Who's doing SACD and with what? (1 Viewer)

[Justin Doring]

I have a Sony SCD-1 and a Sony DVP-9000ES. Both are excellent two channel players and are a bargain. Of course both are no longer available. SACD noticably betters redbook performance in my experience.

 

[Nelson T]

I am currently using the Sony DVP-S9000ES DVD/SACD player through my Rotel RSP-985's 5.1 channel input (bypasses the RSP-985's circuitry, except for the master volume control) and I am extremely happy with it's 2 channel SACD performance. I find that the sound stage is both wider and deeper on SACDs over redbook CDs (more noticeable on classical and jazz music). I also use the "Audio Direct" (switches the video and digital audio output off) on the player to play SACDs at it's highest possible sound quality.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Hello Keith & Scott
Thanks for the heads up on the Rolling Stones CD's. I was completely unaware that this was the case with the remastered sacd's. Now I know where to look the next time I am there at Tower. I had asked a counter person and I was told that it would be in the SACD section.
Thanks for the info
Hey Nelson
I bought the Sony DVP-S9000ES DVD/SACD player as well and it is a very nice unit. And for $799 including a 10 yr extended warrenty I could not pass it up .
As far as the playback of redbook cd's on the Sony I feel that my 9 yr old Denon with dual 20 bit D/A's may be alittle better in that area. But for SACD's the 9000ES pumps out alot of detail and clairity. The audio has a warmer sound and is very dynamic at the same time. I would also recomened SACD to others who have not gave it a chance or heard of it.

 

[KeithH]

Dave, no problem. I don't give retail employees much credit in general, but it is sad when an employee at Tower, a somewhat specialized music store, does not know that the Stones remastered discs are SACD/CD hybrids.

 

[Eujin]

Keith, methinks you give Tower employees a bit too much credit. The last time I was at Tower to buy an SACD, the guy who rang me up at the cash register warned me that I would need an SACD player to play the disc. While this "warning" would be helpful to the general consumer who knows nothing about the format, it horrified me because the SACD I was purchasing was Patricia Barber's Modern Cool--and it had a big sticker on the front that said HYBRID. When I told the guy that I wouldn't have a problem because I already had an SACD player AND pointed out the fact that the disc was a hybrid, he told me that he'd NEVER HEARD OF HYBRIDS!!!. In fact, no one had told any of the Tower employees that hybrids exist, so they routinely warned people who were about to purchase any and all SACDs, that they would need a "special SACD player". This is particularly appalling because that TR store actually carries more hybrid discs than Sony discs. I don't even want to think how many potential hybrid-SACD purchasers were scared off by these warnings.

 

[KeithH]

Eujin, yeah, maybe I was being too nice. As I said, I feel it is sad that Tower Records employees don't know what is going on with the Stones remasters. However, I guess I should not be surprised. That said, try this one on for size. Earlier this afternoon, I was at the Tower Records in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and in the SACD section, there was a sign under 'R' that indicated that the Stones SACDs were located in the CD section. Talk about irony. Some people have a clue, some don't.

 

[Eujin]

In the TR I was at (Harvard Square, Cambridge), in addition to the TR near me in Kenmore Square, Boston, DVD-A and SACD are just lumped together in the same section--highly annoying for me personally, but I guess pretty convenient for those few who've invested in both formats.

 

[KeithH]

Eujin, in various Tower Records stores I've been to (King of Prussia, PA; Cherry Hill, NJ; Rockville, MD; New York City; and Seattle), the SACDs and DVD-Audio discs were in one rack, but were divided. So, you could ignore one format or the other. I like that set-up.