Marantz 30 Series Package
Oh boy, oh boy, oh BOY!
Marantz created an iconic 30 Series of gear in the 1970s. With a tip of that hat to those products, HOT off the presses is a NEW 30 SERIES of gear that is so smartly designed that I know you’re going to be as impressed as I am.
This gear comes from Marantz’s top design team and is built in its factory in Japan. Other Marantz products are built in other factories around the world as they are very price sensitive. The 30 Series, is the least expensive of Marantz’s BEST family of gear. It’s available in gorgeous black or champagne styling. The pulchritude finish is a perfect match to the 30’s refined audio performance.
The pricing is reasonable and there are many brilliant choices Marantz has made in the “design briefs.” I am a SILVER DISC LOVER. I’m fine with other formats too. But I appreciate what the silver disc offers, which is GREAT sound, proper metadata, and no fiddle fumbling with your computer or wi-fi.
Marantz’s KI Series and Reference Series are wonderful products to be sure. But the KI’s are almost double the price of the new 30s. And the SA’s are almost double the price of the KI’s. With the 30s we have more attainable price points without throwing top echelon technology out of the equation.
The 30 Series consists of two models.
SACD-30n $3000
As the letters imply, this guy starts as a CD/SACD player. Marantz has created its own drive mechanism to play discs. This doesn’t use an off the shelf transport from China.com.
The DAC on board is Ken Ishiwata’s very special MMM (Marantz Music Mastering). Yahoo!!
SACD-30n does not use a DAC chip from a vendor. This is Ken and Marantz’s own secret sauce that takes PCM and sends it out DSD 11.2M. YES!
MMM has been the hallmark of Marantz’s KI Ruby ($4k) and SA-10 ($7k) disc players. To be able to get this in a player for only $3000 is definitely something to crow about! To be clear, with everyone else, DAC design begins with the engineering staff choosing a DAC chip. No matter how the chip is used, there will be some identifiable sound inherent with each chip. MMM eschews this limitation because there is NO DAC CHIP inherent in the design. MMM exceeds the resolution capability of any DAC chip we’ve encountered.
I just read a nice review on the Gryphon Ethos CD player, $40k! It uses a pile of Sabre DAC chips. Now, I don’t doubt that the Gryphon sounds great. But at $3000, I promise you the SACD-30n is quite competitive AND plays SACDs, AND streams, AND can serve as a preamp if you like! Marantz gets economies of scale on its side too. The guys who make them one at a time in North America or Europe, have no such advantage.
And yep, it has digital inputs of Coax, OPT and USB, so other sources can take advantage of Marantz’s MMM technology as well.
Marantz has paid SERIOUS attention to this piece. I’ve just told you about MMM and Marantz’s own sled. When you are not using the disc mechanism it literally is turned off. It will not create noise/haze for the streaming function of this piece. And yep… SACD-30n has a built in streamer! Using Heos as its hub, this guy can rendezvous with Tidal, Qubuz, Spotify and a zillion other services. It’s got Bluetooth, Airplay 2, Roon, and a partridge in a pear tree. Further, the wi-fi streaming option has already proven to be reliable. There are plenty of streamers who brag about wi-fi operation that are clutzy/putzy in maintaining the signal.
The headphone amp is truly audiophile grade with gain settings to accommodate any phones you’ll care to use. Wisely, there’s a volume control for the headphones. Not everyone has thought of that important feature.
Here’s another feature that makes SACD-30n an absolute home run hitter. It has fixed and VARIABLE audio out! Yes! You can use it either as a source component into your preamp. Or, TA-DA, you can run preamp out straight to your power amp. Now we’re talking! Flexible enough for you?
Model 30 Integrated Amplifier: $3000
(100×2 @8, 200×2 @4Ω)
Model 30 is a full analog integrated amp. Correct. No DAC on board. The DAC feature of MMM is built into SACD-30n above. Marantz did not want an on board DAC to compromise the analog nature of this new integrated.
I’ll admit that I expected the Model 30 to be nothing more than a companion, matching integrated to go with the spectacular SACD 30n above. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Model 30 is a stunningly articulate, smooth sounding integrated capable of driving any speakers we’ve thrown at it. In fact, this 30 combination is SO GOOD that I would have a tough time justifying that you have to spend more for your front end ahead of the speakers! Yep, we have such a great source here, and
beautiful sounding integrated, that you can stop right here and just add the best speakers you can afford.
Model 30 has single ended inputs of CD, Tuner, Line 1, Line 2 and Phono MM/MC. MC offers 3 loading adjustments (33/100/390 ohms). It has a full tape loop, record and play. It has a preamp output. It also has a power amp INPUT.
The layout has been carefully thought out. For example, the preamp has its own toroidal transformer and power supply. The amp has its own power supply. The power amp portion of this integrated is located directly at the rear of the unit for short coupling to the high end speaker binding posts. The phono section is discrete componentry, on a dedicated PCB beneath the mother board to provide best isolation for minimal phono noise.
The preamp portion features bass, treble and balance. Perspicaciously, the treble hinges at 15k and the bass hinges at 50Hz. These tone controls are useful as they only touch the extreme ranges of performance. They won’t mask the vital mid/vocal region. It includes a balance control- which can come in handy in some applications.
It has a quarter inch headphone jack for REAL headphones. The readout of both 30 Series pieces can best be described as a “glow.” The remote of Model 30 will also operate SACD-30n. The volume control features approximately 200 steps so you can achieve the volume you actually want. The controls are weighted for a luxurious feel.
The 30 combination is quiet and sophisticated. You can run it with high efficiency speakers without introducing noise. You can also run it with ravenous speakers without worry. It’s so simple.
One source unit. One integrated. You’re sitting at $6000 before adding speakers. The 30 stack will drive literally any speakers I know of with aplomb. THIS… is a magnificent package!