First, let me clear the air.

If you get this player, and your sound is bad, it's NOT the Marantz, sorry.

This baby is so sweet, "Bad" is a word that can't Truthfully be found
ANYWHERE in the Performance of this player.

Perhaps, your other equipment, does not match up.

I have the SA-11S2 with the Level-2 Mod.

Out of the box, cold, this player exceeded my previous setup, which was
to my wife, "the best " she said she "ever heard"

Given, my wife is not an Audio lover in the least bit, makes this next statement all the
more incredible.

It was my wife, that actually called Walter and ordered my player, to my complete

How is that for spousal Audio support? (clever girl!)

Surprise! I was floored, I am still in Shock!


Simply Put:

This player is Built like the Battleship Mo. with an artful touch that is beautiful to me eyes.

I only mention this, as typically I go for "Performance" over looks, so I really scored here.


It just does everything Better than Any other player in "my" system.

Since that is ALL that really matters to me.

We ALL hear very different, music is a very Personal experience.

So like the clothes we wear, our Audio tells much about who we are.

But when my wife stops what she is doing, comes in and sits down to listen,

and exclaims "Boy, it is Better, than ever!" after years of listening, and never saying

barely anything.

I have to take notice,since all these years, and she rarely says anything about Audio.

This player is something very special, no doubt about it.


I have heard so many players, and they All are fantastic players, but

only one can be that "Perfect" Match to your system.

With my PS AUDIO GCA amps. and PCA-2 &HCPS and the

Best PS Audio Perfect wave power cords, and XLR's cords used.

I could not Dream of better Synergy between everything.
This is the Definition of "Synergy" no doubt.


I Always dreamed of owning a "Perfect" Source, if there is such a thing.

For me, it is this Marantz!

Dreams Do Come True!

Mine Has!

Saul, I know you would be proud.


Players heard:
Sony many
Denon many
Esoteric
Wadia
Spectral
DCS
others...



Love Your Music!




I know I am!

1)Solid and Rigid design to minimized the vibration.
2)Smooth tray movement.
3)Sound Clear, Detail with rich bass.
4)Having 3 sound setting to suit everyone's preference.
5)With Balanced and Unbalanced output for better sound connection.
6)SACD Playback is more smoother and detail in the mid/high region.

1)SACD only provides stereo playback, no multichannel playback capability.
2)The mid should sound more lively when compared with Ayre Cx7e and Cary 306 SACD.

This CD/SACD player is, when comparing dollar to dollar, could hardly find a competitor at this pricing.
It sounds detail, lively and with good bass presentation. For SACD the sound feels more smoother.

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP507ESD, Sony CDP338ESD, Marantz CD6002

natural sound like music sounds like.Not overblown . this is a player for true audiophiles, people who listen to the music not the equipment. Engages you in the music, you move your feet with the music.,,. As said in previous reviews buy it.
It is the best value in cd/sacd pleyer even at full list price. Built like a tank,weighs 30 lbs. Chassis is copper plated.looks gorgeous, all buttons link to relays..Sounds even better

on SACD playpack, you can notice transport noise at the beginning of the Disc on quiet
passage or between tracks. This is my second unit, both exhibit same behavior

This is one unbelievable cd, sacd player. It upgraded my system from good to outstanding., just by changing the source. Sound on redbook cd is amazing: bass is deaper, highs are clearer, sound state is wide and accurate. As good as cd soound,is SACD is at another level even higher.! I always thought my system was good, but it missed something and Sa11 provided it. Music comes to life, but in a natural sounding way. It sounds like music.

My System : Acurus A250/ Yamaha cx2. Yamaha px-3 with grace f9e. Yamaha tx950
Infinity Reference Standard II .

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 63SE, retired, Rega Apollo. Rotel RCD1072,neither sounded much better than my 63se.

NONE..!!! Other than nice looking player.....and killer remote...

Too many to mention....!! lacks Bass..Lacks focus.. lacks depth..!! Sounds like my old portable Sony Walkman....from 15 years ago...What a true disappointment..!!!

