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My new toy!!


Rick

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Today I picked up the SACD/CD player that I have been lusting over for a few years. My good friends at Audio Classics gave me a deal I couldn't pass up (thanks Ernie!). It is a Marantz Reference Series SA-11S1. Anyone else own any Marantz Reference Gear? I'd love to hear your opinions of it if you do. Here's some photos of my new baby:

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Thanks Dennie! She sure is a beauty, I have been drooling over this unit for quite some time...

So far, I'm very pleased with the sound of it!! [Y]

I'm going to experiment with the balanced connection in the near future. Some say I won't notice a difference. They may be right, but this is the fist time I've had an amp and/or a CD player with balanced connections, so I have to at least give it a try... [8-|]

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I would like to hear your take on 5.1 music. I have been very seriously considering buying an SCD player to take advantage of the soundstage in my cave. All channel stereo is fine, but I would love to hear scd as compared to it. I would expect a vast improvement.

Well, I was into multichannel for a long time until recently. Now I'm strictly a 2 channel guy again, for the first time in nearly 20 years...

I decided to make the move because I've been enjoying good 'ol stereo over the past year or so more than I have in ages. I owe my friends over in the "Right This Minute" a great deal of credit and thanks for this. I'm back into spinning vinyl once again as well, and I feel like a teenage kid all over again, only this time I have better gear than ever so I'm enjoying it like never before...

Having said that, I feel that multichannel done right is a great experience. And multichannel SACDs can sound dramatically better than CDs played back in 5/7 channel stereo or DPLII Music/DTS Neo surround. But I have come to the conclusion recently (IMHO) that listening to music in stereo on a good setup is better than listening to multichannel music on a average home theater setup...

Some of my favorite multichannel concerts have surround mixes that annoy me. The best example of this I can think of is in the Eagles Farewell 1 Tour (HD-DVD, DVD). This is one of my go to discs for sound quality, and the performances are great. But during "Hotel California", the horn section is heavily mixed in the surrounds. There is a great sax solo in this recording, and it sounds so unnatural to me to have this wonderful solo to be coming from behind you, instead of where it belongs in the front stage behind Glen, Don, Joe, and Timothy (and the great Stuert Smith)...

Whether one chooses to listen to his music in stereo or multichannel, it is all about the love of music to me... [Y] Life is good...

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Now I'm strictly a 2 channel guy

Hi Rick, I have a Marantz SACD/DVD 8300. Simply love it. The most beautiful, well designed and elegant piece in my collection. I chose the Marantz for its quality and have been pleasantly impressed day in and day out with its performance. Congrats on the new toy, it is exquisite.

2-channel Rock n' Roll Brother [Y]

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Beautiful machine. A great reason to have SACDs. Make us Marantz lovers like it even more...What deal did you get?

SSH

Thanks. I got it for $1200. I think that was a great price because it had an MSRP of $3500 when new. I see the next model down in the line (SA-15S1) that had a MSRP of $2000 sell for $900-$1100 all the time on Audiogon...

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You'll love it - I was amazed at what a huge difference mine made. I've got an SA-15S1 from Mike at Audio Classics. I was expecting an incremental improvement over the 8250, but this was something else. If you're into classical music at all, start stocking up on the Telarc SACDs while you still can, beginning with the Firebird, the Fennell recording of Holst's Suites for Band (featuring the drum that sold a thousand subwoofers) and Kunzel's readings of Rodeo, Wellington's Victory and the 1812 Overture.

The only problem I had with mine was the remote didn't work when I got it. Turns out there's a tiny switch on the back of the player. I'd have found that out sooner, but it would have required reading the directions, and who does that?

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