Marantz is wrapping up the year with plans for its most hi-fi combination to date. The company just announced a launch date for the Premium 10 Series, which Marantz reps are calling "The New Reference."
To launch the new line, Marantz will pack both the SA-10 SACD/CD player/DAC and PM-10 amplifier with new Marantz audio technology that promises the best possible sound from high-resolution audio formats and CD sources.
Designed as a replacement for the SA-7, the SA-10 features a brand-new drive, known as the SACD-M3. This means it's a CD player, as well as an SACD player and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). It also makes this machine perfect for all of today's music formats, including high-resolution audio and other digital audio formats.
However, to call it a DAC is a bit misleading. It's actually the first player/DAC that doesn't actually have a DAC. Instead, the SA-10 uses Marantz Musical Mastering, which upconverts everything to DSD256, in a process that's known as MMM-Conversion. It then takes that content and puts it through another process, MMM-Stream. This preps the DSD256 signal for analog output to an amplifier. It sounds like a complex process, but it's not. It also makes it possible to have that DAC effect, without an actual DAC.
Made to be matched with the SA-10, the PM-10 integrated amplifier will replace the MA-9. Marantz says that this model has a preamplifier and a pair of monobloc power amps in a single unit that can deliver a whopping 200 watts per channel (x2) into 8ohms (or 400 watts per channel into 4ohms). This allows the PM-10 to be paired with a wide variety of speakers, as well as the most demanding music.
The PM-10 also has separate power supplies for the preamp and each of the power amp channels, as well as a dedicated supply for the microprocessor controlling volume adjustment, input selection, and other components. Other features include, two sets of balanced inputs, conventional unbalanced line-level inputs, and Marantz Hyper-Dynamic Amplifier Modules (or HDAMs). It even has an all-discrete phono stage for vinyl enthusiasts, with moving coil and moving magnet cartridges.
Marantz will start selling the SA-10 SACD/CD player/DAC and PM-10 amplifier sometime in January 2017. The SA-10 has an MSRP of $6,999, with the PM-10 listed for $7,999.
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