased with it's positioning now.
I meant to mention previously that the Paray/Chabrier MLP was the first SACD I played through the SA-11S1 and was immediately struck by the wonderful ambience of the recording. The redbook CD doesn't appear to convey that ambience to anything like the same degree. This is also perhaps one characteristic of recordings that the XB940 didn't project quite as well as I had expected, although I must add that the VSE modification made an appreciable difference and improved noticeably on the original in that area.
I probably haven't made it clear that the only reason I decided to consider purchasing another SACD player was the concern I had for the transport in my XB940. It seemed to me that the SA-11 would -- hopefully -- put an end to any such problems. Sonically, I was extremely happy with the XB940, although I have to say that it's quite possible I might find that the SA-11 discloses hidden depths in recordings that I have been previously unaware of. Time will tell. I had also considered the DV9500 for the provision of the Dolby Headphone Technology, although I have to admit that my enthusiasm for that cooled somewhat after a discussion on it here and I guess it's SACD performance wouldn't begin to match that of the SA-11S1 anyway.
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Post by Timpani December 15, 2004 (17 of 97)
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I received my SA-11S1 just over a week ago. It replaces a 2.5 year old SA-12S1 after on-going processor problems forced the local importer to give me a replacement machine. Most of my listening is 2 channel so I didn't mind too much about losing the multi channel capability, particularly if the new machine could play stereo redbook and SACD with superior fidelity. Being equipped with the latest CFB HDAMs and slightly higher spec DACs, my first listening session was not without expectation. Fresh out of the box it was immediately obvious that the SA-11 was superior to the SA-12. I flicked through an assortment of both SACDs and CDs, and all were presented with a degree of natural effortless and refinement that is beyond anything I've yet heard in my system. The bass is totally rock solid and free of false bloom and roundness. Mids seem to have an uncanny real warmth and a comlete lack of upper mid glare that can be a blight on so many other fine players. Treble is totally free of grain, although straight out of the box it was just a little exuberant. After a week of normal use the treble has melted back into harmonic perspective, and if sweetness and purity are qualities you like at the top then the SA-11 will deliver all you could ever want. Actually, it's not that the sa-11 is generating anything false at all, it's what it isn't generating that makes this player so special. There's absolutely no glare, grain or hardness and the net result is the unveiling of more overall detail than I've previously thought possible. On SACD it comes as close to matching LP as I've yet heard, although I'm still hearing the 'SACD' signature, which manifests itself as a slight congealing of cymbals, strings and other fast transients. This is not a feature of the SA-11 because I've noted this on every other of the many SACD players that I've auditioned. That aside, the SACD performance is really awesome and the sa-11 is capable of generating massive width and depth of stage, and a space around instruments that you could almost drive your car around. This review is beginning to sound like a big sales pitch, so I should balance things by stating that no player is perfect and I'm quite sure that some high end mag reviewers will correctly identify ultra expensive players that can deliver 'more' on redbook. However, unless my ears are lying I believe that the SA-11 is very possibly the new benchmark for 'SACD' at any price, and its redbook performance high enough to alone warrant the reasonable but still considerable price tag. For me, what sets this player aside from other so called high end players though is that it's actually a real pleasure to listen to. During the past few days I have listened to the nearest thing to the 'invisible' CD player, and the next several months are well and truly booked out as I rediscover my 20 year CD collection.
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Post by Johnno December 15, 2004 (18 of 97)
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Sounds like we've started up an SA11-S1 Admiration Society!
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Post by monotone December 17, 2004 (19 of 97)
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Timpani said:
I received my SA-11S1 just over a week ago. It replaces a 2.5 year old SA-12S1 after on-going processor problems forced the local importer to give me a replacement machine.
Hi Timpani
What sort of problems did u have with the SA12-S1?
I'm currently having some problems with the player too... it doesn't like DTS music disc... giving a nasty 'pop' sound and misses the begining of each track (not really an issue as I dont really like DTS music disc since SACD came to the scene), and recently, the front panel buttons fail to work after being left idle for awhile... and it's the only player in the Marantz SACD range that doesn't like the Chord 64 DAC...
It's taking Marantz over 4 months now to solve the issues... yet to be resolved...
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Post by Timpani December 19, 2004 (20 of 97)
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Hi Monotone,
The problems that you're experiencing are a bit different to those of my player but the root cause is possibly the same. Processor problems have apparently plagued the SA-12 as well as the Philips SACD 1000, which is almost the same player but in a Philips box. The symptoms can be (and usually are) different from player to player. In the case of my player, the symptoms manifested themselves as sporadic and illogical commands being sent to the transport mechanism. Most commonly it caused the mechanism to wind up to almost supersonic velocity before ejecting the disc, often still spinning at high speed. This often occurred while the player was idle. I did also note during and after such an episode that none of the control buttons worked and I had to switch the player off at the main switch and back on again before the logic functions would respond. Like your player, mine was also in and out of service over a long period and the experience was extremely frustrating. I hope in your case that they're able to find the cause ASAP but it may pay to ask the dealer / importer if they're aware of processor issues. For the record , my local Marantz importer is in Melbourne (Australia), and trades under the name 'Qualify'.
Regards,
Timpani
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