Is there any giant killer SACD player?

The Sony SCD-XA5400ES  could certainly be on your short list. 

let me suggest the player I have, the Yahama CD-S2000 with RCA & balanced output.. Street price $1,999.00, MSRP $2,5000.

 

 

How about the Oppo BDP-95? No experience with it but it's certainly being raved about in some circles.

If you can find one, a lot of people think the Sony SCD XA5400ES is a giant killer.

I am very happy with my Marantz SA8004. Its the best SACD player I have owned.

X2 on the marantz. It has received some very positive reviews. All of them have one point in common they make. They all say it's very analog. One reviewer says that after owning it, it makes no sense to spend thousands on anything else including marantz's own reference line. I've never been one to put a whole lot of stock into magazine reviews but with so many positive things said about it from other owners I decided to take a chance, and I'm really glad I did. It's the best sounding sacd player I've owned as well. I auditioned the sony mention at a meet and it's also a very nice sounding player. I think the marantz is more evolving and organic, but I don't have both side by side to compare. If all you were looking for is a sacd player in the 1000.00 range I would highly recommend it. But this thing also has digital inputs that accept up to 192k, usb that accept up to 92k(asynchronous I believe) and it's also compatible with idevices so you can just plug in your ipod and extract the digital output from it. These are not gimmicks either. All of the inputs I've tried sound at least as good as the cd player. For 1000.00 you can have all of your cake and eat to. I quickly sold my ps audio digital link III after receiving this player. It's quiet a step up from that and I also got rid of a 1700.00 moon audio cd player as well. The sima moon tried to sound analog, organic, musical etc. by being warm, the marantz actually does it without sacrificing neutrality. It sounds purely organic, analog, an involving, but also sounds neutral to my ears. The build quality is exceptional, and the transport is ultra quiet. This thing is very solid an sounds even better than it looks. I'm truly impressed by it, and I'm not one of those people who believes in source first either.

My Cary 306 SACD with some original DSD recordings gives me the best audio reproduction I've ever heard from any source. Nevermind the cost

I've tried Sony SCD-XA5400ES for a week with my electrostatic system and with the same DSD recordings it sounded worse than the Cary in CDDA mode. It's absolutely overpraised product for me.

Please post link to what you read about the Yahama. I'd like to read it also.
 

 

I'm not trying to be rude, and I have no idea how the yammy sounds. But it's always funny when people say things like that. Why ask him to take the time searching for that when a a quick goggle search will give you everything you asked for. That comment about negative things said also peeked my interest so I went ahead on my own and searched. The very first review that I came across did have some negative things to say about it, but there were also positives. Like I said in my earlier post, I don't give a whole lot of credit to professional reviews. I trust what people who have owned it say more than reviewers. But there are some not so stellar reviews about it out there. You should take the time to search for them yourself instead of asking someone to do it for you. That's what I did.

If you want to save some money, find a used Marantz SA8001. I've had one for about four years and have been consistently pleased with it. Dead reliable, reads every disc, and I've lost interest in upgrading. Its measurements are impeccable, as well. Find one for $400-$500 and spend the rest of your money elsewhere.

You know, you could get a pretty good turntable setup with the other $1,500. Spinning some black discs would probably give you a lot of enjoyment rather than a marginal improvement over the SA8001.

There is no such thing as giant killer in hi end audio. If that were the case the equipment would sold at giant price. There are gear that punchs above its price, that's about it. Ppl should stop fooling themselves.
Edited by chesebert - 7/30/11 at 9:41am

That's an inaccurate statement for several reasons. And unless you have listened to every single component out there(which you haven't), then it's also baseless. For one thing, not all 10,000.00 cd players sound like 10,00.00 cd players. It's the same for speakers and amps as well. I have listen to 20,000.00 speakers that sounded like 5,000.00 speakers and 10,000.00 cd players that sounded like 2,000.00 cd players. For that reason alone, you can't say there are no giant killers. Some equipment is just way over priced. But I have encountered a few giant killers that will compete with products many times their price. There are not many, but they do exist. I remember going to an audio store where a 500.00 pair of bookshelfs ultimately destroyed a pair of 3000.00 floorstanding speakers. I would consider those giant killers. I have encountered headphones that I liked better than headphones I've listened to at 10 times the cost. I could go on an on with examples. Now ymmv, but with a lot of searching an auditioning giant killers can be found. To say that they don't exist just isn't accurate.

Over priced components are not giants. I define giant as the best or among the best in the category. For example, since we are taking about sacd player here, the giants would include dCS, esoteric, emm, msb and wadia. So, yes the cheapest dCS will set you back over 10k. Can you find cheaper alternatives for 2000? Yes, but it will sound significantly worse. "giant killer" is just a term ppl use to either peddle cheap gear or owners of cheap gear to make themselves feel better. It's time to stop fooling yourself.