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RE: Marantz SA-10 S1

I posted a long reply but it seems like it didn't go through. Long-time lurker, for probably 20 years ago.

The SA-10 is truly an end game product. You might find something "different" or you might wear out the laser/mechanical component but it will be very hard to *beat it*.

The SACD 30n and SA-KI Ruby/SA-12 have slightly lower noise, but the distortion on the SA-10 is better. What is interesting is that I have measured the SA-10 against the Topping D90. As expected, the 1 kHz THD+N (SINAD) is superior on the Topping. You can easily see the effect of increased noise on the SA-10 with standard test tones or music.

However, when you do a comparison against the DSD source file for actual music, what you see is that the SA-10 more closely matches the true DSD file than the Topping does, on a perceptually weighted comparison. So in that noise, it still more accurately reproduces music!

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/two-reasonable-dacs-with-a-large-pk-metric-when-tested-with-real-music.43344/

If you read about the development of the SA-10 there is a comment about Marantz engineers wanting to reduce noise somehow but the "Sound Master" electing not to make the change because it doesn't sound as good, himself being an engineer also.

This tells you that Marantz straddles the strong belief in measurements while also recognizing that a little bit of coloration can be wise, the same way that even the most glamorous actress may still use makeup.

Use your favorite Japanese to English translator :
https://www.phileweb.com/interview/article/201612/16/411.html

https://www.phileweb.com/interview/article/201612/16/412


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