[jjhatfield]

Quick question, and a super vague one at that.

I've grown accustomed to the high quality of music coming from my Stello DA100. I am a fan of classical music and am contemplating purchasing an SACD player specifically for listening to SACDs (this after becoming discouraged from getting into vinyl). I do have the CE595 Sony everyone was talking about a couple of months back, and while it is fine as a transport using the Stello DA100 as a DAC, it sounds like mud when playing SACDs using its internal DAC. It gave me an idea of what could be achieved with SACDs, but it is difficult to listen to coming from regular redbook on the Stello.

So, I am looking for recommendations for an SACDP whose internal DAC will rival that of the DA100 in the $1000 - $2000 range. I chose that range by using the gross oversimplification that if I want a CDP to sound as good as a DAC, you will roughly have to pay twice as much as you paid for the DAC standalone. Probably not 100% true, I know, just a rule of thumb.

I have no real preferences for looks or size. I'd prefer it to be just a single disc player (I always forget what discs are in my 5 disc, one disc should be easier to keep track of) It would also be nice if the SACDP could play back regular redbook audio as well.

I am not yet committed to purchasing an SACDP yet, but using the search engine has me bewildered with all the options available, which is why I posted this thread looking for an SACDP specific to my needs.

Thanks all in advance.

 

[laxx]

All SACD players play redbook. =T

Have you thought about moding your CE595?

 

[jjhatfield]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif All SACD players play redbook. =T Have you thought about moding your CE595?

I'm not much of a modder, and reading over at sacdmods, he says he doesn't mod CE595's because they are an all-in-one board solution. Besides, I don't think any mods would make the CE595's sound acceptable to me.

Also I didn't know all SACDP's play redbook, thanks.

 

[laxx]

I don't know much about SACD as I've only heard it on my cheap player, but I remember reading some people here have bought:

Marantz SA8001
Sony SCD-1

I don't know, just naming a few I remember hearing about.

 

[jjhatfield]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know much about SACD as I've only heard it on my cheap player, but I remember reading some people here have bought: Marantz SA8001 Sony SCD-1 I don't know, just naming a few I remember hearing about.

Cool, both of those look like they are in my price range, thanks for the suggestions. I'll do a little more research on those. In the meantime, if anyone has any opinions of the above two as they relate to a comparable $1000ish DAC, I'd love to hear them.

 

[chesebert]

Ayre C5xe is pretty nice. red book is about as good as it gets and SACD is just super.

Its arguably the best SACD player I have heard, although the Linn upper end Unidisc is very very nice as well. a wash if you ask me.

 

[jjhatfield]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ayre C5xe is pretty nice. red book is about as good as it gets and SACD is just super. Its arguably the best SACD player I have heard, although the Linn upper end Unidisc is very very nice as well. a wash if you ask me.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm having a hard time finding the SCD-1 and the Ayre C5xe for sale at an online retailer, any suggestions as to where I should look?

 

[laxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ayre C5xe is pretty nice. red book is about as good as it gets and SACD is just super. Its arguably the best SACD player I have heard, although the Linn upper end Unidisc is very very nice as well. a wash if you ask me.

I looked it up on audiogon for him because I remember seeing you recommend that amp and with all of the good things people say, figured it's a great sounding SACD player. But when I checked audiogon, it's price was well above the $1000-$2000 budget the OP had in mind. The Ayre C-5xe hovers around $5000, but the Ayre CX7 does fall within.

Denon 5910ci?
Sony XA9000ES?

 

[jjhatfield]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif I looked it up on audiogon for him because I remember seeing you recommend that amp and with all of the good things people say, figured it's a great sounding SACD player. But when I checked audiogon, it's price was well above the $1000-$2000 budget the OP had in mind. The Ayre C-5xe hovers around $5000, but the Ayre CX7 does fall within. Denon 5910ci? Sony XA9000ES?

Okay, now we are talking! Plenty of hits for the Sony XA9000ES in froogle, looks like it sells for just under $2000. I have heard about the SCD-1, but the reviews I've found for it were in 1999, so it probably isn't in production anymore (I could only find one for sale listing and that was on eBay).

