Marantz announces limited edition KI Ruby SACD/CD player and integrated amp

Couples celebrating their ruby (40-year) wedding anniversary might renew their wedding vows or throw a ruby red-themed party, while the very few hardy folk that make it to 40 years in one company's employment may be presented with a plaque or silver-plated cutlery set.

Well, Ken Ishiwata (who has now been a huge part of Marantz’s designing and engineering for four decades) has been able to put his sonic stamp (and indeed his signature) on two brand-new, limited-edition Marantz products to mark the occasion.

The PM-KI Ruby integrated amplifier and SA-KI Ruby SACD/CD player follow the last special edition Ishiwata anniversary products – the KI Pearl Lite amplifier and SACD/CD player – introduced in 2008 in celebration of his – you guessed it – 30th anniversary.

Both components will have a limited, one-off run this year of 500 each, with the first 200 buyers of both promised matching serial numbers.

The 100-watt-per-channel PM-KI Ruby uses a discrete two-stage design with separate power supplies for the pre-amplifier and power amplifier sections, and takes a page out the flagship PM-10 amplifier’s book by featuring a moving-magnet and moving-coil phono stage with Marantz’s new phono EQ circuitry design.

Building on its analogue-only connectivity are six RCA inputs and two outputs, along with a 6.3mm front panel headphone output, while Marantz’s proprietary HDAM (Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Module) technology and copper-plated chassis are familiar inclusions on the spec sheet.

The more unfamiliar finishing touch: his signature laser-etched onto the top of the aluminium front panel.

The SA-KI Ruby SACD/CD player, meanwhile, features a new disc mechanism, the ‘SACDM-3’, for SACD, CD and CD-ROM playback. Again it draws on company’s flagship machine, the SA-10, but unlike the PM-KI Ruby incorporates digital connectivity.

There’s an asynchronous USB input capable of handling PCM files up to 32bit/384kHz as well as DSD 11.2MHz, with all files being upconverted to DSD for playback. Optical and coaxial inputs and outputs, and a USB type-A input, are also included on the rear panel.

The PM-KI Ruby integrated amplifier and SA-KI Ruby SACD/CD player will be available in September, priced at £3500 each.

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Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10 years in the hi-fi industry, she has been fortunate enough to travel the world to report on the biggest and most exciting brands in hi-fi and consumer tech (and has had the jetlag and hangovers to remember them by). In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.