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Have Circuit City stores finally given up on SACD? (1 Viewer)

David Lawson

Screenwriter
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Sep 11, 2000
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1,365
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Real Name
David Lawson
I know circuitcity.com still has a large selection at mostly reasonable prices, but the local stores I've visited recently have completely removed the SACD end caps.

No more half-assed 5.1 setup, no more selection of 20 titles, no more printed catalogs from September 2002. I checked the regular CD sections for the SACD section, just in case they decided to organize them like Best Buy does, but...nothing. Everything has vanished, and both employees and managers tell me that the B&M locations [will] no longer carry discs.

Obviously, they never got behind it in the first place, but is this vanishing act nationwide?
 

cwhite

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 9, 2002
Messages
292
If you look hard, you may find one or two in the racks but they have long since threw in the towel on SACD and DVD-A.
 

Matt Fisher

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 4, 2004
Messages
357
So disappointing, the only store in my city that carries any DVD-A is Best Buy, they've had the same cycle of like 20 titles for the past year and a half, never anything different. Most stores are like "ohh you mean DVD concerts..." :rolleyes
 

Darryl

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 17, 2002
Messages
165
The Circuit City nearest to me hasn't carried SACD or DVD-A for months, maybe as much as a year.
 

Jesse Skeen

Senior HTF Member
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Apr 24, 1999
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I can tell you that a problem some retailers have had with SACDs is people buying them then bringing them back after they won't play in their standard CD player- they say stuff like "Well, it doesn't even work on my new Bose and that should be able to play ANYthing!" ;) This is despite any tags on the front that say that the discs can only be played on an SACD player- the average person can't f---ing read.
Besides the almost complete lack of marketing that would have at least told people what the hell SACD is, the other BIG mistake they've made with SACD is that they've produced some as hybrid discs that can also play in regular CD players, but some as single-layer discs that only play in SACD players. If they wanted to get the format out to everyone, ALL titles should have been on hybrid discs, and available ONLY that way- strangely some titles are available as regular CD only AND as a hybrid SACD for a couple dollars more! That way everyone would have amassed a collection of SACDs that they could play right now on their present equipment and enjoy the added sound quality later when they upgraded. I guess that would have made too much sense though.
 

Brian L

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Jul 8, 1998
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3,302


Yeah, the tried that with the Stones, but inexplicably decided to NOT make any mention of it on the packaging. Duhh.

There were some print ads that mentioned the Stones catalog was on SACD, but of you went in the store looking, and had not read about it here or elsewhere, you would not really know for sure that you had bought the hybrid.

I agree completely, that if everything was a hybrid, but marked to make it clear that it would play on a normal CD machine, there would have been a lot of software out there that would hopefully have peaked some curiosity, leading to player sales, which would lead to more software....but I guess that was too simple for some of the marketing geniuses to grasp.

BGL
 

anthony_b

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 18, 2000
Messages
1,077
Man, I personally have not purchased a SACD/DVD-A in years.
If anyone is interested in my Sony 222es let me know.
 

Doug Schiller

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 16, 1998
Messages
766
I can understand them dropping the SACD/DVDAudio only releases but how about the hybrids?
None of my CCs stocked the recent Clapton/Elton John hybrids.
I was really hoping not having to pay Border's prices on these.

Of course Best Buy wasn't any better. I think they got 2 copies of SACD Layla in the entire state of Florida.
 

Sergio F

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 25, 2003
Messages
85
All great comments but I disagree that CC dropping SACD and DVD-AUDIO is a good thing. It's well established that both CC and BB have done a miserable job of promoting the formats. It has always made my blood boil when I would walk into one of these stores and ask about new releases only to find that most of the sales people would not even know where the existing discs were located let alone what the heck they were.

However, the fact remains that, in this country, these two stores probably sell more music than all other music-only stores combined. If these guys can't sell the format then who can?

Best Buy is sure to soon follow in the footsteps of Circuit City. Most of the stores I have been in have very limited selections that are rarely restocked. Also, whereas CC at least does a pretty good job of stocking titles online, all I have ever been able to find on the BB website is a page that describes what DVD-A and SACD are. There are no links to a library of titles, if one even exists. Unfortunately, to me, this spells the, quicker than we might expect, demise of both formats. WHAT A SHAME!!

I personally love Hi-Rez music, especially the well done surround discs (Elliot Scheiner is king). I just wish that the record companies had gotten their collective heads out of their you know whats and realized that Hi-Rez might have saved their industry. They have been so busy trying to fight piracy that they totally missed the boat on this. Why waste millions trying to stop the proliferation of crappy sounding MP3s when they could be selling Hi-Rez discs which are inherently difficult to copy and distribute electronically. Had they turned the public onto the joys of listening to music in hi resolution surround, no one would be bothering burning CD's or downloading MP3's anymore.
 

Brian-W

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 8, 1999
Messages
1,149
Hell, has Sony and others given up on SACD (and DVD-A)? I see the same selections at every brick and mortar, as well as online.
 

Patrick Larkin

Screenwriter
Joined
May 8, 2001
Messages
1,759
Yes, I'm afraid the writing is on the wall. Best Buy in my area set up a dedicated DVDA and SACD section about a year ago. I thought this was a good thing. When I go into that store (rarely) they have the same discs as the last time but you can tell the stock is dwindling and its not being restocked. I bought an SACD compatible player last year and went into that Best Buy and they didn't even have Dark Side of the Moon - the flagship of SACD. They still don't have it. Like I said, I don't think they are restocking.

Add to that the anemic trickle of stale titles and you can probably stick a fork in these formats.
 

Jeremy Little

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jun 9, 2001
Messages
770
Patrick, on any of the Hybrids that are primarily advertised as "remasters" try in the regular CD sectoin. Dark Side of the Moon is supposed to be in the regular section only, not the SACD section. This is the same with the Bob Dylan and Rolling Stone Discs as well.
 

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