[ampgalore]

What is a good SACD player in the ~$300-500 range? I just purchased a Benchmark and already have a Grace, so I am not worried about CD playback. I am mainly concerned about SACD playback.

 

[taylor]

Sony SCD333ES maybe?

 

[m0nKeY bUsiNeSs]

I haven't heard it but the Marantz DV6400 got a good reveiw from Home Theater magazine about a month or two ago.
Its street price is near the top of you budget about $450-500.
If you take a listen to it i'd love to hear what you think about it as ive been thinking about jumping on the SACD boat myself.

 

[go_vtec]

How about Pioneer DV-45A? It's a very smooth sounding for SACD play back. Redbook is OK too. You can probably find one under $350, it uses 6 highspeed Burr-Brown DACs.

 

[ampgalore]

How are the SACD DAC's?

Redbook CD DAC's quickly become obsolete in a couple of years. Does the same thing happen to SACD DAC's?

This brings me to question the wisdom of investing in the older Sony ES SACD players like the 777, 555. Those models are at least a couple of years old already.

 

[taylor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampgalore How are the SACD DAC's? Redbook CD DAC's quickly become obsolete in a couple of years. Does the same thing happen to SACD DAC's? This brings me to question the wisdom of investing in the older Sony ES SACD players like the 777, 555. Those models are at least a couple of years old already.

Well, newer technology does not always mean that it will sound better, the analog section, power supply, and clock affect the sound as much as the DAC.

 

[purk]

I would recommend the C333ES. This is an amazing machine and it sound better than the C555ES stock. I have both and C333ES really come out on top. C333ES excels as redbook and SACD player according to Stereophile with both A ratings. C333ES also come with digital filter and tank-like construction. It weigh in at the same amount as the C555ES, but only equip with 2 channels system. You will lose the some of feature from the C555ES, namely multi-channel system.

 

[darkclouds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampgalore How are the SACD DAC's? Redbook CD DAC's quickly become obsolete in a couple of years. Does the same thing happen to SACD DAC's? This brings me to question the wisdom of investing in the older Sony ES SACD players like the 777, 555. Those models are at least a couple of years old already.

Well, I love my old and outdated SCD-1 and will more than likely invest a nice sum of money into it in the future. The mod I'm looking at are going for 1-2k. None of the mods change the DAC in the unit.

 

[ampgalore]

I don't doubt SCD-1 sounds great. But look at it this way, Sony, Pioneer, and other companies are already implementing digital outs for SACD and DVD-A. Sooner or later, we will have standalone SACD DAC's. And sooner or later we will have next generation SACD DAC's that are superior to the SACD DAC in the SCD-1. What then?

I know there are always going to be better sources down the road. But the older Sony ES SACD players only have analog outs for SACD playback, not digital outs, this means these players are stock with onboard SACD DAC.

 

[darkclouds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampgalore I don't doubt SCD-1 sounds great. But look at it this way, Sony, Pioneer, and other companies are already implementing digital outs for SACD and DVD-A. Sooner or later, we will have standalone SACD DAC's. And sooner or later we will have next generation SACD DAC's that are superior to the SACD DAC in the SCD-1. What then? I know there are always going to be better sources down the road. But the older Sony ES SACD players only have analog outs for SACD playback, not digital outs, this means these players are stock with onboard SACD DAC.

You can't live by "sooner or later". It's about now, what you can get now. There's no point in trying to predict what's going to happen miles down the road. And that's with every component that you buy. I do understand obsolesence. But that's not something you can really worry about here. The only way to get out of it is to skip digital all together and go with a vinyl.

By the way, I just saw this at audiomod.com :

"Flash! Audiomod has modified the Sony SCD-1/SCD-777ES players to equal our modified Meitner DAC 6/Philips Transport. If you have been waiting for an SACD player to beat the stock Meitner, your wait is over. Contact me for more details."

I'm definitely excited. All I need now is the dinero.

 

[ampgalore]

Philips transport? I thought the quality of the Sony ES transport is way better than what Philips has.

 

[darkclouds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampgalore Philips transport? I thought the quality of the Sony ES transport is way better than what Philips has.

He's not talking about using the Sony as a transport. It's about modding the sony to beat the phillip and meitner combo.

 

[taylor]

Everything becomes obsolete. By your thinking, why ever buy anything because it will become obselete sooner or later.

Besides, newer does not mean better in many cases. Take for example tubes, PCDPs, wine, et cetera. Just because a DAC is not bleeding edge does not mean that it does not sound good.