New 10 series from Marantz

[2Brix]

yep translate on Google Chrome works nicely

[betty boop]

On 31/8/2024 at 12:49 PM, Steff said:

Probably has less power than the 10 series and no onboard DAC

19Kish

 

yep lets not forget luxman and also a  few more solid contenders too, definitely plenty of choice at this price point.. while am sure a few integrated above this, brands tend to go to 2ch pre pwr after this price point usually.. 

 

Mcintosh with the MA950 at $25k

 

Simaudio MOON 700i v2 at $27k

 

Chord ultima at $18.5k 

 

[Steff]

19 hours ago, betty boop said:

and also a  few more solid contenders too

Furthermore. . . >.<

 

[StereoNET]

On 29/08/2024 at 10:29 PM, StereoNET said:

Aussie info: https://www.stereonet.com/au/news/marantz-10-series-kicks-off-with-model-10-reference-quality-integrated-amp

 

On 31/08/2024 at 11:39 AM, betty boop said:

ah yes I missed that at. bottom of article, good we have local pricing …puts in perspective to other options above then

 

“Marantz MODEL 10 Reference Integrated Amplifier
Price: AU$25,000

Australian Distributor: Masimo Consumer
+61 (0) 3 8542-1111
https://marantz.com/en-au”

 

edit, updated earlier post to suit

 

Local pricing was posted back on Thursday last week in our article.

[Bass13]

Marantz SACD 10 Reference CD/SACD Player...…has anyone heard one of these yet..?

Sure does look like a substantial player at 33kg...

 

 

[grammefriday]

A couple of retailers have mentioned that they think the amp is way overpriced for what it is and there are several other makes they would recommend for that sort of money .....

[cafe67]

4 hours ago, grammefriday said:

A couple of retailers have mentioned that they think the amp is way overpriced for what it is and there are several other makes they would recommend for that sort of money .....

that maybe have a higher profit margin ?

[betty boop]

while i respect retailers opinion... only one opinion matters more .. your very own once having listened to what ever interested in

[cafe67]

7 minutes ago, betty boop said:

while i respect retailers opinion... only one opinion matters more .. your very own once having listened to what ever interested in

Yes I would be interested if said dealers have actually heard it ?

[maximus]

The SACD player is the champion here. The amp at 26k, I'm sure sounds fine, but because of speaker capability these days, the source becomes even more important, this is where it's gonna shine.

Amplifiers are a dime a dozen, they're so many good ones out there, but modern day quality CD players are costly and becoming rarer and rarer.

This is Marantz's time piece, 33kgs of superb build, you'll be listening to it in 5-10 years and still appreciating it's remarkable sound quality.

[grammefriday]

45 minutes ago, cafe67 said:

Yes I would be interested if said dealers have actually heard it ?

Yes, they are Marantz retailers I have known for many years and yes, possibly profit margins are higher on other products

[cafe67]

14 minutes ago, grammefriday said:

Yes, they are Marantz retailers I have known for many years and yes, possibly profit margins are higher on other products

Coool , I hoping to have a listen when they arrive locally, but yes there are plenty of choices at that price , but if you like the sound  

[Hydrology]

The humble CD player - no digital inputs, no upsampling, no SACD, just simple redbook spinning at its best...

[cafe67]

18 hours ago, Hydrology said:

The humble CD player - no digital inputs, no upsampling, no SACD, just simple redbook spinning at its best...

Luddite

[jeromelang]

It is worthwhile to check first if the new sacd player still carries the same design flaw as its predecessor.

 

On the previous SA10, users can hear sonic differences playing sacds when switching between the 2 pcm-based digital filters for Redbook CD.

 

Filter 1 - slow filter, factory default

Filter 2 - brickwall filter, alternative choice

 

Now why would it make a difference when these 2 digital filters are meant for CD playback only?

 

Unless both these CD filters are directly in the circuit path for SACD?

 

or there's a more unthinkable reason?

 

The early generation of Sony SACD players like the SCD-1, SCD-777ES, SCD-XA777ES, SCD-XA9000ES all exhibit this same problem. Users can hear sonic differences playing SACDs when switching between different digital filters meant for CD playback only.  Since these filters are not actually on the SACD signal path, therefore the only plausible explanation is that somehow, when the player is executing the digital filters, the use of the more deliberate filter cause some no small amount of unintended (and never noticed) extra loading on the players' power supply, and in turn, leading to audible degradation of the DACs' sonic performance. 

 

The SA10 is probably suffering from the same malaise as the early generation Sony SACD players. When left at it's default slow filter, I hear truncation of the deeper bass information, and at the upper octaves, imaging is constantly unstable. Switching to filter 2 (brickwall filter) avoid these 2 sonic abberations and allows SACD playback to fully shine and show its inherent superiority over the pcm equivalent. 

 

I believe marantz is still clueless about this issue. So anyone who purchase this new SACD player, be sure to try out filter 2 to hear the best of what the sacd format can really do. 

Edited December 2, 2024 by jeromelang

[jeromelang]

The other issue with Marantz is grounding, or rather, the lack of.

 

Marantz is one of those Japanese brands that float their audio components - they are typically shipped from factory without grounding. In the case of their Marantz SA-10, there is no ground pin on the IEC inlet at the back of the player.

