I love this Marantz!

No doubt in my mind that well recorded SACD sounds better than well recorded redbook and Diana Krall's SACDs have the best fidelity of any discs I've heard.

I know if SACD sounds this good on my cheapo Sony the Marantz SA-8004 must take it to another level.

Poultry.....I have 2 Diana Krall sacd's....The look of love...and the girl in the upper room...
and they sound fantastic on the Marantz SACDP last I remember.

If there's detail to be had from the Marantz, the 2a3/OB's will squeeze out every drop.

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Originally Posted by blackraven

It was night and day comapring the 2 Marantz units and my 740c and 840c. My son, daughter and wife all said the same thing, that the Marantz did not have the high frequency detail that the others had. The Marantz sounded smoother but to mellow. My good friend has the 8001 paired with a Audio Reseach LS1 line stage tube preamp, Nuforce Model 9se monoblocks and PSB Synchrony One speakers. It has great sound in his system but is still lacking HF detail. I think it is holding his system back a little, but he loves the smoother sound.

However, stereophile gave the 8001 a class A rating. And I have to say that the unit has much better sound in SACD then CD. The SACD sound is sweet but still lacking the HF detail. I would still consider buying a used one for SACD and maybe pair it with some silver interconnects.

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Ok Raven.....I've finally made it home and plugged the Marantz back into my system. its the Marantz VC6001. Its a Universal Player that I use strictly as a SACDP. Its been a while but I am hearing it for the first time in about a year. This is the first time I have plugged it into the Vincent and am driving it with a pair of Nola Mini's which are different speakers than my Cantons. The Mini's are a warmer sound and not as big in the bottom end as the Cantons.

I am now playing Diana Kralls SACD "The girl in the upper room".

The sound is nice with tube warmness. Most certainly a different presentation than with my SS gear. Now as far as the high frequencies...they are there....and may I say, sounding good. Are they jumping out like my XRAY would do it??? No. But they are hanging in the air. Its more rounded through the tubes but its nice and smooth and warm. The high infrequence fit very well with what Marantz wants I suppose. I suspect that if I put the Cantons back in place they would be a little more pronounced. But I assure you, the sound is very engaging. So yes, the highs are there and they are sounding good. But one should also keep in mind....Cambridge has a totally different sound. I must say....this Marantz sounds really good with tubes....Shoot, I may have to consider a much better Marantz SACDP one of these days.

The Azur may be comparable to the SA-8004 playing redbook but with the Marantz playing SACD vs the Azur playing redbook it shouldn't be close. The SACD format is just better.

One reviewer who owned the 8003 and 8004 said the latest version sounds better.

Well I cant tell you about those models but I am now listening to a Vanessa Williams CD on red book through the 6001 and the sound through tubes is better than I remember with SS. Its the warmth and inner detail of the Marantz that is really good. The combination of the warm smoothness of Marantz SS and the tubes are a very good combination in my opinion. And this is only a $700 Marantz player.....Marantz Reference has to be that and a bag of chips when combined with tubed gear.

frenchie,

If you're having this much fun with a tube preamp I see a tube amp in your future.

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Originally Posted by blackraven

I did an in home audition of the 8001 and 8003. They sounded the same to me. I would bet that the 8004 sounds similar. The 8001 and 8003 lean to the warm side. They lack high frequency detail IMHO. I felt their sound was lacking the sparkle that the 740c and 840c had. Bass did not seem as tight either. I'm not saying that I did not like the sound, it was just that there were better options at the time. I believe the reference series has better sound.

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One thing I do not like about the SA8001 is if you insert a disc with both cd and sacd it will default to cd. After insertion I select sacd and start the disc. I would not think this would be an issue with sacd only discs but with two layer discs you could find yourself listening to only the cd layer.

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Originally Posted by Poultrygeist

frenchie,

If you're having this much fun with a tube preamp I see a tube amp in your future.

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I don't have a problem with that....I think Peabodys mono block CJ tubed amps are great....especially when I connected them to the Vincent.

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Originally Posted by JohnMichael

One thing I do not like about the SA8001 is if you insert a disc with both cd and sacd it will default to cd. After insertion I select sacd and start the disc. I would not think this would be an issue with sacd only discs but with two layer discs you could find yourself listening to only the cd layer.

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Now thats strange! I wonder why? Is there some setting you can select to make it default?

With the VC6001, which I don't think sounds as good as your SA8001.... if its a two layered disc with red book and SACD it will default to SACD and a red light comes on letting you know it. If you want the red book layer, you have to chose it, unless its red book only.

But in saying that...in SACD you do have to select 7.1 or 2 channel play back if you have it set up in a 7.1 or 5.1 configuration which I dont any more.

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Originally Posted by frenchmon

Now thats strange! I wonder why? Is there some setting you can select to make it default?

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I enjoy reading but rarely do I enjoy reading instruction manuals. I can rename the inputs on the Krell but I would have to crack open the instruction manual. I may just have to look.

I wonder how many people might have thought they were in SACD mode but was actually listeneing to the cd layer with the SA 8001?

Hey JM...I have been listening to the Marantz VC6001 Universal player lately in CD and SACD modes and its a nice warm sound and has a lot to offer in the mids. It has a lot of potential.

If Marantz has built upon and expanded the technology of their sound into the Reference SACDP's and I'm sure they have... it likely an outstanding emotional and romantic player. Have you ever considered getting one? I can see my self one day investing into one of the Reference SACDP.