Details on SACD Super System (1 Viewer)

[Lee Scoggins]

Friends,
Sony is working with several leading high end companies to put together a "super system" for the May HiFi show from Stereophile.
Here is a link to the full story: http://www.stereophile.com/shownews.cgi?1319
This looks like a real winner. They had tube Nagra amps on Eggleston speakers last year and it sounded great.
Lee

 

[Phil A]

Sounds great, looking forward to hearing it. More cos. should do that type of thing so that a format or component can be heard in a great reference system.

 

[John Kotches]

OTOH Meridian has been demoing a DVD-Audio "Super System" for some time, with the 800+861+DSP 8000 speakers.

Regards,

 

[Lee Scoggins]

John,
Yes we know, Bob Stuart is firmly ensconced in the DVDA camp.
They say hearing is one of the first things to go when you get old
Just kidding!
Actually, it would be cool if we could do that test you recommended at the show with master tape, PCM, and DSD.
I am going to try to seek out a high end DVDA rig at the show for comparison.
Lee

 

[John Kotches]

Lee,
Despite your continued assertions to the contrary, it is far from proven that DSD is sonically superiour to high-resolution PCM.
It has however been demonstrably shown that when looking at the technical performance of the two technologies, High-res PCM performs better in every area except frequency response at the top end. That DSD is all noise in the area where it exceeds high-res in frequency response PCM is an interesting side argument.
Regards,

 

[Joe Casey]

Guys,

Haven't you two hashed this out ad nauseum? And the funny thing is that the BEST technology for listening to audio is good 'ol MP3.

 

[John Kotches]

Doh Joe!

Now why didn't I think of that?

Regards,

 

[Lee Scoggins]

John,
Did you wake up on the wrong side of the world today?
I was joking in my post and then stated that your test of formats versus the masters would be a good one.
Must you always be so sensitive?

It has however been demonstrably shown that when looking at the technical performance of the two technologies, High-res PCM performs better in every area except frequency response at the top end.

Not true at all. No one has conclusively shown that either of the formats is the best. Besides it is too early to hear the best of the formats, although Ed Meitner is said to be bringing a modified Philips 1000 to the May show for SACD playing.
Let's bury the hatchet on this topic for the good of the forum. Or else we will soon have a discussion on zero-crossing distortion of PCM formats.
At the end of the day, vinyl may win anyhow!
Lee

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Joe,
MP3....
Lee

 

[Brian-W]

Had some time to kill, and rather than quote more technical charts, I thought some "stats" to these on going debates would be interesting:
In the DSDA thread, the post count stood at:
John Kotches: 17
Lee Scoggins: 17
combined total: 34
Other persons: 29
Total Posts/Thread: 63
% of Lee/John Debate:54%
----------------------------------------
In the SACD inferior to DVD-A thread, the post count stood at:
John Kotches: 37
Lee Scoggins: 28
combined total: 65
Other Persons: 100
Total Posts/Thread: 165
% of Lee/John Debate:39.5%
I just thought this was interesting. Maybe you guys should go on Celebrity Boxing or something?

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Brian,

That's pretty good.
Lee

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Brian,
Celebrity boxing would be interesting, as I have been kickboxing the past four months
Lee

 

[KeithH]

More like Celebrity Death Match.
Lee,
Thanks for the info. I am sorry I will miss this show, as I will be on vacation. I look forward to reading objective reports of how the demo went.
MP3? Give me a break. A true audiophile listens to 8-track tape. Actually, I have an 8-track tape player and 20 tapes.

 

[John Kotches]

Keith,
So you're the person that's snagging up all the 8-tracks on e-Bay?
Now I know who I'm bidding against
Regards,

 

[KeithH]

John, that used to be me. I haven't bought an 8-track tape on eBay in over a year. Back in the fall of 2000, I found an unused Realistic 8-track tape player (player only, not a recorder) on eBay for $30. It came sealed in the original box. My guess is that the player dates back to the early '80s. It's a small player with wood on the sides and top. Over the next few months, I bought 20 8-tracks on eBay. Some were only $1. The highlights were sealed copies of Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon, Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-1975, and Rolling Stones Greatest Hits. I figured they would have some collectible value (especially the Floyd tape), so I haven't opened them. At this time, the player is in the box, but maybe I'll hook it up and start building my tape collection again.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Friends,
I have just been reading about the "down rez" possibilities for HDTV.
Let's all hope that this does not occur on any of the high rez audio formats, regardless of which camp you are in.
At least the vinyl guys are safe
Lee

 

[Lee Scoggins]

KeithH,
That is a collector's item. Both the player and Dark Side-keep it sealed!
The Japanese will pay thousands of dollars for it!
Is there an ebay Tokyo?
Seriously, what I really want are some reel tapes...
A question: Are laserdiscs the future 8-tracks of the video world?
I got a closet full.
Lee

 

[KeithH]

Lee said:

I have just been reading about the "down rez" possibilities for HDTV.

Let's all hope that this does not occur on any of the high rez audio formats, regardless of which camp you are in.

With all the B.S. these days about copy protection, I am waiting for SACD players that will downconvert DSD to MP3, even through the analog outputs. Talk about "the day the music died".

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Keith,

With all the B.S. these days about copy protection, I am waiting for SACD players that will downconvert DSD to MP3

Agreed.
I would almost want to see DVDA than a world of MP3 compression.
Almost.
Lee