Lovely sound quality from SACD, DVD and CD. This is quite probably the best sounding multi channel SACD player available.

A real question mark over reliability. the player does however give the appearance of good build quality.

This is a follow up from my first review which is also the first review posting. It's now been 2.5 years since I purchased this product and the reason for this update is that the player stopped working rather dramatically about 6 weeks ago. I have just been informed that the transport mechanism has failed and the entire assembly will need to be replaced. Unfortunately, the 3 year warranty does not apply to the transport mechanism (only 1 yr) and I'm up for a very expensive repair bill. I'm not advising prospective buyers to avoid this product but I am advising caution. This warning is based on the fact that my player has had very little use (about 250 hrs), has been well cared for, and yet has still failed. At this price point one expects a greater level of reliability and might I say a far higher level of warranty cover. I also strongly suspect that a malfunction of the transport mechanism control circuit was responsible because without any warning the mechanism suddenly wound up to a destructive speed. It sounded like a 747 on take-off. The odd thing is that there was no CD in the player at the time it failed. I had switched the player on about 20 minutes earlier but it was just sitting there idle when ..IT happened. This may well be a one in a million event so if you never hear any other negative comments from owners of this product or the greater product family then it's probably safe to say that I'm the only one with a lighter wallet. It's a shame that this is my first Marantz product because it's probably now also my last. I certainly hope that others who have purchased this product can enjoy a longer period of trouble free operation. If anyone reading this has similar gripes with an expensive Marantz product then I would like to hear about it.

Wonderful SACD player, sounds so smooth, tube like in my opinion. Lots of space for interconnects, well thought out.

Not a great DVD player, does not support DVD audio. Remote is a bit funky.

WOW what an SACD player! Amazing sound, I am hearing so much more, great dymamics, built to last. Get quality interconnects.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 9000, Marantz DV12-S1

Tube like sound

May not be your cup of tea if your system is tilted to the warm side.

The SA-12S1 is definitely aimed at the audiophile market and as such the video performance while very good does not scale the heights of the audio performance. It would (for example) have been nice to see a progressive scan op. Video aside though, and keeping in mind that the player is really an (SACD) audio product anyway, I guess the big question is, how good an audio player is it. Well, in my system at least it's easily the best CD / SACD player that I've heard. It quite easily beats my now ageing Meridian 508 on red book CDs. I have read several reviews that are critical of the SA-12S1 red book performance but IMO it's a very fine red book player and while perhaps falling short of state of the art status it still probably cuts it with most CD players up to about the 2K mark, and that also includes players that employ upsampling. Comparing a (widely known)Musical Fidelity A3CD player that I borrowed briefly prior to the 12S1 purchase, the A3CD sounded thin and harsh. Switching back to the Marantz was akin to listening to a pristine analogue LP from 1980. If there is a critisism that can be levelled against the 12S1 it would be that it can sound a little too 'analogue' and 'tube' like and that includes on all formats. In this respect it is very reminiscent of its big brother SA-1 which on SACD particularly tends to sound like the analogue you have only read about in a copy of Britain's HFN & RR. The SA-12S1 doesn't quite manage that level of harmonic richness, sweetness and purity but nonetheless, in the right system it still manages a 'holy grail' like sound, especially on SACD. As with the SA-1, the main improvement when switching from CD to SACD is the addition of an enormous amount of ambience and spacial information. There is also a new level of MF detail and a tad less 'glare' in the lower treble registers, all which combine to making SACD a more satisfying experience. In my system this player somehow manages a very seductive sound that may not be completely accurate or delivering of the absolute last ounce of detail and transparency but the player stands as one that's completely devoid of a single nasty vice and that's a rare feat.