estreeter
Super Member
OK - I get that Marantz reserve the right to change internal components based on supplier inventory etc, but my understanding is that my SA14S1 is built exclusively in Japan, a country not known for throwing caution to the wind in engineering terms. I dont obsess over the 10-20 dollar lump of silicon that forms the DAC chip, but those who do would probably consider the Burr-Brown DSD1792A a step up from the CS4398, despite the fact that the latter has done sterling duty in a host of Marantz sources over many years. Note that all DSD playback via the CS4398 is DoP - for some, not ideal - but I'm far more interested in the player's capabilities with Redbook, 24/96 downloads and the few SACDs I own. I wanted to mention these anomalies simply for the record - if it turns out that any of this is significant or completely incorrect at a later date I can come back to this thread.
Marantz US spec sheet:
http://us.marantz.com/DocumentMaster/US/SA14S1SpecificationSheet.pdf
The above lines up with the specs published in the Marantz User Guide that came with my SA14S1 - the 'high current audiophile DAC' is listed as the CS4398 in the few reviews currently out for this model.
Marantz UK spec sheet:
http://www.marantz.co.uk/DocumentMaster/master/Marantz_SA14S1_EN01.pdf
'High current audiophile DAC DSD1792A and accurate dual system clock'
Marantz Asia has the same DAC description, but the only color we get here is the silver one. The Marantz brand is distributed by Qualifi in Australia and they appear to have gone with the CS4398 in their doco.
The model numbers given on the UK sheet are different for the EU and UK models, presumably in line with the differing power outlets in each market and - of course - the choice between black and gold models. The Marantz US site doesnt list a model number - I believe that North America gets any color as long as it's black and everyone has the same power outlets.
The key difference between the Burr-Brown DAC and the Cirrus offering is that the latter appears to be limited to DSD64 while the PC1792A is listed as handling both DSD64 and DSD128 - a brief test this afternoon with my small collection of DSD files didnt really make things any clearer - it played the DSD128 files and simply reported 'DSD > 2.8M' - at worst, it downsampled DSD128 to DSD64 but all transitions between different formats from 256K AAC thru 24/96 to DSD128 were handled seamlessly.
Edit - my supposition re the CS4398 may be completely incorrect - see my comments re the SA8005 / NA8005 below.
Given that the SA14S1 is reportedly designed to replace the SA15S3 - more bucks for more functionality - several possibilities spring to mind :
- Marantz, like any large corporation, makes mistakes and the spec sheets were hastily thrown together based on sketchy info from Japan
- someone did the best they could with the spec sheet from the SA15S3 in the absence of anything better from engineering. Most of the Marantz range below the SA11 / NA11 flagships use the CS4398 and its not hard to see the same marketing claims made in the doco across several models.
- Japan has created a 'Japan-only' version, liked what they heard and released it into the UK and Europe. While this is far from definitive, I found this on a Japanese site discussing the internals of the 14S1 - I would have dismissed it if I hadnt seen the above spec sheets:
http://www.stereosound.co.jp/news/article/2013/09/02/130902_14S_marantz_02.jpg
This hobby is filled with folk who obsess over the Japan-only models from Sony, Pioneer and others - useless to those of us with anything other than 100-120V power but highly prized among collectors. I'm hesitant to risk my warranty on the basis of a few sketchy 'leads' but somewhere down the track I may have to pop the lid off and take a look inside.
(There is another explanation - that Marantz quietly upgraded the SA14S1 when they released the NA8005 / SA8005 earlier this year - both 2014 models support DSD128, For someone who doesnt obsess over DAC chips, this might seem like an odd post, but one has to ask what else they've slipped out the door without updating the 'series' number .... :scratch2
Rest assured that I've had the 'phones on listening to the Marantz for the entirety of this lengthy post, much to the chagrin of my pyjama'd accomplice.
Marantz US spec sheet:
http://us.marantz.com/DocumentMaster/US/SA14S1SpecificationSheet.pdf
The above lines up with the specs published in the Marantz User Guide that came with my SA14S1 - the 'high current audiophile DAC' is listed as the CS4398 in the few reviews currently out for this model.
Marantz UK spec sheet:
http://www.marantz.co.uk/DocumentMaster/master/Marantz_SA14S1_EN01.pdf
'High current audiophile DAC DSD1792A and accurate dual system clock'
Marantz Asia has the same DAC description, but the only color we get here is the silver one. The Marantz brand is distributed by Qualifi in Australia and they appear to have gone with the CS4398 in their doco.
The model numbers given on the UK sheet are different for the EU and UK models, presumably in line with the differing power outlets in each market and - of course - the choice between black and gold models. The Marantz US site doesnt list a model number - I believe that North America gets any color as long as it's black and everyone has the same power outlets.
The key difference between the Burr-Brown DAC and the Cirrus offering is that the latter appears to be limited to DSD64 while the PC1792A is listed as handling both DSD64 and DSD128 - a brief test this afternoon with my small collection of DSD files didnt really make things any clearer - it played the DSD128 files and simply reported 'DSD > 2.8M' - at worst, it downsampled DSD128 to DSD64 but all transitions between different formats from 256K AAC thru 24/96 to DSD128 were handled seamlessly.
Edit - my supposition re the CS4398 may be completely incorrect - see my comments re the SA8005 / NA8005 below.
Given that the SA14S1 is reportedly designed to replace the SA15S3 - more bucks for more functionality - several possibilities spring to mind :
- Marantz, like any large corporation, makes mistakes and the spec sheets were hastily thrown together based on sketchy info from Japan
- someone did the best they could with the spec sheet from the SA15S3 in the absence of anything better from engineering. Most of the Marantz range below the SA11 / NA11 flagships use the CS4398 and its not hard to see the same marketing claims made in the doco across several models.
- Japan has created a 'Japan-only' version, liked what they heard and released it into the UK and Europe. While this is far from definitive, I found this on a Japanese site discussing the internals of the 14S1 - I would have dismissed it if I hadnt seen the above spec sheets:
http://www.stereosound.co.jp/news/article/2013/09/02/130902_14S_marantz_02.jpg
This hobby is filled with folk who obsess over the Japan-only models from Sony, Pioneer and others - useless to those of us with anything other than 100-120V power but highly prized among collectors. I'm hesitant to risk my warranty on the basis of a few sketchy 'leads' but somewhere down the track I may have to pop the lid off and take a look inside.
(There is another explanation - that Marantz quietly upgraded the SA14S1 when they released the NA8005 / SA8005 earlier this year - both 2014 models support DSD128, For someone who doesnt obsess over DAC chips, this might seem like an odd post, but one has to ask what else they've slipped out the door without updating the 'series' number .... :scratch2
Rest assured that I've had the 'phones on listening to the Marantz for the entirety of this lengthy post, much to the chagrin of my pyjama'd accomplice.
