Marantz SA-KI Pearl Lite Review
Marantz SA-KI Pearl Lite Review
Price £1000 7.8/10
As you might imagine at this price level the build quality is excellent. Created by the legendary Ken Ishiwata, the Marantz SA-KI Pearl Lite is the result of a more affordable version of the KI SACD player being some £1500 cheaper. Retaining the same DAC as the KI SACD, the SA-KI Pearl Lite comes pretty close to it in performance. Designed to reproduce but with some warmth added to the mid-high frequencies the result is very pleasing. Vocals are particularly warm and fluid whilst the bass is deep and rich. Cymbals are crisp and silky, and the soundstage is wide with air around the instruments. Particularly well suited to jazz and classical, but electronic instruments the Marantz struggles to impress. The Marantz SA-KI Pearl Lite is undoubtedly an excellent player; it’s just that the competition at this end of the market is that much better. It does however surpass the competition in the area of connectivity boasting not only coaxial, optical inputs, but also USB on the front and back thus enabling digital signals from iPhone and iPod to be processed by its DAC. The Marantz is a superb player but is put in the shade by the likes of Audiolab and Roksan.
Specifications
Integrated Yes
DAC Yes
Coaxial digital out 1
Optical digital out 1
XLR out 0
RCA out 1
Headphone 0
Coaxial digital in 1
Optical digital in 1
CD Text No
Memory Yes
Display off Yes
Finishes 2
Dimensions (hwd, cm) 11x44x34
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