Marantz SA-11S1
The Marantz SA-11S1 was the company's reference SACD player, released in Japan in August 2004 at ¥350,000. It came as part of a new wave of Reference Series components, paired with the PM-11S1 integrated amplifier. The two listed for around $8,000, roughly 25% of the cost of Marantz's absolute top-of-the-line separates. Positive Feedback (November/December 2006) reviewed the pair together and came away impressed. It asked whether the combination could deliver the same functions as the flagship stack at a quarter of the price, and concluded "I think so; perhaps better than the earlier gear."
The SA-11S1 is strictly two-channel. HomeTechnologyReview (January 2009) called it "hair-shirt two-channel only outputs." That was a deliberate choice, since competing SACD players were adding multi-channel capabilities at the time. The review called its SACD performance "sensational, probably the most convincing I've heard for proving to music lovers that the new format betters plain, vanilla CD." It also noted the clumsy name and the unfortunate timing of its arrival amid rumors of the format's demise.
Inside are two NPC SM5866AS DACs. Each performs 12× internal oversampling on PCM input and converts the total signal into 23 levels via a third-order noise shaper. That total is 96× including the 8× input stage. A Marantz original PEC (Phase Error Compensation) circuit using a 24-bit DSP gives flat phase-delay characteristics. The output stage uses Marantz's proprietary HDAM modules, which are discrete circuits rather than integrated op-amps. It is a triple-stage configuration, with a discrete HDAM I/V conversion stage and a current-feedback HDAM buffer for the balanced outputs.
Three switchable digital filters are provided for both SACD and CD playback. For CD, Filter 3 reproduces the coefficient of the SAA7220PB filter used in Marantz's classic CD-94/CD-95/CD-95SE players, but with 8× operation. Filter 1 offers a slow roll-off that the Japanese literature compares to analog records: rich, smooth and deep. For SACD, Filter 1 is a direct mode that bypasses DSD filtering entirely. Filters 2 and 3 attenuate ultrasonic noise above 100 kHz, each with a different multi-level DAC strategy.
The build is serious. The front panel is solid aluminum in three pieces. The chassis is copper-plated and heavily braced, and the digital, analog and control circuits sit separated and shielded in their own enclosures. The power supply uses a super-ring toroidal transformer with OFC winding, Schottky barrier diodes, and a custom Marantz block capacitor developed through repeated trial listening. The transport mechanism was developed in-house, with a stabilizer plate mounted on top to increase rigidity. A ±5 ppm precision crystal sits near the DAC. A DC filter cuts content below 1.7 Hz and can be defeated for a more natural sound field.
Key specifications as documented:
- Frequency response: SACD 2 Hz–100 kHz (−3 dB); CD 2 Hz–20 kHz (Filter 3)
- Dynamic range: 114 dB
- Distortion (1 kHz): SACD 0.0009%; CD 0.0020%
- Output: unbalanced 2.5 V; balanced 5 V
- Digital outputs: coaxial (CD only), optical (CD only)
- Dimensions: 440 × 123 × 418 mm; weight 14.0 kg
- Power consumption: 25 W
The record on this player is better than for most, with two substantial contemporary reviews surviving, but there are gaps. No authoritative production end date is confirmed, since sources conflict between 2004 and 2007. No original US price for the SA-11S1 alone has surfaced. The PCM decoder is identified as Sony's CXD1885Q, and the transport's control boards are said to mirror those of the higher-end SA-7S1. Used units appear intermittently on the secondary market, and replacement laser heads are available from parts suppliers.
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