SA-KI Pearl

About the SA-KI Pearl

The Marantz SA-KI Pearl is a premium Super Audio CD (SACD) and CD player released around 2009 as a special edition designed and personally refined by legendary Marantz engineer Ken Ishiwata. It features a robust multi-layered aluminum case with a copper-plated chassis to minimize vibration and interference, and a toroidal power supply shielded with copper plating. The transport mechanism is the Marantz SACDM-10 with a XYRON disc tray designed to isolate the disc from micro-vibrations. The player supports playback of SACD (single-layer, dual-layer, hybrid-layer), Redbook CD, CD-R/RW with PCM audio, and discs containing MP3 and WMA files, though it does not support multi-channel SACD layers. It uses a Cirrus Logic CS4398 24-bit/192kHz DAC and Marantz proprietary HDAM-SA2 discrete amplifier modules in the audio output stage to optimize sound quality. Outputs include RCA analog, headphone, coaxial and Toslink optical digital, with an optical digital input as well. The SA-KI Pearl is noted for its exceptional frequency response (2Hz–50kHz for SACD), very low total harmonic distortion (0.0010% SACD), and high dynamic range (112dB SACD). It weighs approximately 32 pounds and measures 17.4" W x 5" H x 16.5" D. The This player is considered a collector's item and a high-end reference SACD player with meticulous engineering and premium components throughout.