15 Love

摘要

Life's just full of surprises, eh? Little did I know, when I wrote the worshipful if doleful review of the Marantz SA-11S1 SACD player in May that a baby sister was on the way. I adored the'11, but the note of melancholy in my coverage was down to two things. First was the needless removal of multi-channel capability, given that its presence would not harm two-channel playback one iota. The second is the abject failure of SACD itself to secure a market, and therefore its future. Anyway, along comes the SA-15S1 and the matching integrated amp, the PM-15S1, the latter with the same down-scale relationship to the SA-11S1's matching amp, the PM-11S1. What Marantz has done, though, which should make all of you utter a big 'thanks,' is create economy versions that don't give up a whole helluva lot except for price. The '11s cost £2499 for the amp and £1999 for the SACD player, yet the '15s are only £1100 apiece. So, for only £200 more than the SA-11S1 on its own, you get a tasty amplifier thrown in.