Any Plans For A Steller SACD Transport?

Steven, just an FYI the transport drive information was already outlined in a previous post.

If PSA does build a Stellar transport; perhaps it makes more sense to do a CD only mod in order to get the best sound quality for the best price.

PS Audio is about DSD and I2S. The item requested in this thread is a SACD that plays DSD.

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@Elk So I mixed the Marantz 30n (EUR 3200) up with the Marantz SA12se (EUR 3500).

I give you one thing though. I was indeed stupid buying into Stellar hoping for a Stellar DSD/SACD source.it was an expensive lesson too.

I do very much enjoy vinyl, CD, Apple Music and BluOS now. By telling about my experience I hope to save other potential Stellar customers the disappointment.

I know nothing about which Marantz units you may have confused, and do not find this meaningful.

I have no idea why you expected a Stellar SACD player with I2S. You have known for some years no such animal exists and there is no plans for one.

I do not recall other Stellar customers expressing disappointment with buying the Stellar DAC or other Stellar products. Rather, they describe their experience as . . . stellar. :slight_smile:

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Stellar equipment does not replicate Perfectwave equipment and not sure why the Stellar transport would be any different. Examples, the Perfectwave DAC has a FPGA D/A converter and the Stellar DAC has a Sabre D/A converter. Perfectwave amps are Class AB and Stellar amps are Class D.

Like Bryston, Naim and Meridian did, why not focus on just CD because it could have sound quality and cost benefits. The Stellar DAC continue to do DSD via USB.

agreed - i have several
of their amps from early 90s.
recently replaced by Quads of a similar vintage but those Arcams did me proud for many years :slight_smile:

When I bought my SGCD I was thinking about connecting a transport for I2S DSD. What I wasn’t thinking about was a $4k net (after trade-in) transport. I still like the SGCD and it fits my needs extremely well for the cost. $4k Transport, not so much. So, I’ve bought three Oppo’s instead (a guy needs a backup plan). I wanted PS Audio to take my money, but that ship sailed.

Had an Arcam Alpha 8, Alpha 8R, Alpha 10 integrates, an Alpha 9 CD player with a dCS DAC as well as some of their FMJ products.

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DSD via USB is too cumbersome.

It is indeed a fact that SACD Is not for the budget minded Stellar customers.

Since I returned the Stellar Gain Cell DAC I have given up on DSD and high res. Redbook CD and vinyl do it for me now. I do no longer have to worry about:

  • the choice of DAC
  • file formats
  • control software (for streaming)
  • choice of music

It also means:

  • that DSD is no market differentiator for the Stellar product line like it is for the perfect wave line
  • neither does it contribute to generating a wider support base for DSD
  • it begs the question:
    Do you need DSD?
    Looking at the answers in this thread it looks like a unanimous NO.

Those who own DSD files and SACD’s and want to play them, are better served with the Marantz 30 series nowadays.

Over the last 30+ years many European and Scandinavian audio companies chose to set up their own manufacturing plants in China (not subcontract manufacture), retaining all their design, marketing and administration in their home territory. That gives them a massive advantage on component costs, labour costs, property costs, logistics, and lead times. This is far more important to European companies as domestic markets are much smaller and most of their sales are exports, whereas Paul said PSA sells 70% in the USA. Stellar components always seemed to me to be 2 or 3 times the price of competitor products. I have a CXA81, knocks the spots off the Stellar Strata and is one third the price. I’ve enquired about a Stellar Phono, but equally good offerings from Hegel and Primare are half the price.

You can get really good CD transports for $1,000 from the likes of Audiolab, designed in the UK, made in China. I think it is Taiwanese owned and they have their own manufacturing village, with accommodation, schools etc.

It seems PSA really has it work cut out trying to make budget components in the USA based on relatively expensive imported components like transports. Paul has said they pay a fortune for the Marantz SACD transports, but there is no other option.

As the market is now predominantly streaming, and vinyl sales have overtaken CD, the manufacturers of esoteric products like SACD will become increasingly few and lack of choice will keep prices high.

Although the Marantz 30n is universally praised and plays SACD, I suspect it is mainly used as a network player and audiophiles would have liked it to have a balanced design, but that cannot be done at the price point.

I’ve no doubt DSD will continue as a micro-market, but my mind was made up when Qobuz decided against streaming it, after saying they would, in 2016. One big problem is that many streamers convert DSD to PCM. The lack of content is the major issue for those who listen to music rather than formats.

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The attractive part of the EISA awarded Streamer / SACD Player / DAC is indeed it’s streaming capabilities in combination with being able to tap into that niche market. Apart from the fact that the visual design of both source and amplifier are the same and make it more suitable for enthousiasts who like lifestyle integration of the system. Doe relative attractive budget Marantz have a turntable available, made by Clearaudio. Hook it up and you have an affordable system that can play it all.

I used the DSD App to convert my DSD to lossless ALAC (Redbook CD quality). The excellence of music, recording and mastering of that music still comes across brilliantly.

As you say DSD content is hardly available and if it is it is very expensive compared with the redbook CD copy of the same recording and master.

The Marantz units convert all binary formats (DSD and PCM) into a 11.2MHz one-bit data stream which is then filtered to remove the high-frequency carrier.

What is the effect of that Elk? It’s very technical I’d like to understand.

It’s not dissimilar to what PSA and others do, upsample to high rate DSD, do some digital trickery and then pass a 1-bit stream through the D/A converter.

Marantz call in MMM, which stands for something not in the least bit memorable.

P.S. Marantz Musical Mastering - apparently developed for the SA10.

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It means with a Marantz player you are essentially listening to DSD no matter the input.

The Audiolab CDT6000 is something like $549 new and is excellent - I think it’s a bit better overall than the Cambridge CXC.

I think one of PSA’s challenges is location - Boulder is an expensive area to live, to rent or buy office/manufacturing space, and thus to hire and pay people. I think there’s a reason Schiit has opened a facility in TX in addition to CA . . .

That is a good thing. I never said DSD sounds bad, nor can I say my current NAD system sounds better.

Hence the reason I would have appreciated a Stellar SACD transport. It was just not really worth chasing it anymore.

It is the convenience of the NAD BluOS integrated solution, combined with good sound and built quality that I appreciate. The time between giving the Stellar Gain Cell DAC back to the dealer and delivery of the NAD C658 was too long to be able to compare the sound.

The NAD system converts everything to PCM before feeding it into the DAC. NAD is not transparent about its DAC technology. I think it are Sabre DAC’s. Which are Delta Sigma DACs that basically convert everything internally to DSD as well.
The reason for PCM in the integrated units is that digital tone control, and DIRAC room correction is (without expensive algorithms) only practical in the PCM domain.