Marantz is keeping the faith with SACD - and indeed CD - with the launch of a range-topping 22kg player said to be the best the company has ever made. The £5000 SA-7S1 follows on from the company's SA-S1 SACD player and CD-7 CD machine, and is built massively throughout, from the double-layer bottom plate and shock-absorbing feet to casework designed so that not a single fastener is visible.
As you might expect from a Marantz, everything not in sight has been copper-plated, for enhanced shielding, and even the power supply transformer is surrounded by an aluminium shorting ring and a further copper-plated case. Storage capacitors are custom-made, circuit layout is kept short, and balanced working is used throughout for optimal sound.
Dual mono conversion for both DSD (from SACD) and CD feeds through to the famous Marantz Hyper-Dynamic Amplifier Modules, the player using the latest high-speed HDAM-SA2 design. Meanwhile the transport has a die-cast metal loader covered with non-reflective material and is enclosed in a 10mm extruded aluminium case.
Digital and analogue sections are completely separated to avoid interference, using IsoLoop spintronic giant magnetoresistance (GMR) technology to ensure total isolation. The player also has a choice of three digital filters to tailor the sound to user preferences.