I previously posted that the folks at Marantz informed me that burn-in on the 8001 "could take as long as 200 hours." I thought that was a bit much, but now that I have about that much use on it, I have to say that it's never sounded better: everything's better, including a new sparkle to the highs, a far more powerful bottom end, and a lushness to the midrange and voices. I never gave burn-in much thought before, but have to admit that it's a very real phenomenon when it comes to this unit.

I also thought that, since the CD and SACD circuitry are different, that perhaps each needed its own burn-in, and so I asked Marantz. Their response was that for CD's the recommended burn in time is 200 hours, and for SACD's it's 300 hours!

I don't have anywhere near that amount of use in listening to SACD's on the unit, but have had it running 24/7 with the unit set to "repeat" and the volume on my preamp turned all the way down, so that it can burn in on its own, without me necessarily listening to it for 72 hours straight (or more!).

And, guess what? It already sounds better, and I've still got a long, long way to go to reach that 300 hours. The dynamic range, three-dimensional soundstage and deep, throaty sound to certain instruments just keeps getting better and better. Overall, it is becoming more and more "lifelike," and "involving."

I would imagine that, if the 8001 needs this amount of burn-in, then so may many other SACD players.