 

In the past, we've tried grounding other Japanese audio products like the Yamaha Integrated amplifier, A-S3000, their CD player, the CD-S3000, Sony's SCD-1 and SCD-XA9000ES SACD players, the Sony TA-E1 and TA-N1 amplifiers. Each times we noticed audible sonic improvements. With grounding, soundstaging height became more elevated, the spaces between sound images cleared up and became less hazy, and consequently, imaging became better delineated, more pin point and more focused. The soundstage also became slightly more recessed further back behind the speaker baffles. Overall, there is a weightier foundation to the music and we could listen at much louder volumes than before without getting fatigued.

 

 

The grounding cable we used is a thinny video rca cable (typically came supplied with cheap dvd players) that had been checked for signal flow directionality. The source end was plugged to one of the unused RCA terminals of the component to be grounded and the other end was stripped and it's shield was connected to the ground pin of an UK ac plug (with both live and neutral pins removed) and plugged into the wall ac receptacle.

 

 

No need to turn on the switch. But remember to remove the live and neutral pins. Keep only the ground pin for grounding.

 

Cheap tweak that yield very big sonic improvements!

Edited December 3, 2024 by jeromelang

[Bass13]

Hasn't been any updates in here since Dec 2024..., has anyone bought a SACD10 in OZ  yet..?

 

Recently & still going,  I've been testing/ listening to a few CD players lately,  the " Marantz SACD10" looks great, and she sounds nice too, but it could seem that Marantz might have priced themselves out of the market with this SACD player, looking at RRP Prices $19k for Marantz SACD10 especially when you compare it too the RRP of a Esoteric K5XD 15K, & RRP K3XDSE is 23K which are either side of it in RRP.

 

Edited February 12 by Bass13

[Neo]

If anyone is interested in having a listen Len Wallis got the the Marantz sacd player and the amplifier ready for a demo. Both sound amazing, worth checking out if one is in the market at those prices. 
Neo

[Bass13]

33 minutes ago, Neo said:

If anyone is interested in having a listen Len Wallis got the the Marantz sacd player and the amplifier ready for a demo. Both sound amazing, worth checking out if one is in the market at those prices. 
Neo

 

Good point Neo, I should have also said that in Melbourne  "CAV" Carlton Audio visual has one "champagne" on Demo & in Brisbane The Audio Tailor has one "Black" on Demo too, yes I was up in Brisbane lately, quick pictures of them below, sorry for the not so good picture of the black one, it does look nice too.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13 by Bass13

[Kaynin]

1 hour ago, Bass13 said:

 

Good point Neo, I should have also said that in Melbourne  "CAV" Carlton Audio visual has one "champagne" on Demo & in Brisbane The Audio Tailor has one "Black" on Demo too, yes I was up in Brisbane lately, quick pictures of them below, sorry for the not so good picture of the black one, it does look nice too.

 

 

 

 

 

That champagne looks stunning.

[rantan]

On 13/02/2025 at 9:09 AM, Bass13 said:

has anyone bought a SACD10 in OZ  yet..?

At $19K, why would anyone buy it>

 

On 13/02/2025 at 9:09 AM, Bass13 said:

but it could seem that Marantz might have priced themselves out of the market with this SACD player, looking at RRP

 

To say the very least.

 

IMNSHO, Marantz have nearly always been OK, but also hugely over rated.

For the money being asked here for the amplifier and SACD player there are so many superior choices.

I am not going to argue this at all, people will make their own judgement ,just as I have done, so please don''t make me put on my F1 helmet and fire proof gear.

This new "Ten Series " is almost comical when it comes to pricing, although a politician may describe it as courageous .

[cafe67]

IMNSHO , I think they are well priced for the markets they are looking at ( esoteric, audio flight, TAD etc) and no doubt will be immaculately build and of course the sound quality will be up to the individuals personal preferences, I look forward to seeing them in the flesh and hearing them. 
 

I have enjoyed my SA10 and for a while the pm10 I had. 

[betty boop]

2 hours ago, cafe67 said:

MNSHO , I think they are well priced for the markets they are looking at ( esoteric, audio flight, TAD etc) and no doubt will be immaculately build and of course the sound quality will be up to the individuals personal preferences, I look forward to seeing them in the flesh and hearing them. 

Every one makes their value judgements … so always be difference of opinion … 

 

Marantz always has made things for different price points…I consider it like Toyota yaris  to Lexus lfa that Toyota corporation make …

 

love my Ki ruby sacd player, but this is clearly in another price point above prior sa10 … this reference gear is to match other recent 10 series gear eg the av10 and amp10 av gear I have which are all out affairs and price to match 

 

its meant to go upto other $20k gear that seems to be a new price point for some really nice stuff …

Edited February 14 by betty boop

[jeromelang]

I enjoy listening to the Marantz SA-10 very much. I think it is worth every cent for it's performance (grounded and set to filter 2)

 

I picked up mine pre-owned but in pristine condition. The former owner was said to have abandoned it for better sound via streaming. When I brought the unit home, I quickly realised that the absolute polarity was inverted. Sure enough, when checking with the remote control, it was confirmed that the unit had been set to inverted polarity. 

 

After correcting absolute polarity, grounding it, and set to filter 2, the sound is very, very good. 

 

I expect the new sacd-10 would be some improvement there. But do try the filter 2 setting first to alleviate the software related detrimental problem I've mentioned up there. Then do the grounding to reduce gremlins riding on the chassis. 

Edited February 15 by jeromelang

[billstevenson]

I look forward to hearing the new one, but am quite pleased with the sound of my SA10.  I also like it with the filter in the default #1 position for a lot of Redbook.  I also have a Luxman D-10X, which is actually a little bit better than the SA10, but it should be considering the cost differential.