Music Hall Maverick?

[Blindamood]

Lately I've been searching for a two-channel CD player that also plays SACD. While there are numerous universal players that include SACD playback (which is what I'm using now), there seem to be a fairly limited number of dedicated two-channel players. Brands I've come across include Sony, Marantz, and also the Music Hall Maverick.

While the Maverick is fairly expensive at $1495, I think this would be the best fit that I've found so far for my two-channel system. It's also a gorgeous unit, and would match my system nicely.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this unit, since I've found very limited information or reviews online. Thanks for any feedback!

[Blindamood]

Hmmm....this one looks interesting. Wonder when it'll be available in the States?

http://www.sa-cd.net/shownews/39

[Alaric]

I have the Marantz SA8260 . While it will play SACDs in 2 ch. , it will play the 5 ch. as well. I auditioned the Maverick when I was shopping and preferred the Marantz. The difference in price likely influenced my decision somewhat , but I don't feel I lost anything with my system. I suspect a higher quality setup would reveal some nuances I can't take advantage of.
The European version (SA8400) is , I think , only 2 ch.. That SA7001 looks nice-maybe it's going to be the replacement for the SA8260 , which is getting a little long in the tooth for this type of technology?
The SA8260 can be had for a good bit less than the MSRP on the Marantz website. There are also factory refurbished (with factory warranty ) available for even less.
Finally , I'm also pleased with CD playback with my unit-not something every SACD player provides. It's worth checking CD playback very carefully. The best advice , as always , is try to audition with your system .
Good luck! :T

[Blindamood]

Thanks, Alaric. Yes, I am somewhat familiar with the SA8260. Maybe I will give it a closer look. As you say, though, it (as well as the Maverick) have been around a while, so I'm looking out for the new product coming down the pipe.

[Alaric]

A bit more info...

There were apparently some QC issues with the early iterations of the SA8260 which might explain the plethora of "factory refurbished" units. I found them available for as little as $699 with a little web surfing. At that price , with full factory warranty , it's a great deal. IMO , you would be hard pressed to equal a sub-$800 SA8260 with anything else available. However , as always , there may be some sonic characteristics that push your buttons differently than mine! I do know SACD has a pretty wide frequency spread , and the highs are not handled well by some amps. Mine has a switch on the back to change the high freq. output if the amp is not up to the task. I also found my amp can (I think) handle the highs , but my aluminum tweeters are not as easy to get along with ! I'm not sure if it's the damping factor abilities of my amp (150) or the tweeter material itself-trying to talk the local hi-fi shop into letting me borrow a RB-1092 or a couple NuForce Ref 9's to check......Not having much luck as my salesguy knows my budget..... :rofl:

[locomk]

I personally have the Music Hall Maverick. Great cd player/sacd. I too looked for reviews online and only found a select few. I purchased the Maverick by chance at the going out of business sale from the good guys where i was working. the look of this player is really nice and matches my parasound amps very well. in comparison to my denon dvd-2200 universal player, the maverick revealed detail that i never heard on some cd's and the soundstage was vey accurate. sacd performance was better than the denon as well.

The maverick has a cool feature called upsampling and sounds great with certain genres of music, but makes rock and metal sound a little too bright. the remote that comes with it is solid metal and needs a scewdriver to take the batteries out so if you drop it, it won't break open.

The Bad: The Maverick plays most cd's and all sacd's with no problems. some cd's take long to load and i do get the occasional no disc on older cd's or burned cd's. I spoke to Roy Hall, and he told me the reason it does this is because it has a very intense error correcting circuit. but whatever disc the Maverick won't play, i play it on the denon. If you have any "dual discs", the maverick definatly won't play those. i bought a few and it simply says no disc, but than again neither will my denon. the cd side of dual disc is not guaranteed to play anyway, due to the cd side not being produced at spec. but it's simple to make it into a cdr on the pc and play it than.

This is my first hifi cd player and I dont know if it would of been my top pick if i had actually spent 1500 dollars. i actually bought it for around 100 dollars (once in a lifetime kind of deal) I did audition a bunch of players before running into this deal, and the Maverick still performed with players twice the price.

Music Hall customer service is easy to get a hold of, and that is definatly worth paying a little more for great audio equipment.

[gd]

I purchased the Maverick by chance at the going out of business sale from the good guys where i was working... i actually bought it for around 100 dollars (once in a lifetime kind of deal)

!

That wasn't at the Geary store, was it?... I cruised there a couple times looking to pick over the goods, like a vulture... but the so-called 'sale pricing' was pretty crappy for a liquidation event.

Glad you got a lucky break, though... enjoy.

[Blindamood]

This is my first hifi cd player and I dont know if it would of been my top pick if i had actually spent 1500 dollars. i actually bought it for around 100 dollars (once in a lifetime kind of deal)

Thanks for the review, locomk. Of course, if I could get one for $100 bucks, we wouldn't be having this conversation...!

[locomk]

!

That wasn't at the Geary store, was it?... I cruised there a couple times looking to pick over the goods, like a vulture... but the so-called 'sale pricing' was pretty crappy for a liquidation event.

Glad you got a lucky break, though... enjoy.

NO, it was at the van ness location, and originally we thought it was defective, but it was simply a blown fuse, luckily the maverick comes with a spare, so i bought it in "as is condition", popped in the new fuse and hadn't had a problem since.

[Blindamood]

Hmmm....this one looks interesting. Wonder when it'll be available in the States?

http://www.sa-cd.net/shownews/39

For anyone who is interested in a CD/SACD player, I wrote to Marantz asking about the availability of the players mentioned in the above article, and this is the response I received:

Brad,

The SA8001 will be available in April - stay tuned to the website for
more info.

It is better than either of the SA7001s you are looking at from the
European website.

Price will be about $1000.


Thank you,

Kevin Zarow
Vice President, Marketing & Product Development
Marantz America, Inc.

[Blindamood]

Looks like the Marantz SA8001 is due out any time now. Info is now available on their web site:

http://us.marantz.com/Products/1644.asp

Can't wait to hear some reviews on this one.

[Alaric]

Damnit! Now I may have to upgrade. Same price as my 8260 , maybe .......

[Blindamood]

Ha, ha...sorry, man! I'm gonna keep an eye on it, too. Could be nice in my two-channel system.

[Alaric]

Blindamood , wanna buy an SA8260 ? I'll make you a deal.....

[mtodde]

The last Audio Advisor catalog had the 8001 for $899. It is tempting, but I may stick with my 8260.

[Blindamood]

Blindamood , wanna buy an SA8260 ? I'll make you a deal.....

Yeah, I bet you will!

$899...hmmmmmm.... 8)

[Alaric]

C'mon , how about $899....

mtodde , I like your avatar. How do you like the SA8260 with Paradigm speakers? My little Studio 60s surprised me with thier range when I put in Dark Side Of The Moon (SACD).

[Blindamood]

Actually, I see that Audio Advisor is now selling the SA8260 for $799 -- brand new.

[Alaric]

Oops

[Alaric]

Ok.$798.99...

[Blindamood]

Looks like the Marantz SA8001 is finally shipping. They removed the "coming soon!" text from the Marantz web site, and they are now listed as orderable from AudioAdvisor.com for $899 (they are currently appearing as "backordered", however.) Can't wait to hear a review of this player.