I have the marantz sa8260, had the same drawbacks of toc mistake but I found a solution in sacd.net me and reads all cd, sacd and cd - r smoothly, I can say that it is a well built, very musical machine operational HDAM get along with my denon avr4306 great sound and low cost since other players are high-priced sacd

price paid:US$207
Purchased At: local retailer

Very good sonics
Warm tones
Solidly built
Nice look
Both 5.1 and 2-channel

Reported disk read problems

I must admit I've been out of the game the last few years. I've been sticking with Ipod and MP3 downloads only used my "system" for watching movies. I got back into CDs recently and decided to try out the SACD format. Many of the more expensive SACD players only have 2-channel outputs, so I decided to give the 8260 a shot even with the reported TOC problems.

Let me put it this way, the sound in both SACD and Redbook formats are amazing. The sonics are warm and not tiring, even through my modest Marantz receiver. SACD muti-channel and stereo are superb, and my crappiest Redbook CDs still came alive as if I was listening to them the first time many moons ago.

I'm sure there are much better players than the SA8260, but for its price range, it definitely earns its Class A rating. For 2-channel SACD, you may want its more expensive brothers. For Redbook, you may want to also consider the Onkyo DX-7555, which I almost bought. But it's well worth it if you want both SACD multi-channel and stereo.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz DV7600

Build,musicality.

None so far.

This review is for the SA-8001. This product has absolutely re-awakened my interest and enthusiasm in music. As a basic CD player the 8001 is as good as I have heard. Deep clean bass, smooth mid range and very natural top end provides detail that is hard to describe. Playing all my old CD's and hearing ,or should I say noticing things I hadn't been aware of before. Hearing the individual voices of background singers for example that previously weren't distinct, but rather blended. As I am new to SACD's I really can't compare other than to say the sound is awesome.Anyone considering this type of product should definiteley audition the SA-8001

Similar Products Used:

Marantz CD 67SE, Arcam CD72T

Resolution, Imaging, Warmth.

Can't get it to work all the time.

This player sounds fantastic. I have no real complaints there. The imaging and resolution are great. I have had some problems with playback. After I got it, I started having issues reading stuff. To make a long story short, the thing has been fixed twice under warranty so far. I say so far, because after geting it back for the second time about 2 weeks ago, it is starting to show the same problems again. Hopefully marantz will resolve this issue somehow. I am a professional musician, and rely on this player to be able to listen to pieces I need to play on upcoming performances. It is a major hassle to have to listen to Mahler in the car to hear something in the piece.

Customer Service

Good response from Marantz, but the service centers can't seem to get it to work properly.

RBCD sounds remarkably good that SACD is just an added bonus.

It takes about 5 seconds to read titles of SACDs. Not abig deal but figured I would mention it.

Im reviewing this brand new SA8001 I purchased from American Theater thru Audiogon.
This unit is a huge imrovement for me over my Yamaha CDC-845, I've played with a cheap Sony SACD player before and decided SACD format wasnt worth my money. Well in this hobby you'll get what you pay for 95% of the time. This Marantz didnt have that harsh sound Sony provided. Sound is silky smooth. I'm a vinyl guy but this player allows me to enjoy my CDs.

I thought I would take a chance on this player and if I didnt like it I would return it or sell it on Agon for around $700. I'm keeping it.

Good bass, dynamics; good soundstaging; absolutely neutral timbre; handsome cosmetics

Confusing, cheap looking remote

This review covers the new SA8001. Rrosev is absolutely correct - I also have an LP12 and the two sound remarkably alike. In the SA8001 Marantz has made significant refinements. Having had both 8260 and 8001 in my system, I can say the latter outperforms the former in all categories except transparency. Though quite good within their price class, neither machine is really all that transparent when compared to the best. But the 8001 at least has decent bass, timbre and dynamics, and reads TOC properly. The transport also runs quieter. The 8260 is a respectable $1K player, but the new 8001 tromps the competition. It outperforms the Rotel, comparably priced Vincent, and virtually all of the British competition, and is on par with most $1.5K-$2K machines. If weight is any indication of quality, this player weighs 17 lb and sports a toroidal power transformer much bigger than the measly e-core in the 8260; in fact it is almost as big as the one in the SA14 and SA11. The only under $1K player I prefer to the 8001 is the Jolida JD100A, but 8001 sounds flatter and has better bass. This has got to be the last word in solid state CD players under $1K.