I know Sony created the SACD format, so logic will tell me they are the experts on SACD hardware, but I still wonder if I would be paying a premium for the Sony brand name.

 

[chesebert]

sony's reliability leaves much to be desired. Company like Ayre will fix/upgrade/unmod their product for a very reasonable fee.

I was afraid of plugging my amp in to wall socket fear of lightings, a quick call dispel all my fears. Ayre replied: If your amp ever gets damaged by lighting, we will fix it free of charge, and you just have to pay for shipping. OMG...are we back in the good old days of customer service paradigm?

I advocate good business and good customer support beyond the products themselves, although having good product is the bare minimum of good customer support.

$5000 for Ayre's top player buys you the very best in red book and SACD playback, a piece of mind, and buys you endless upgrades hereonafter for a reasonable fee (few hundred at most for a major upgrade).

 

[sc53]

Hi Hatfield, someone's posted a Want to Buy for your Sony 595 player on the for sale forum; why don't you sell the 595 and start saving for the Ayre

If that's way too far over budget, I recommend looking on Audiogon for the following SACD players used: Marantz SA-1 (a $7500 player that is absolutely superb on both CD and SACD that now goes for about $2300--see current ads on Audiogon); Marantz SA-14 (performance just below that of the SA-1 for a fraction of the price; older model that is frequently for sale cheap (under $1000) on Audiogon); or the new Marantz SA-11S1 (several ads on Audiogon right now for under $2000). Marantz players really know how to do SACD and CD is also superb. I have been listening to the SA-1 for about 7 yrs now and still don't want to upgrade.

 

[jjhatfield]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif sony's reliability leaves much to be desired. Company like Ayre will fix/upgrade/unmod their product for a very reasonable fee. I was afraid of plugging my amp in to wall socket fear of lightings, a quick call dispel all my fears. Ayre replied: If your amp ever gets damaged by lighting, we will fix it free of charge, and you just have to pay for shipping. OMG...are we back in the good old days of customer service paradigm? I advocate good business and good customer support beyond the products themselves, although having good product is the bare minimum of good customer support. $5000 for Ayre's top player buys you the very best in red book and SACD playback, a piece of mind, and buys you endless upgrades hereonafter for a reasonable fee (few hundred at most for a major upgrade).

Sounds wonderful, but $5,000 is simply not an option.

I'm drifting away from the Sony because it supposedly has an internal amplifier, which I am not interested in.

 

[jjhatfield]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sc53 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi Hatfield, someone's posted a Want to Buy for your Sony 595 player on the for sale forum; why don't you sell the 595 and start saving for the Ayre If that's way too far over budget, I recommend looking on Audiogon for the following SACD players used: Marantz SA-1 (a $7500 player that is absolutely superb on both CD and SACD that now goes for about $2300--see current ads on Audiogon); Marantz SA-14 (performance just below that of the SA-1 for a fraction of the price; older model that is frequently for sale cheap (under $1000) on Audiogon); or the new Marantz SA-11S1 (several ads on Audiogon right now for under $2000). Marantz players really know how to do SACD and CD is also superb. I have been listening to the SA-1 for about 7 yrs now and still don't want to upgrade.

Cool, nice recommendations sc53, I'll check them out!

I probably will sell the 595, but its so cheap anyway I don't know if its worth the trouble of shipping, meaning for an individual shipping might be as expensive as the player itself.

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjhatfield /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sounds wonderful, but $5,000 is simply not an option. I'm drifting away from the Sony because it supposedly has an internal amplifier, which I am not interested in.

You can also look into cheaper Linn stuff. their SACD are notable.

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjhatfield /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the suggestion. I'm having a hard time finding the SCD-1 and the Ayre C5xe for sale at an online retailer, any suggestions as to where I should look?

Go to www.audiogon.com and look under Sony for the SCD-1. Use it for SACD and run a digital cable out to your DAC for redbook. After owning many models and looking many years, the SCD-1 is still an amazing SACD player. They are not as good on redbook though.