Middy
1000+ Head-Fier
If you look at cement mixer thread I can do you a good deal....
You guys crack me up! I'm a general contractor.....I've done so much concrete work it's insane.
But yeah.....I really want that HA-1!!
... Does this sound redundant to you guys? Especially since I can already do all this without the HA-1. Just looking for that excuse.
I'd like to express a contrarian opinion and say that this sounds very redundant to me. I think you're better off spending that $1200 for something that will have a bigger impact (a musical instrument, bicycle, gift to a family member, charitable donation?) rather than duplicating capabilities you already have for the sake of possible subtle SQ improvements that may not be detectable in an ABX test. I have a minimalist philosophy, and the main reason why I bought the HA-1 is because it has so many features in one box, it can take the place of three different units and reduce clutter in my life.
I'm not familiar with your Marantz units, but I would guess that the HA-1 would provide a noticeable advantage only if your headphones were very difficult to drive or maybe benefited from balanced amplification. Otherwise, I seriously doubt the DAC or preamp capabilities, or even headphone out for easy to moderate to drive headphones, are noticeably different between the Oppo and Marantz. If you enjoy the streaming capabilities and AirPlay connectivity with your Apple devices (which will provider higher quality than the Bluetooth on the HA-1, which is more optimized for aptX devices) on your Marantz, then you probably made the right decision initially when you picked the Marantz over the Oppo. I'm probably in the minority, but I think we should just enjoy all the nice equipment that we have instead of constantly thinking about upgrading. Just think if your wife or GF wanted to spend thousands on a brand new wardrobe every season. She would probably view our upgraditis the same way we would view her frivolous fashion obsession.