Customer Service

No service needed yet

Similar Products Used:

Arcam, Rotel, Sony, Cambridge

resolution of both redbook and SACD playback
preserving the coherency of musical phrasing
preserving the wide range of musical articulation
wide-frequency extremes
tight and tuneful bass
vocals - both male and female
cymbals reproduction

bass slam and fullness
high sound pressure, particular the explosions of drum sets and the bass drum

If you are having TOC error problems with your 8260, I recommend the Marantz sa-8001. If you find that the difference in performance between redbook and SACD playback of your 8260 is too great, I recommend the Marantz sa-8001. If you find that the dynamic range on your 8260 does not reflect the reality of live performaces, I recommend the Marantz sa-8001. If you find the 8260 tonally too sweet and wish for more realistic timbre reproduction, I recommend the Marantz sa-8001. I listen mostly to live music in halls with great acoustics. The Marantz line of cd players are the few CD players I can tolerate listening to for an extended period of time, and I find that the Marantz CD player approximate the analog playback of my updated Linn Sondek setup. The 8001 comes the closest to my turntable, lacking only its richness of colors and weight in soundstage of a full orchestra.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 8260
Cal Audio Icon II
Krell 300CD
Rage Planet

Beautiful DSD playback
Good CD transport
Reads most discs OK once serviced

Occasional vibration noise when loading and initial reading
service issues
unexceptional CD playback

This is a follow-up to the review I posted in late 2004. I've lived with this unit much longer now, and have replaced a lot of gear downstream (mostly). So I have a better picture of its strengths and weaknesses. First, the issue with disc reading that was mentioned by numerous others, in this forum and elsewhere. My problems seemed to begin with a MoFi SACD of Bela Fleck's "Drive," which the 8260 just couldn't handle. Within six weeks, all disc reading functions worsened and eventually it wouldn't read anything. Still under warranty, sent it to the service center in Illinois. Very quick turnaround; they returned the player and it is working OK now -- except that about a month after it came back, it stopped reading that one MoFi disc again! (Interesting how many other 8260 users have had troubles with discs from the same mf'er.)

Soundwise I have determined that CD Redbook playback is nothing to write home about. I am now using the 8260 as a transport for my CDs, outputting digital to the familiar Musical Fidelity X-DACv3 plus tubestage and independent power supply. The different is not subtle, as they say. Much more detail, dynamic quickness, warmth, et al with the Musical Fidelity electronics. I still enjoy SACD, especially multichannel, through the 8260. I now have Parasound Halo electronics and Von Schweikert VR4-jr's plus complementary center, backs, to hear these sounds. The 8260 is probably not the last word in SACD playback either, but it definitely reveals the superiority of DSD. My only worry is what to replace this unit with, once it goes off warranty and the disc reading problems begin again in earnest -- which seems inevitable.

Customer Service

quick, effective service from Marantz center in Illinois
good advice from StereoTypes

Similar Products Used:

Integra universal players
Marantz DV 6400

This is a follow up review for my SA8400:

Finally, I had no choice but give it to my local Marantz repair service; the list of unreadable CDs was alarmingly growing, while I noticed the drive of the player started to noisily vibrate during the TOC reading error process.

The problem in my player was quickly identified and fixed ( faulty driver mechanism) .
But the best surprise had yet to come: the local Marantz office ( I live in Europe) finally accepted to take my player under warranty, eventhough it has been purchased in Asia.

For once, this is a happy end story and I wanted to share it with all of you.
Bravo Marantz!!!

Customer Service

5 stars for the customer service as stated above

Tonal balance, smooth easy sound, expansive soundstaging. No problem playing CD-Rs.

Average bass, dynamics. Cheap remote.

Very smooth and musical, neutral timbre, lots of low level detail and as a result, expansive soundstaging. Only two weaknesses that I can detect relative to an earlier SA14 I had for couple of years - dynamics is only average and bass is not as deep or forceful. But for the money I can't complain. I can't be sure, since I don't have the SA14 as more for comparison, but I think the 8260 is more transparent. Not sure why this should be. Maybe it's a later generation design (the 8260 does have CD text and respond quicker to commands when playing SACDs). I'd be interested if anyone has compared against the Rotel 1072. The new SA8001 may address the weaknesses aforementioned, but then again it may not. It seems good inexpensive CD players are not unlike Thai restaurants - good ones are few and far between.