New from Marantz SA-8005

You're not the first person I've heard say that. I didn't need the extras, aside from the extra cash I pocketed getting the SA8004 at a discount.

 

It seems most people agree, from reading different reviews out there, that SA8004 has a very good transport. At first I thought the SA8005 would just use the same one, but after looking at some photos of the 2 players, I notice that they have different transports. See pictures below:


SA8005


SA8004


Can someone comment on the SA8005 transport? Is it as good as, or better than, the SA8004's?

 

That is not the SA8004 in the bottom picture, although the transport appears to be the same.

That said, from what I understand the 2 players use the same basic transport with the SA8005 adding the covered piece to aid in damping.

 

Sorry if that's not the inside of a SA8004. I got the pix from a Japanese site, not sure if their model might be a little from the US ones.

 

My understanding is that the SA8005 has been updated with asyn. usb from the rear as well as direct DSD through usb.
I also remember reading that the SA8005 uses a different transport. Waiting for reviews on how this might compare with the transport in the SA8004.

Both SA8005 and SA8004 do native PCM and DSD (from SACD) and are made in Japan.

 

I owe you an apology, that is indeed the SA8004. Other photos I've seen have green boards and in my mind looked different, but after further investigation they are the same.

 

That's cool F1nut, no apology needed.

 

This is the first new SACD player I've ever purchased (it is to replace a used OPPO 83SE) and the first "high end" one I've ever owned. I've very impressed with the sound. Unlike the OPPO, it also has a program feature which I love. However, I'm very annoyed with Marantz because they have yet to fix the Windows USB audio driver. Early last week they told me it would be up on their site the next day and still nothing. This is very important to me as I have only two more weeks before I need to make a return decision. Has anyone been able to get their hands on the fixed driver? The old one is still listed on the Marantz site.

 

I've started a thread over on Head-fi.org detailing my saga with the faulty SA8005 Win driver. You can go over there and read the sordid details. However, there is a happy outcome, I received an updated driver from a Swedish owner who secured it from Marantz UK (they recognized the problem unlike Marantz USA). I do not believe it has been posted on the Marantz USA site as of this date (inexcusable). The 8005, fully operational, is a amazing machine at its price point. Aside from the excellent SACD performance, the DAC capabilities and performance are top notch. I could extoll it's virtues with subjective SQ descriptions but I will simply state it is the equal to or surpasses several $2k DAC's I own (Grace, Benchmark). A very impressive performer, yes Marantz has kept it's "eye on the prize" and continues to produce very competitive products.

 

Amham, Glad to hear you have the driver issue resolved.

 

This looks like a great player. I don't have any digital components as I'm mainly a vinyl guy but I do plan to make an addition at some point. In a way, I want a CDP and a DAC but both I guess can be overkill. I'm fine with great high res downloads but I'm a bit of a physical media type person at least for those special titles. At some point, I could see myself having 100-200 CD/SACD along with 1,000+ vinyl lps and then high res downloads and mp3s for the rest of my catalog. As far as CDP and DAC, I've mainly been eyeing the Rega line but $2k for both separate components is a bit much for the amount of use that would be obtained from it. I'd likely only use my digital front end for 10% of my listening. I will put this on my list.

 

Your like me. I've been collecting records for 45 years and that is my go to format but I do have a Marantz 5003 CD player because there are a lot of nice offerings on CDs that are not available on vinyl, such as the ABB Brothers and Sisters 40th anniversary set more. Yesterday I bought a mint SA8003 SACD player from a fellow Hoffman member at a great price. From all the reviews that I've read it's a does a nice job on CD and SACD playback and I can dip my toes in the SACD format now. It worked out well for a casual CD listener like me because I didn't have to drop a grand or more into a player that won't get used that often.

 

Not overkill. Redundant. You'd essentially be paying for two DAC's only to use one of them.

 

Congratulations! I have had that player since new and it's never let me down. Only drawback is that it was the last unit without the USB input on the back so it can't be used as a DAC but the front works great for an iPod or USB thumb drive.

I see accessories4less.com has a refurbished SA8004 for $700, that one does have the rear USB that can be used as a DAC.

 

I have a Sony BDP-BX58 that I attached to a Schiit Gungnir via S/PDIF coax. It turned that $120 Costco BD player into an audiophile CD player. The Gungnir seems to "like" the Sony. The "Buy Better Gear" light has never come on

 

Good to hear the positive feedback. To tell you truth I wouldn't know what to do with a USB port and don't have an iPod so it ought work for a luddite like me.

 

Well hell, if you're running digital out to a DAC might as well find the cheapest CD player you can. Definitely don't want to pay $2,000 for each.

 

Yes, redundant is a much better word and likely the word I was searching for....coffee was only 1/4 of the way down.

Since I'm only mildly invested and interested in digital, a good DAC is likely where I will go and I can just upload and CD, SACDs, etc. and archive them. When I make a digital addition though, I do want it to be a nice bang for buck device. This is where the Rega DAC comes in for me. Not sure when I will venture there but I'm always taking notes. Digital audio evolving so rapidly, I wonder if I should just wait a few years longer before getting serious. I learned quite a bit from the few hardware threads I've been in the past week. I typically stick to the music forum. It's more up my alley.

 

I'm not saying this is the same is ponying up for a proper high quality CD transport. The thing about CDDA is that error correction is, how shall I put it, somewhat old school. So there is value in a transport that is high quality. But since I rip all my Redbook stuff to hard drive, it seems a waste to spend ~$1000 on a high quality transport. I do spin CDs sometimes for the "feel" of it.

 

I can't actually remember the last time I played a CD. How bizarre is that? I have an iPod connection in the glove compartment of my car, and use an Apple TV unit to stream my ALC rips from my iMac.

It's been no less than a year ago.

 

I've enjoyed reading your posts in this forum. Stick around.

 

Thanks, I will. I'm out of my league though but it's all a learning process. We should never fear learning even when it compromises our own perceived intelligence.

 

Sounds like my case, only touch CDs to rip them to iTunes mostly. Play the occasional SACD or DVDA on the main system. The Turntable gets used quite often. Honestly it's quite fun to jump around with all of them.

 

For me it's all about laziness and convenience. My CD storage is on the opposite side of the house from the living room where my main system is. So if I want to change a CD, I mean, that's like 30 seconds out of my day! Gone!

But then the convenience of being able to conjure up any album of my choice using my iPad as a remote without even having to stand up from the couch is pretty cool.

 

Depending on which generation Apple TV you're using, it could be resampling (badly) 44.1kHz to 48kHz (both TOSLINK and HDMI). When I first heard the 3rd gen ATV doing that, I thought, "man that sounds horrible".

I went looking in the Apple forums for guidance, and saw the inevitable, "no one can hear the difference between native 44.1kHz and 44.1kHz resampled to 48kHz". I'm not saying that proper resampling wouldn't be listenable (and perhaps even undetectable), but I personally found the resampling in the ATV3 to be unlistenable.