So, last weekend, I went to audition a limited-edition (only 500 in the world) Marantz SA-KI Pearl SACD/CD Player. I brought along my Cyrus CD 8 SE CD Player and my Cyrus PSX-R out-board power supply.
I have been extremely happy with the sonic performance of my Cyrus'. However, I want to be able to play-back SACD's. Hence, I have been considering selling or trading-in my Cyrus gear for a new SACD/CD Player.
I did an A-to-B comparison, and to be honest, prior to this comparison, I expected my Cyrus' to have the measure of the Marantz SA-KI Pearl. I thought to myself that if I won't lose any performance for RedBook CD play-back by going to the Marantz, and if I can get a good change-over figure, I would do it, so that I can enjoy SACD play-back.
The hi-fi dealer I went to was pretty good. I had never purchased anything from this dealer before (I am from Perth, Western Australia) but I had visited the shop several times over the last handful of years.
He suggested that since I am auditioning a CD Player, it is better listening to them through headphones. In order to be fair, the CD Players (my Cyrus and the Marantz SA-KI Pearl) were going to be plugged into a Musical Fidelity headphone amp. He said that this would mean that I won't have to try to imagine how it would sound on my system at home, with different acoustics, speakers, amplifier, etc. This was a great suggestion as I would remove all those variables.
I was very impressed with the Marantz SA-KI Pearl. The first thing I noticed going from the Cyrus to the Marantz was that the Cyrus seemed to separate the sounds whereas the Marantz seemed to allow everything to flow musically but you could still hear what the individual musical strands were and where they were coming from. The Marantz had much more bottom end presence and a sweeter treble.
Well, cut the long story short, I traded-in my Cyrus' and purchased and took home the SA-KI Pearl, and am an extremely happy customer.
Dan.
I have been extremely happy with the sonic performance of my Cyrus'. However, I want to be able to play-back SACD's. Hence, I have been considering selling or trading-in my Cyrus gear for a new SACD/CD Player.
I did an A-to-B comparison, and to be honest, prior to this comparison, I expected my Cyrus' to have the measure of the Marantz SA-KI Pearl. I thought to myself that if I won't lose any performance for RedBook CD play-back by going to the Marantz, and if I can get a good change-over figure, I would do it, so that I can enjoy SACD play-back.
The hi-fi dealer I went to was pretty good. I had never purchased anything from this dealer before (I am from Perth, Western Australia) but I had visited the shop several times over the last handful of years.
He suggested that since I am auditioning a CD Player, it is better listening to them through headphones. In order to be fair, the CD Players (my Cyrus and the Marantz SA-KI Pearl) were going to be plugged into a Musical Fidelity headphone amp. He said that this would mean that I won't have to try to imagine how it would sound on my system at home, with different acoustics, speakers, amplifier, etc. This was a great suggestion as I would remove all those variables.
I was very impressed with the Marantz SA-KI Pearl. The first thing I noticed going from the Cyrus to the Marantz was that the Cyrus seemed to separate the sounds whereas the Marantz seemed to allow everything to flow musically but you could still hear what the individual musical strands were and where they were coming from. The Marantz had much more bottom end presence and a sweeter treble.
Well, cut the long story short, I traded-in my Cyrus' and purchased and took home the SA-KI Pearl, and am an extremely happy customer.
Dan.
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