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Review 1 of 1
Price Paid:
$0.00 Summary:
Truth be told, despite Marantz’s legendary status as a hi-fi pioneer, I never considered them a “true” audiophile brand. Every product I heard from them up until the SA-1 CD/SACD player left me a little ambivalent—definitely good stuff, and mostly good value, but not nearly what I’d call state of the art. Snobbish? Maybe. But that’s how I heard it at the time.
But that impression started to change dramatically with the SA-1. Despite a few quirks, it was a tremendously involving player with overall extremely impressive performance. It was then that I started to reconsider Marantz as a serious hi-fi contender. It was as close to SOTA as the company had ever been—at least with digital products—and a lot closer than most companies ever get.
With the SA-1, it was obvious that someone at Marantz was deadly serious about reestablishing the brand’s audiophile credentials. And, boy, have they hit the mark with the SA-7S1.
Mind you, I’ve owned some pretty serious CD players over the years—Wadia, Goldmund, Krell, Linn, MBL, Accuphase, EMM Labs, and most recently a HUGELY modified Esoteric X-01—as well as a few top-flight analog rigs, and the SA-7S1 is the most complete and enjoyable source I’ve ever owned.
Until the SA-7S1, my personal benchmark for digital performance was my battery-driven, extensively modded Esoteric X-01. When I was preparing for the A/B, I was pretty sure that the Esoteric was going to leave the Marantz burned and mangled at the side of the road. How couldn’t it? I mean, battery supplies, a world-class clock and power supply, great internal wiring—totally custom—versus a bone-stock player from a company, until recently, more known for mid-fi products. I was afraid that it was going to be like putting Waldo, from Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” video, up against a 19-year-old Mike Tyson. :)
Well, consider me speechless when the SA-7 not only hung with the Esoteric, but actually beat it in many areas. The X-01 *might* have had a very slight edge in see-through transparency, but the Marantz was its superior in terms of fluidity, overall involvement and enjoyability, bass weight, dimensionality, soundstaging, and, most importantly, *musical* transparency—i.e., the ability to disappear as a sound source and leave just the music.
In fact, in this latter regard, I have yet to hear a player that can match the SA-7S1. Its ability to simply vanish into the music and involve the listener in the experience is without peer, IMO. With most players, and most audio components in general, the music disappears into the player, which inevitably places the sonic character of said player ahead of the music. Not so with the Marantz. It’s totally and utterly at the service of the music, which makes it special in a market dominated by “Hey, look at me, look at what I can do” products. One can listen to this thing totally without fatigue for hours on end. But here’s the truly special part: It can provide that type of stress-free listening without *any* rolling off of the frequency extremes, blurring of transients, diminishment of resolution, or other sonic compromises. It may not be the ne plus ultra in every category—no product is, no matter how expensive—but it’s damn close in most.
Mind you, in the audiophile world, the word “subjective” rules. Everyone’s opinion of what constitutes the absolute sound is different, and no product is going to satisfy everyone. I know people who have been unimpressed with the SA-7S1, and feel it doesn’t justify all the praise it’s received. That’s cool. I don’t expect universal accolades. Not in this hobby! But, to my ears, and in my system, the Marantz SA-7S1 is as good as I’ve heard. Does it blow away every other source I’ve owned? Of course not, but it does provide a unique sense of “balance”—an impressive fusion of involvement and long-term enjoyability and the typical audiophile checklist items.
One quick word about build quality: As with most of Marantz’s Reference-level products, the build quality of the SA-7S1 is simply awesome. The first thought that came to mind when I saw it was, “A jeweler would be proud to own this thing.” Fit-and-finish is nothing short of world-class.
To summarize, the Marantz SA-7S1 is quite simply a stunning achievement in audio reproduction. It shows what a large manufacturer with huge economies of scale can accomplish when it truly wants to make a statement. Several friends of mine in the industry have said that if the ‘7 were built by a small, boutique company, it would probably cost close to, if not more than, $20,000. Considering its performance and build quality, I don’t doubt it. The price of entry ($6,500) certainly isn’t cheap, but in audiophile terms, where I’ve heard products costing more than 10 times its price not sound as good, I would consider it a stone-cold bargain. Bravo, Marantz.
Strengths:
All of the typical audiophile items, but most importantly, a stunning ability to remove its sonic signature from the music. Ridiculously good value, especially in an audiophile world where overrated, overpriced products rule the roost. Weaknesses:
Perhaps not the ultimate in every category, but as they say, "Close enough for rock and roll!" Similar Products Used:
Wadia, Krell, Goldmund, Esoteric, Linn, Accuphase, Arcam, Naim, MBL, EMM Labs, Cary, and quite a few more I can't even remember right now.
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