[Michael Hein]

Yes, another "witness the death" of HiRez thread.

Two days ago with not a lot to do I decided to check on some of the *better* locations (big box retailers) for HiRez discs. First I went to A & B sound in downtown Edmonton and even though their selection isn't the biggest they usually carry the odd title that interests me. I see they had moved the HiRez stand from out of the corner into a prominent location within all the CD's. Some good news for HiRez indeed but they didn't have the SACD I was looking for.

Next was Future Shop, just a few blocks away. They normally carry a decent amount of titles but for some reason I couldn't find the SACD's. They used to be right beside the DVDA's but look like they were moved. I didn't spend much time there because I wanted to check out Best Buy, their southside location having by far the greatest amount of titles (5 racks) but this time I would go to the northside location and see what it has to offer.

This is where HiRez reality hit me over the head.

When I finally found the SACD & DVDA section there was an early 20 something Best Buy worker organizing all the titles. I asked him if they had a particular disc and he said he would go out back to see if they had it. Soon enough, he returned with Allison Krauss Live and we engaged in some conversation. He told me they were reducing the HiRez sections, southside location from 5 racks to 3 and this northside location from 3 racks to 1. He said he was told to send 109 SACD titles back and that (upon my inquiries) this was to make room for a "2 for $20.00 CD sale".

Your kidding me right? We're going to lose the best B & M selection of hiRez in this city because of the need to make room for a CD sale? I'm sure there's more to it than this (nobody buying titles anymore comes to mind) but to actually witness him throwing discs into a basket knowing they would never see the light of day again put a lump in my throat. Why wouldn't they at least have a big sale instead of sending them back?

Anyway, I have read for years about some of yours experiences with the reduction of titles in stores but, until 2 days ago, had never witnessed it myself. Such a shame

[PhilBoy]

Best Buy (one of the two HiRez sources in Oakville, ON) is doing exactly the same thing... twelve linear feet of shelf space have taken over the DVD Audio section in favour of 2/$20 CD's.

I wish they would just put DVD-A and SA-CD on sale, in fact I check back each weekend hoping they will just clear them out 2 for 1.

[PaulT]

My local Future Shop has 'no SACD' section (other than a few of the Elton John titles interspersed with DVD-A titles). I was in last week asking about an older DVD-A which was not in stock and was told they would not be getting it in and when the last of in stock DVD-A's were sold 'that was it'. I was refered to newer releases with CD/DVDA (not DualDisc) like Morph the Cat that they will still be getting, but placing in with the CD's.....

If they put them on Sale, I'd pick up a bunch of titles that I didn't want - just for the h&ll of it.

The A&B Sound (30 miles away) has always had the best selection around here, but that has gradually reduced to about half of what it was (2 racks, 1 of DVD-A, the other SACD) displayed in the back corner of the store. I used to buy online from them but they have stopped doing that for the time being.