Hi-Rez Highway: REVIEW: Marantz SA8003 SACD Player by Doc Sarvis New high resolution SACD releases, players and technology.

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Model:	SA8003
Category:	SACD Player
Suggested Retail Price:	$999
Description:	CD/SACD Player
Manufacturer URL:	Marantz

Review by Doc Sarvis on November 09, 2009 at 10:40:08 IP Address: 67.130.239.55

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I had an opportunity this year to experiment with two recent SACD players, first the Sony SCD XA5400ES, and more recently the Marantz SA8003. For a variety of reasons I prefer the Marantz overall. Others have reached the opposite conclusion and their reasons are equally valid.

I bought the 8003 used on Audiogon (by the way, the unit seems to be holding its value nicely – buying the player new seems like a reasonable option). Build-quality-wise the Marantz is nice but I’d give the edge in that regard to the 5400 (although the 5400 is not as solid as the 777ES I once owned). The 8003 remote is very nice and superior to the Sony’s.

Before getting down to business on the sound, it’s worth noting that the iPod USB dock is a nice feature. My understanding is that the Marantz’s DAC is used; e.g. a direct digital stream comes from the iPod. MP3s on the Marantz though my iPod sound terrible (as would be expected) but lossless files sound very nice – close to their equal of CD counterparts. The user interface worked fine for me (it involved scrolling through the album list, then the functionality is just like a CD). The iPod’s own wheel is disabled. I can see using the feature to listen to a bunch of lossless files on “random play” mode.

Now, to the music: First of all, 90% of my digital discs are CDs (not SACDs) and I want a single player that provides great all-around performance. I found the CD performance of the 8003 to be much better than the 5400. To me the 5400 was overly bright and edgy on CDs. (I know that some folks have commented that the 5400 needs break-in time to lose the edginess on CDs, and since I only kept mine for about a month I can’t really speak to that issue.) The 8003 provides a darker sound, slightly rolled off on top but still a very detailed presentation - I actually found the 8003 on CD to be more detailed than the 5400. Once of my favorite test CDs in Dire Straits’ On Every Street, and the 8003 presented it better than I have ever heard it – each of the multiple layered tracks was evident and clearly (but pleasantly) articulated. The 8003 has never sounded congested, but is definitely mellow.

Moving on to SACD: The 5400 is the best SACD performance I’ve heard. It’s detailed, dynamic, and visceral in terms of creating a palpable sense of the impact of live performance. It’s better than all of the players I listed below on SCAD. But, as I said, I am looking for a single player solution, and while the 5400 is a “10”, the 8003 is at least an “8” on SACD. The Marantz gives up only a little in dynamics and presence, and makes up for it with a more musical, less visceral but more pleasant, SACD presentation. SACDs sound more vinyl-like on the 8003. This comparison was made with selected test discs, most notably the Stones’ Let it Bleed.

In summary, I’ll say that the 8003 is the all-around best sounding CD/SACD player I’ve owned (considering both CD and SACD performance), including the 5400, the 777Es (which was very nice but didn’t sound too different from the 333 – not enough to justify the price difference in my opinion), and even the wonderful Esoteric SA60 (which killed them all in build quality but sounded less analog-like to me). The 8003 is, to my ears, the most satisfying of the bunch, both on CD and SACD sources, without giving up detail. I can totally see another school of thought that would favor the brighter sound of the 5400, but my tastes definably run to the Marantz, since I like vinyl and enjoy and analog-like sound. If I was just looking for an SACD player, though, it’d be the 5400.

Associated equipment:

Primaluna Prologue One
DH Labs T-14 speaker cable
Standard power cords
Magnepan MMGs
PureAV interconnects

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Product Weakness:	See review
Product Strengths:	See review

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Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier:	See review
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	See review
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	See review
Speakers:	See review
Cables/Interconnects:	See review
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	See review
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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