Marantz PM8005 and SA8005

One911Guy

One911Guy

Active Member
Me again,

So I am ready to plunk down my hard earned cash on the Marantz PM8005 and SA8005. This will be my first serious upgrade in many, many years. My current CD player is a Denon DCD-1500. Yes, I was the first kid on the block with a CD player! Damn thing still works well too. Using a Denon AVR-1600 but never really liked it.

The two Marantz units have had really good reviews online - I have read as many as I can get my mits on.

My question is - is there something else I should be considering in the $1,200.00 price range that I may have overlooked? I'll be pushing these through some vintage AR2ax speakers till I decide to upgrade those as well.

I am primarily of the Rock, Prog Rock era in music. Have a ton of CDs and though I culled lots my vinyl collection a decade or so ago, I kept about 100 and am slowly adding to those as time goes on, so a turntable stage is required as is input for iPad/pod/phone etc..........
 
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If I were you I'd veer away from purchasing the SACDP as long as your Denon 1500 still works, and spend that money on speakers or even a better amp.

And certainly I'd buy an amp that's not quite vintage but still secondhand.
 
I would not second guess your choice of CD player at all. Marantz is a good quality component, and they still produce the warmth they have been known for. The only piece you are missing now is the network audio player. I recently upgraded my network audio player from a Denon DNP-720AE to the Marantz NA7004, which is the best move I have made in my audio system.

Get the integrated amp and SACD/DAC home and enjoy them every day. You have made a good decision in choosing Marantz.

May you have many years of musical bliss! :music:
 
I'm not sure I'd spend $1,200 for a CD player when CDs have been on their way out for years. Maybe $300 to $400 on a CD player and $800 on a stand alone DAC, but it's not my money.
 
I read a bunch of good reports about the quality sound from the newer generation of Marantz CD players but didn't want to spend the big money. I decided to go used and bought a SA-8001. It's everything I hoped it would be.
 
Do you have the ability to hear them before purchasing? I have learned that even the best reviewing equipment may not be to my liking...and vice versa.

Good luck in the search!
 
No retailer here in Denver has these on the floor to listen to. Sad really. Lots and lots of AV models but no PM8005.

One local retailer offered to let me demo a SA8004 for a month till the PM8005 they would order for me, and I would buy from them, had a chance to break in.

At the end of the month, I could buy the SA8004 as a demo unit or they would order the SA8005 if I wanted a fresh unit. Fair offer I think.........

I probably should compare the specs of the SA8004 to the SA8005 to see what the differences are. I think they use the same DAC processor.

I think I may be over analyzing this :tears:
 
Dr. Morbius said:
I'm not sure I'd spend $1,200 for a CD player when CDs have been on their way out for years. Maybe $300 to $400 on a CD player and $800 on a stand alone DAC, but it's not my money.
Click to expand...

The SA8005 can be used as a stand-alone DAC, for both PCM and DSD.
 
I just bought a PM8005 new from Quest for Sound in N Philly. Good price and happy with the sound as a modern component vs the vintage separates I have otherwise. Product is not overly warm but is resolving, musical, realistic, has flexibility and does dynamics well. I can listen to it for a long time and the source direct function, which bypasses the pre, sounds as good my rebuilt McIntosh MA5100, if not better. Listened to a number of units and likd this best.
 
SA8005 has a more sophisticated USB DAC, and I believe there were other enhancements made to the analog outputs.

Something to consider if you aren't going to start listening to SACDs is an NA8005 DAC/Streamer in lieu of the SA8005. Same DACs, excellent analog output stage, and a network interface so you can listen to online streaming services, music from your computer, etc. It's a pretty neat piece of gear if you're looking at getting into the whole world of streaming music
 
Agree with redcoates7. I was tempted to get the SA8005 but ended up with the NA8005. Less moving parts. I use it to stream music from my server and both flac and dsd sound incredible.
 
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