Maybe one the Worst CD players I have ever owned..and I have owned some of the best.( Wadia, Sony SCD-1, Arcam 23, Linn Karick).. Has no focus..No depth ..and worst of all..Muddy..!!! Playing thru custom Horn rig, Krell Pam-1 preamp and Accuphase mono Amps...What disappointment..!!! Had Marantz CD23 which was much better than this..I don't get it ..!!! There is nothing to rave about here...Switched over to Goldmund Dac thru Old Marantz DV-8300 transport...And what an improvement..!!!!....Please reconsider before making this purchase...Give a listen if you can.....You maybe sorry..!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

wadia..Sony SCD-1...Linn Karick

All the options in the filtes allows the player to get the most of your good or not quite as good recordings. SACD is a bonus, for the few titles out there.

I think I would have to spend far more to find a so called one.

I had been going through a series of upgrades on my two channel system as I had been not so keen on the musical performance of my system. I had been using an Arcam CD72 as my CD source and had always felt it was becoming and anchor to my system.

First listened to an Arcam CD33 and had that old phrase pop in my head “You only get a fractional improvement of sound for the multiples of dollars spent”. It was only marginally better then CD72, unconvincing of the cost of upgrade. The dealer had then placed the Musical Fidelity A5 in the system and I was quickly impressed by the player and felt that it had brought enough to the table to consider cost. The dealer also had the Cary CD303/200 in the room, which in itself proved to be quite competent, but had a different perspective over the MF. The Cary had a stronger dynamic range, while the MF provided some more midrange prominence. If I had spent a bit more time, it would have been fun picking out the difference in presentations of these two very good players.

The Marantz came out last, but had become my first choice. Bass was deep and taut, horns sound that fully rounded out, with highs coming in clearly with better dimension. Cymbals and high hats had gone from being in the mix to being there.

The fact this it was balanced made my decision easier as my Pass Labs amp and preamp would allow me to get the best of the balanced outputs.

Superb sound, crystal clear top end, extremely musical and lets you just listen to the music and not just your hifi.

Wish it had a sturdier top plate/lid. That's it!

My previous CD player was a Naim CDX, it was getting a bit long in the tooth and I was looking at a replacement CD player which would last me another 5 years, not so much an upgrade but something as good as and would be brand new.
I was happy with the CDX as it performed faultlessly and I liked the sound so when I started auditioning different CD players from £1500-2k I wasn't expecting much of (if any) an improvement. Cd players I demonstrated included AVI Lab series, Naim CD5X, Primare and musical Fidelity CD5 (?). All of which were very good and I would have happily lived with, but then they brought in the Marantz SA-15S1, it was superb. This was the only player out of the above that actually got my feet tapping. The top end was crystal clear, bass was taught and deep and it was more musical than the Naim!. Where it did lose out was overall smoothness.

After borrowing the SA-15S1 for a week I decided to go for the top of the range SA-11S1, as this should give me the smoothness of the Naim as well as the Sa15's attributes.It did, and more!

Initially plugging in the SA-11S1 it became clear that it was far smoother than the SA15S1 with deeper bass (Again!) and overall a more analogue feel to the sound, but it wasn't all good.
These Cd players need burning in, the SA11's bass is uncontrolled for the first week, in fact you could describe it as flabby. I put it on repeat for a week 24/7 and things tightened up considerably.This is a gorgeous sounding CD player.
I bought this as a Red Book player and it excells at this, I now own 4 SACD's as things improve still further, basically the sound gets nearer to a lush turntable sound on SACD, everything is a lot smoother.I have to add at this point, that as with CD's there are rough sounding SACD's out there but get good well recorded DSD and it's sublime.
All I wanted was a repplacement of similar quality for the same money and I got a LOT more, just goes to show how tecnology is advancing on a rapid scale.

I would definitely recomend the SA-11S1 to anyone wanting a CD player at this price level the SACD ability is an added bonus as I'm not confident in the longevity of this medium, but it's worth £2k as a red book Cd player alone.

