When switching to SACDs, I pulled out some other SACDs I had on hand. Most played
without a glitch. Bill Evans Trio’s Portraits in Jazz (Fantasy Jazz) “Come Rain or Come
Shine” had noticeably more depth and detail, with better imaging on its stereo SACD
track than on standard CD track. I noticed a more solid body and more texture in the
bass on the SACD track.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Jazz at Oberlin (Fantasy Jazz) opens with “These Foolish
Things,” in which Paul Desmond’s alto saxophone sounded absolutely amazing and was
well placed in the soundstage. “Stardust” also features great saxophone playing and
sounds, with Brubeck kicking up the piano towards the end. Even though the original
recording is not great, there is a sense of involvement and cohesion that is revealed. On
“How High the Moon,” the Marantz maintains good rhythm and pace and great synergy
within the entire quartet. Again, Desmond’s sax playing stands out, but the rest of the quartet is working
together like a well-oiled machine and I could hear a good amount of detail from each instrument, as well
as a cohesive picture of the entire quartet.
Moving to DVD-Audio discs, I played Simple Minds’ Once Upon a Time (EMI
Records), which I had just received. The track “All the Things She Said” brought back
high school memories as I listened to this track, which had obviously been heavily
processed (as many were in the ‘80s). The track was very clean sounding, as was the
entire disc. I noticed more details in the many synthesizer lines than I remember from
the original, along with a large, smooth soundstage. “Sanctify Yourself,” another hit
from the ‘80s, was equally clean and detailed, with a large soundstage.
I then played Dorian Michael’s Acoustic Blues (AIX Records) album. This album was
recorded, mixed and mastered in 96kHz/24 bits. The track “All Dressed Up” had great detail
throughout, but especially with the guitar and bass tracks. It was very easy to imagine
myself in the room with the musicians as I listened to the notes from the strings slowly
decay and the music resonate from the instrument bodies. The drums were also solid with
good weight and detail to help make a very cohesive mix, full of texture and life.
Lastly, the Insane Clown Posse’s The Wraith Shangri-La (Psychopathic-DTS) “Ain’t You
Bidness” confirmed that the Marantz does deep and powerful just as well on DVD-Audio
as it did on CD. Additionally, this track is fast-paced and complex, something the Marantz
had no problems with, keeping all the details intact and in the right place
.
The Downside
I had some issues with the remote. I am a firm believer that any remote that is intended
for use during a movie, such as that of a home theater processor or video source, needs to
be easy to use in the dark. The remote that comes with the DV9500 is not backlit and is
unintuitive. Thankfully, the buttons are of different shapes, and with regular use, you can
learn to use it in the dark. The remote fell short of the superb design achievement found in
the player.
I was excited about the prospect of playing the epic Tommy from The Who, but
unfortunately it wouldn’t play in the Marantz. I am unsure if this was a disc issue or a
player problem, as this is the only SACD player I currently have for testing purposes. In
this day and time, it's not uncommon to have a couple of discs that act funny in a player.
Unfortunately, this nuance was found during the last day of the review, so I didn’t get a
lot of time to test additional copies of the same material.
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