I’m a lover of old and new and have all in between. Currently in my downstairs listening room I’m using a rebuilt Marantz 1060 as my pre and amp. Using a Scchiit Modi multibit and the “stellar” phono stage of the Marantz for my LP listening (which is a lot of listening). I listen and absolutely love the sound of the Marantz but… the more I read about the PS Audio stellar system with the GAIN DAC and the pair of M700 blocks I can’t stop thinking about moving in that direction for at least the digital spectrum. Any others using vintage gear find the Stellar systems a worthwhile investment?
My primary problem is the lack of a phono stage on the GAIN DAC. I was considering utilizing the Marantz 1060 phono as my phono pre and going directly out of pre into the GAIN DAC but wasn’t sure if I would lose that true to live Marantz warmness I love about these 70" era Marantz integrated amps. Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I must say Paul is selling me on their products just by his presence, kindness, and honesty to his customers. This attitude has given me a trust in his company making me want to invest in what they have to offer. Thanks for your time.
An interesting question. I do not recall anyone posting anything quite like this.
My prediction is you would be very happy with the sound of the Marantz going into any PS Audio Product. I find their components true to the input.
However, the M700 will sound very different than the Marantz amplification. Whether you will like this or not is hard to predict.
I suggest seeing if you can arrange a home demo with a local dealer. Or work directly with PS Audio. Their audition at home and return it if you are dissatisfied is very generous and easy to work with.
Please let us know what you decide. This is a fun project.
I appreciate the response very much. I will certainly look into the in home audition. I wasn’t aware they allowed this. I will dig in on their website for details to see if I can find out more details.
+1 on the welcome and the advice. I use a tube preamp (and Nuwave DSD DAC) with my M700s and they get along just great but the best way to find out is a home trial as Elk suggests. Just remember that the M700’s take a lot of time to break in (much of which can be accomplished just by leaving them on). Please do keep us posted. Positive and negative experiences are appreciated.
It is an impressive group; gracious, delighted to help anyone with anything, and with a remarkable depth of knowledge of both equipment and music. i learn something almost every time I log in. Now if I could only remember it all . . .
Sorry for the off topic question but how is the headphone out on the Gain DAC? I currently also use the fantastic headphone amp on the Marantz 1060 and love its ability to drive pretty much any headphone I throw at it. I would likely be using Sennheiser HD600 or the majority of the time.
Good questions… I have the 700s but have not tried anything like you are attempting. I doubt you will be dissappointed. but here is a great guy to contact with any questions, home trial etc… he has been very helpful…
The headphone output is quite good and I think neutral enough to keep the qualities of the device itself alive. Also, while in the future you might want our upcoming Stellar phono stage available late this year, your idea of using the Marantz for the phono into the GCD is a good and viable option.
It is an impressive group; gracious, delighted to help anyone with anything, and with a remarkable depth of knowledge of both equipment and music. i learn something almost every time I log in. Now if I could only remember it all . . .
I tend to try to figure out how things work before I read the directions. When I got the M700's and the DirectStream DAC I asked a lot of knee jerk questions that were already answered in the manual. Many members from other forums would have been critical of my quick comments, but not here. Courtesy and patience abound. Plus a lot of knowledgeable, helpful people.
The headphone output is quite good and I think neutral enough to keep the qualities of the device itself alive. Also, while in the future you might want our upcoming Stellar phono stage available late this year, your idea of using the Marantz for the phono into the GCD is a good and viable option.
Paul, is this the announced phono stage you spoke of in another thread, too, or will there be 2 coming?
Ah, so to avoid misunderstanding, mine is „no“ was the answer to the first part of my question and there are two coming and the other one than the Stellar is a BHK as you mentioned it n the other thread…so PSA is strong in phono business next time
Any other cards you’be been holding close to the vest, Paul? I know speakers and servers are on the horizon. Speaker cables and interconnects could be next? I could actually see you guys offering those (and would probably buy them). A turntable, perhaps?? Wouldn’t that be something! (not holding my breath on that one)
My ideas for a turntable would likely turn a few stomachs so I haven’t gone there and am simply biding my time until the landscape is better suited for it.
On the landscape are two phono stages (BHK and Stellar), a Stellar Power Plant, and a few other goodies we haven’t yet firmed up enough to discuss.
I, for one, would love to see a PS Audio turntable, Paul!! I’m pretty sure that it would sound amazing and be very functional with a nice industrial design. And given how insane TT design has gotten, I don’t think you’d hurt anyone’s feelings, honestly!
Now I’m glad I started this conversation. It opened up to some goodies to add to the budget for the year. I’m looking forward to the phono stage as well as the stellar power plant for sure. Worse case I can use the stellar DAC and M700 for my digital audio and stick with the Marantz 1060 for my phono if that ends up being my can of worms.
Something tells me this is going to be a big year for PS Audio. You guys just might convert me from a die hard Marantz advocate in 2018.
I’ve had this stellar system in my cart now for almost two days. Thinking tomorrow will be the day I pull the trigger. I blame you all for not stopping me
Yes, indeed. Our products and company are doing extremely well and I am really proud of what we’ve accomplished. And the future looks even brighter.
Stellar’s been getting well deserved rave reviews like few first-tier products receive. I attribute it to good and careful engineering, but mostly, because unlike so many consumer audio companies, we place the greatest amount of engineering effort into the listening and voicing of products. Which, if I might say, is something that always astounds me. It’s like trying to run a great restaurant out of a cookbook and never tasting the final product. “Well, if I just follow this recipe the book says it’ll taste good”.
Darren’s been working hard on it for some time.
