Marantz Celebrates Designer With Amp & SACD Player
By Rachel Cericola
Happy anniversary Ken Ishiwata! Apparently, when you spend 30 years designing super-cool audio equipment for
Marantz, there's no cake or gold watch. Well, there could be, but the company is going one step further by inserting Mr. Ishiwata's initials into its latest high-end two-channel audio components.
Two products will be part of the
KI Pearls: the SA-KI Pearl SACD Player ($2,999) and the PM-KI Pearl Integrated Amplifier ($3,599).
Ishiwata is a designer and Marantz's European Brand Director. "Ken Ishiwata has literally been the vision and guiding spirit of Marantz HI-FI for 30 years," noted Kevin Zarow, vice president of Marantz's Marketing and Product Development. "With the introduction of our two KI Pearl components we're literally bringing his dream to life, fully embodying his expertise, passion and knowledge while celebrating his sublime love of music."
The SA-K1 includes a "bulletproof" vibration-damped cabinet, a Xyron Disc Tray with Precision Super Audio CD Drive, a copper encased toroidal transformer, and Marantz-exclusive HDAM SA2 circuitry. Adapting HDAM-SA2 and HDAM-SA modules with high-performance DACs (CS4398) from Cirrus logic, and selectable filters, ensure superior sonic reproduction, with playback capability for SACD stereo, CD-DA, MP3, and WMA files.
The PM-KI Pearl is a fully discrete 2-stage power amplifier (140 watts per channel at 4 ohms, 90 watts per channel into 8 ohms), with a constant current feedback phono equalization circuit (including both MM & MC), CD Direct input buffer circuitry and more.
A limited number of SA-KI Pearl products will be released in May, with the PM-K1 Pearl coming in September.
