Marantz's high end offerings have impressed us in the past. The new line gets away from the unique gold styling that so caught our eye for the more traditional black with blue lights that has been adopted by just about everyone. According to Marantz, they have a "silk-black" finish but that may not be enough to have this gear stand out. The SA-KI Pearl SACD Player is a $3,000 unit that can play stereo SACDs, CD, and CD-R/RW and is compatible with CD-DA, MP3, and WMA files. Of course, the unit is completely overbuilt but is it enough to justify the cost?
Discuss "Marantz SA-KI Pearl SACD Player" here. Read the article.
I know. I wonder if you can tell the difference between its sound and the sound from my $170 Oppo. Hmmmmmm.... It'd be cool as heck to see any number of double-blind listening tests along that line.
Tests I'd like to see done:
Can you tell the difference between an Oppo and a device like this Marantz? (Don't get me wrong, I think Marantz is da bomb, but I just wonder sometimes about where the line of diminishing returns is).
Can you hear the difference a $2000 power cord makes?
Or a $2000 interconnect?
Or super-expensive speaker wire?
Of course, you can also buy their $50 compilation CD. At least when I registered my B&Ws, I got the compilation disk for free.
Here's what I want to see Marantz do, speaking in terms of them being iconoclastic designers: bring back that totally awesome horizontal tuning dial on their receivers. That was cool.
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Pioneer Elite VSX-82TXS, Oppo DV-980H, B&W 603 s3, B&W LCR 600, NHT 1.3A, and a honkin' huge Sony RPTV (oh, yeah, and some other stuff, too)
Last edited by cwall99 : 07-01-2009 at 02:57 PM.
Reason: Fixed a typo
I know. I wonder if you can tell the difference between its sound and the sound from my $170 Oppo. Hmmmmmm.... It'd be cool as heck to see any number of double-blind listening tests along that line.
Tests I'd like to see done:
Can you tell the difference between an Oppo and a device like this Marantz? (Don't get me wrong, I think Marantz is da bomb, but I just wonder sometimes about where the line of diminishing returns is).
Can you hear the difference a $2000 power cord makes?
Or a $2000 interconnect?
Or super-expensive speaker wire?
Of course, you can also buy their $50 compilation CD. At least when I registered my B&Ws, I got the compilation disk for free.
Here's what I want to see Marantz do, speaking in terms of them being iconoclastic designers: bring back that totally awesome horizontal tuning dial on their receivers. That was cool.
The dial was very cool. But the real killer feature was the oscilloscope on the high end tuners like the 10b and the 20. I always wanted one of those. Trouble was, by the time I could afford them, FM was so bad compared to CDs, and the programming (at least around Boston) was just awful, so what was the point?
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Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver, Oppo BDP-83 universal disc player, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1, Luxman PD272 turntable, Denon DL-160 cart, Directv HD-DVR, Apple TV, Old Sony Hi-Fi VCR, Martin Logan Vista (main speakers), Martin Logan Vignette (center channel), (2) Martin Logan Abyss subwoofers, Allison CD6 (side surrounds), Infinity RS1000 (rear surrounds), Sennheiser HD 600 headphones, lots of bass trapping; Real Traps and Ultra Touch "home brew".
how would this new Marantz SA-KI Pearl compare with the Sony SCD-XA5400ES, sound wise? since the Pearl have no XLR or MCH via HDMI like the Sony, please compare sound quality via RCAs.
i know the Pearl has MP3, CD-DA, and wav support while the Sony has DSD support.
imho, usd$3k is no small change but certainly not BIG buck for the Marantz, but the Sony at usd$1.5k seems to be a better deal.
I had an a/v dealer tell me the other day that the Yamaha RX-V3800 sounds a lot better with the blue power cord, I asked how much it was and he said he'd make me a deal at $100 or something. I laughed on inside and said "really?, gotta go to work now".
Help me out here. I checked my calendar and I see that today is not April 1st. I also checked the year on my calendar while I was there and it was not 1999. If today were April 1st, I could understand the article. If the year were 1999, I could understand the product. This would be state of the art in 1999.
Seriously, a few common audio formats and stereo SACD only??? For $3K??? DVD/SACD players for a few hundred bucks have more capabilities than this and I'm sure offer equivalent sound quality.
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Dave.
Dynaudio Focus 140, Era D5 LCR Center + Era D3 surrounds, SVS PB12-Plus, Integra DTC 9.8, Rotel RMB-1075, Toshiba Regza 52", Bell HD-PVR Satellite, Panasonic BD35, Escient Fireball, SMS-1, Panamax 5300EX.
That is the sort of vanity product with NO merit, catering to fools with more money than sense.
The only benefit of SACD over CD is the ability to handle more than two channels. An opportunity this unit seems to pass up for tweaks of no proven benefit.
This is just the sort of unit that needs to sit on the shelves, so that Marantz and there ilk, can go to work and really develop innovative products in the customer's interest.
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Marantz DV 9600 Rotel 1098 Quad Direct TV HD 20 HD DVR Carter audio workstation RME Fireface 800 Fujitsu 50XHA40 Front left and right Carter dual transmission line studio monitors MK II. Center Carter coaxial transmission line center speaker Rear Carter NFM-1s Center backs Carter dual transmission line studio monitors MK I. My system: - http://mdcarter.smugmug.com/gallery/...27077317_Pufg7
I do not think I am the target audience when this runs twice as much as I bought my car for, 5 years ago...
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My Budget Setup Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR506, Subwoofer: Dayton SUB-120, Mains: Infinity Beta 20, Center: Infinity Beta C250, Surround: Onkyo Mains
Sony Upconvert DVD player, Xbox 360, Directv, XBMC on Xbox Original, all Monoprice cables
Marantz SA-KI Pearl SACD Player
Linear Mode
