Excellent info! Other than no XLR, I'd like to hear about the minuses as well (if any) Thank you very much for the impressions.
Thanks for your impressions. How does the quality of the transport seem? Is the drawer robust and smooth operating and is the disc operation silent?
I have the SA-8004 and love everything about it except that it does not play FLAC by way of USB. That said, it was $699 on clearance from Music Direct awhile after the SA-8005 came out. I highly suspect that a firmware update would allow FLAC playback but of course that would never happen as it would prevent sales of newer products. I really like the sound of the 8004 and can only assume that the KI-Ruby would sound equally as good and possibly even better. The ability to play a wide variety of files from a USB stick is certainly a bonus. Clearly their are cheaper disc spinners out there and other options for USB playback but it is certainly a beautiful heirloom unit. If it was available in silver in the USA I would probably pull the trigger on it today
I dont have enough time on the unit yet to comment well on minus characteristic. In fact I'm trying to hold off judgement until I can get it situated in the rack with my better power cord and supply. Right now it's just on an extension cord and supplied cord from the mains until I can remove the xa5400. The transport is quick and is more quiet than the Sony. on my return I'll get more time in and see how it looks. The Sony is 7 plus years with hundreds of hours on it. The SA-KI is still under ten hours. It is fairly impressive in some respects already, but I could hope for it to loosen up with a bit more depth and dimension over time. The foundation seems solid tho Cheers
It will surely improve. I have never met a CD/SACD player that does not sound better with a great power cable. Put your best on it.
That is exactly how the Sony XA-5400ES handles redbook PCM as well and it sounds fantastic. I'm definitely keeping an eye on the Ruby.
Interesting reading and keep us updated about the sound quality of your new Marantz. The Sony XA5400 is not easy to beat, but it can be beaten. It's the digital board in this machine that is very well designed and also used in mine Yamaha SACD player.
I have the SA8004; yes, it DOES play FLAC via USB - but only with the rear connection, via a PC connected through USB. I use JRiver on the PC, works great. I wish that Marantz would have clearly marketed the front USB connection as a "convenience" limited capability port. So many people dismiss the unit because "it can't play FLAC", when it can. Just not directly off of a USB stick, and not from the front port. And the SA8005 added DSD capability via the rear USB.
If I had the money I would buy this. The Marantz CD5005 is the best sounding piece of equipment I've owned. It's truly special. A perfect combination of musicality and detail. For classical music it's a dream.
So far with about 20 hours of use and one late night listening session-I think the Marantz is coming along nicely. It is now in the rack and on a decent but not extravagant ac cord. It seems to be developing more dimension with sound not so localized to the speakers. Sound quality is excellent with better low level detail than the Sony- both on cd and sacd. More fluidity, with better life displayed. As an example: BB King's Take it Home cd has always been annoying to me in the past. Flat sound with nothing to keep me there. I'd put it on play and shut it off after a song or two and start hunting for my LP of same. The Marantz has stepped it up to the point where it becomes quite listenable- not to LP standards at the moment- but I could see with another hundred hours the Marantz may just pull it off. In fact, the trend with the Marantz seems: Better detail. Less ear fatigue. More life. It doesn't make a bad cd lovely. It does make most of them somewhat better, and elevates marginal to listenable, and great cd's and sacd's to pretty Wowza. Patricia Barber Companion sacd last evening sounded pretty spectacular. Another cd that came to life extremely well is Jorane 16mm. Great recording, great music. Another week or two I'll see if anything has changed, but for now I'm quite satisfied with the purchase. One of the better sources I've had in the system for sure. Cheers, RW
I tested and compared the Marantz PM 8006, PM-14S1 and the PM-KI Ruby at Adelphi in Singapore. Diana Krall S’Wonderful SACD track sounded warm on the 8006 and 14S1, and one of the things I liked is you can tweak the bass and treble on both amps however it’s not something I’d want to change often but it’s there if you need it. My listening experience then totally wowed me with the KI Ruby... I was told at this level (the Reference Series), there’s no tone adjustments and as soon as I played the same track it just got warmer with a wider soundstage and the vocal was so much more present (the tone just sounded perfect with a subtle but prominent bass). The built in quality of this beast is out of this world, just flabbergasted. I think I am sold! The other thing it has is a built in MM/MC phono input but I am not sure how it sounds with a turntable, perhaps a dedicated phono stage may be needed in the future. Cheers!
The Sony plays multi-channel via HDMI. It's multi-channel that distinguishes SACD's superiority, giving breadth and depth to recordings not possible from stereo. An example of the breadth and depth can be realized listening to the RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Presence Classical Music Series originally recorded in 3 channels. I did not buy the Sony 5400, wish I did; but, I did recently purchase an OPPO UDP-205 which converts DSD to PCM or directly converts DSD to analog, in stereo and multi-channel. BTW, I still ocassionally listen to SACD stereo from a 20 year old Sony DVP-S9000ES. Its purple diamond LED light which dominates the unit's facia invites envy and accolades galore.
Heck, I’m still using my SA-8001 that I’ve had for years with never a single problem! Sounds great to my ears and, like you, I will keep it till it dies.
Thanks. Every now and then I go on the Marantz website and lust after the high end players! Unfortunately they are out of my budget range by a long way!
I play records mostly so one of those would be lost on me. But, if I ever when the lottery I'll pick a couple up for us.
I heard the Marantz SACD player at last weekend's New York Audio Show and was very impressed. The speakers in the room were bookshelf Definitive Technologies D11, incredibly impressive at under $800 a pair.
Just plugged in this precious ruby with my KEF R700 and Audience Ohno interconnect cables. Hoping the sound opens up after a while so lots of listening to SACDs and CDs... Have a great weekend!
