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Turntables Marantz TT-15S1 Turntable
Turntables Marantz TT-15S1 Turntable
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| Marantz TT-15S1 Turntable |
| Written by Piero Gabucci | ||||||
| Sunday, 08 June 2008 17:00 | ||||||
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Conclusions The Marantz TT-15S1 has me so excited about vinyl again that it has me scrambling to find old LPs. A friend recommended that I check out a used CD store, and, "Oh yeah," he says, "they sell vinyl too!" Tunes in Hoboken, New Jersey has become a favorite destination when I can find parking and have a bit of time to kill searching through their ever growing collection. I never stop to look at the CDs by the way, but go straight to the 12” x 12” disc-size. At around $1,600, the Marantz TT-15S1 is modestly priced these days for turntables of this quality. The Clearaudio influence on the turntable design, as well as their Virtuoso cartridge make this unit a strong winner to me, so much I bought it well before I finished this review. Am I ready to dump my CD player? Hardly, in fact I can’t wait for Blu-Ray to provide the next generation of high-res audio. But when I want to just enjoy an hour of music, I put down the remote, get my butt out of the chair and partake in the ritual I’ve missed since about 1985. The Marantz TT-15S1 will never be retired. Comments (9)
Azimuth
written by Chris W. , September 02, 2008 You stated that azimuth was not adjustable on this system. This is not correct. Refer to the hex head screw under the tone arm where the head shell connects to the tone arm. Loosen this screw and you can rotate the head/azimuth. Tighten the screw to lock in the adjustment. BTW, I am not surprised that you purchased this TT so quickly after trying it. I have searched on and off for about 3 years, only to recently settle on this Marantz. It's quality is astounding for the price. The closest value competitor that I have found is the VPI Scout, but the Marantz appears to have a better tonearm with better quality bearings.
can't wait for bluray??
written by Arg , September 10, 2008 you are going to be bitterly disappointed when high res audio comes out on bluray from the same studios that have been obliterating the dynamic range of CDs for 25 years. Also, don't dig out your old LP's, they are really badly made. Modern LP's are well made (within the limits of the medium), unlike CD, because no-one is going to play them over radio or in a car.
Azimuth
written by Piero , September 10, 2008 Actually, you're absolutely right - thank-you! I just returned from CEDIA which is hardly a vinyl show yet the two manufacturers that used vinyl both had the Marantz, I guess we're not alone in appreciating the TT! ;)
Re:can't wait for bluray??
written by Piero , September 10, 2008 I've heard enough to know the potential for audio on blu-ray and frankly I'm not sure of the future of blu-ray for video - I think the format will be better served in other avenues. And although I agree the history of CD recording has been spotty at best, I'm hoping for the best from studio engineers, shouldn't we hope? I still have plenty of old vinyl that sounds great and have purchased enough used lately that my batting average is about .600 for quality. Now having said that, I bought a replacement new Abbey Road and it was terrible, I was shocked. But I've also bought some new that were very well made. The problem is the cost of new vinyl - hard to shell out $30 for a new one!? Thanks for the comment though, we should always find a reason to talk about music.
Blue Ray Relevance?
written by Chris W. , November 09, 2008 I don't see where BR is competing with vinyl. Vinyl in itself has certain psychological bonuses. That physical spinning disc that you have to handle and take care of really makes the experience seem more personal/involving. But don't count on too many great sounding BR discs. Even CD is technically superior to vinyl, but the masters used on the CD are typically trashed. Where as the masters for vinyl are more often a better quality. With the right cartridge and high quality turntable, vinyl can sound perfectly realistic on a very high end/quality sound system. I enjoy both digital media and vinyl; but vinyl is more fun to me. -Chris
Left Front Leg Adjustable?
written by Mo , February 09, 2009 are you sure? I can't get mine to rotate. The front right and back one do.
DJs
written by SteveDJ , February 11, 2009 I've been using a pair of Technic 1200s for years with ortofon cartridges. In the DJ world we've always been buying new tracks on vinyl. Here is a website that sells new vinyl http://www.dnbsource.com/?go=flash
CD inferior
written by Blod , February 23, 2009 "Even CD is technically superior to vinyl, but the masters used on the CD are typically trashed." WRONG. Even SACD and DVD-A are inferior to well-recorded vinyl. Do a little research on how digital recordings work before you make these statements. Digital audio, even 24-bit, is seriously flawed because digital recording is incapable of capturing perfect soundwaves that are complex, whereas 30IPS analogue tape can do a 100% perfect analogous recording and then transfer it to vinyl. CD at 16-bit is a joke. Even though vinyl has many problems, it is inherently superior in resolution, detail, 3-D imaging, and most importantly, accurate TIMBRE. Voices and instruments sound like they do in real life. On any digital format (esp. CD), everything sounds digitized because it IS digitized!
thanks for this review
written by david j w bailey , March 16, 2009 well, that will help me decide where to go after my 10 year old Project 6a gave up the ghost. as to analogue v digital, what always amazes me is that digital geeks (of which I am sometimes one) really do need to go back to school. They all realise that a 48khz sample can theoretically capture a 20khz signal because of the basic Fourier transform rules says "sample at twice the desired frequency", but they forget what they are sampling. Most real music has transients and phase information which is well above the resolving power of the DACs used in CD and SACD. Our ears can resolve a few arc minutes of spatial separation at 16khz, but CD cannot. Our ears can deliver information from rapid transient sounds (cymbals, vocal clicks) which are well outside the resolving power of CD. I hope blue ray at 192/192 or even 96/96 will help a little, but we are always going to lose some spatial and phase information, as well as suffer "muddied" transients with digital. Write comment
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