Build quality is superb, almost Wadia territory apart from the top lid which feels flimsy and needs damping compared to the rest of the player.

Sensitive to mains quality, it pays to get a half decent mains cable as it improves leaps and bounds!!!!

Customer Service

System used:
Manley Labs Stingray Valve integrated
Meadowlark Shearwater Hot Rods
Base Equipment Rack
Posh Cables

Similar Products Used:

AVI Laboratory series
Musical Fidelity CD5 (A5? not sure)
Naim CDX5
Naim CDX
Primare

The best ever SACD. Better CD than the CD7.

Are you kidding. This is a tour de force.

This is not a conventional review listing audio attributes. If you love accuracy, buy this player; if you love spine tingling sensations, buy this player; if you weep when you are happy, buy this player; if you can find one, buy this player. Don't quibble, don't vacilate but this player. Think I'm crazy? No way Hose!

Similar Products Used:

Krell KPS 20i, Marantz CD 7, Naim CDS 3, Linn LP12

Music Music Music Bass is very deep and strong. Very nice player to operate.

NONE

This is the best CDP or SACD player I have ever used. It has no trouble loading SACD or it does not take 60 seconds to load a SACD like my old Sony SCD-1 did. This was a big improvement over my SCD-1 in the cd play back and it was a little better in the SACD department. The remote for once on a high end product is very good. Hats off to Marantz.

Similar Products Used:

Sony SCD-1 Cary 306/200 BAT Krell sacd.

Undigital sound, full bodied and warm. All the detail and resolution is there as well with SACD or CD discs.

Flimsy plastic disc tray. Small from panel buttons. No remote power up, off or standbye. Display characters too small. Apparent reversed polarity at balanced analog outs.

Marantz's new reference class SACD/CD player (2 channel) only is a pricey but top performing digital disc player. I've been playing the digital disc game since 1984 and this is the best sounding player I have heard in 20+ years. It has a full warm sound that is decidely undigital. I compared this unit head to head with my Sony XA777ES ($3000msrp). The Sony is a multichannel SACD/CD player. I owned the original SCD777ES before the XA. The XA was a sonic improvement over the SCD and the Marantz is an improvement over the XA. The Marantz has balanced analog outs as well as single ended. Note the balanced outs are apparently polarity reversed from most US gear. I swapped the pins around on a pair of XLO Sig XLR cables to get the "correct" pin config. Even with reversed polarity the balanced mode just walks all over the single ended presentation. Comparing the Sony and Marantz using single ended IC's revealed very little difference in sound. With the Marantz's balanced connections it was like comparing apples and oranges.

Similar Products Used:

Sony SCD777ES, Sony XA777ES, Mark LEvinson 37/360S

Looks a million dollars Tremendous performance / price ratio Close to the best SACD performance you're likely to find from any player at any price and about redbook performance is not far behind.

The remote control is a different color to the player and the buttons are so thin and close together that anyone with large fingers will have problems. The buttons on the player are laid out for looks and not functionality and are also too small.

This new Marantz player seems to be the best yet from Marantz. On 2 channel CD / SACD player it's definitely superior to my previous SA-12S1. The treble reproduction is amazingly detailed yet ultra smooth and free from grain or glare and the midrange is the best I've heard from CD. These qualities apply equally to CD and SACD, but SACD opens the door to even greater resolution and on many recordings my listening room is now being filled with the natural ambience from the recording venue to an extent I've not heard before. Bass is resoundingly solid and free from the bloom or fatness that's present in many players, even at this price point. The 3 filter options are of some use on CD. Filter 1 gives a more laid back presentation which makes overly bright recordings more listenable while option 3 will bring out the best from the best cd masters. Option 2 seems to veil the treble detail and is best avoided. Filter 1 seems to be the most natural on SACD but there's less difference between the 3 options than with CD. The CD noise shaping option is particularly usefull with classical recordings as it's able to help extract more of the low level ambience. On some popular albums the noise shaping can add a small amount of harshness so experimentation is recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz SA-12S1 Meridian 508.24