scuba Posted May 14, 2011 Posted May 14, 2011 Does anybody have an thoughts on the Marantz SA-KI Pearl Lite SACD player as an alternative to a good quality DAC and Transport? There are some pretty decent reviews out there but they come from the usual dubious (advertising supported) sources and they do not give much insight into how well the unit stands up as an external DAC. True to form, at $2400 it is somewhat overpriced by the local importer but is better value overseas at around $1400. On the positive side, it is from the premium end of the Marantz line up so I expect that the transport is pretty good and it comes with a 96/24 USB and 192/24 SPIDIF inputs for Computer or Squeezebox sources. I like the idea of fewer interconnects and power cables plus the option of SACD playback .... then again adding a decent DAC to my Pioneer Blu-Ray Player may give a better result .... or would it ...help i am so confussed
firefly0071 Posted May 14, 2011 Posted May 14, 2011 Hi Scuba, Ebay has a lot of SACD players being sold secondhand. I have a North Star SACD player = absolute brillant. Good SACD players play CDs well. In my case, the SACD player is about the same as my CD with Bel Canto Dac 3.
ArthurDent Posted May 15, 2011 Posted May 15, 2011 Does anybody have an thoughts on the Marantz SA-KI Pearl Lite SACD player as an alternative to a good quality DAC and Transport? Never as good as in your own system but as you're in Melbourne an opportunity to hear the Marantz gear this Wednesday... http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/showthread.php/35092-Melbourne-Audio-Club-monthly-meeting-Wednesday-18th-May-8PM
vmhf Posted May 15, 2011 Posted May 15, 2011 I miss my North Star Sapphire SACD player. Had the Marantz SA-11S2 before and it was a stunning player. I am sure the KI Pearl Lite would sound fantastic as well being a current release unit from Marantz. Build quality of Marantz players up there with the best.
scuba Posted May 15, 2011 Author Posted May 15, 2011 Never as good as in your own system but as you're in Melbourne an opportunity to hear the Marantz gear this Wednesday...http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/showthread.php/35092-Melbourne-Audio-Club-monthly-meeting-Wednesday-18th-May-8PM Thanks Ken, What a stroke of luck. I work just 5 minutes up the road from the Whitehorse City Offices so I will definitely be there. Steve
scuba Posted May 15, 2011 Author Posted May 15, 2011 I miss my North Star Sapphire SACD player.Had the Marantz SA-11S2 before and it was a stunning player. I am sure the KI Pearl Lite would sound fantastic as well being a current release unit from Marantz. Build quality of Marantz players up there with the best. Thanks for your advice Victor. I will make sure that I post some impressions after the Melbourne Audio Club Marantz night.
scuba Posted May 19, 2011 Author Posted May 19, 2011 Well the Melbourne Audio Club Marantz night is done and dusted. It was very professionally put together evening ... a big shout out and many thanks to QualiFi's Paul Astbury for a mammoth effort preparing a great presentation and setting up many thousands of dollars worth of very desirable gear. The evening was primarily focused on demonstration of an NA7004 Network Audio Player through a PM-KI Pearl Lite Amp/Jamo C805 Speakers with a second half demonstration of Marantz's range topping KI Pearl system driving Mordaunt Short Performance 6 Speakers. By all accounts the NA7004 has the same DAC as the KI Pearl SACD player but as it turns out, even when using the same ingredients, results may differ. No doubt the NA7004 scores big on convenience but I personally found the sound to suffer from a good dose of digititis, even when played through the KI Pearl/Performance 6 system. This may well have been down to the laptop source and wireless transmission of the digital signal but the sound of this unit failed to float my boat. The performance of the NA7004 was thrown into stark relief when the source was switched to the SA KI Pearl SACD player. It did a great job on both CD and SACD material with Ray Charles raising a round of applause from the room - very enjoyable. Unfortunately SA-KI Pearl Lite was not demoed on the night.
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