[DanG]

I think that was the 301... wasn't it?

 

[jim]

There is a 2 month old cary 303 on audiogon going for $1900 right now.

 

[Vertigo-1]

Man this isn't helping...considering all these CDPs typically have rave reviews and from reviews they all tend to sound the same pratically, i.e. wide soundstage, analog like midrange, great detail in treble without digital harshness, I just might have to forget about looking at options and go with the CDP I picked out personally before I started this thread...

and it's none of the above.

 

[raymondlin]

I think the thing to do here is to get a entry level "High End" gear rather then the top model in entry level gear. With that much money, I would rather get a Entry level Krell of Wadia CD player rather then top of the range Sony. Why? Put it this way. (Someone else already explain this in another forum)

For example, would you drive a $30,000 Ford or a $30,000 Mercedes-Benz? The engineers who built the $30,000 Mercedes-Benz also quailfy to built their $100,000 cars where Ford doesn't even built cars like that, so the expertise isn't there. I am not saying the $30,000 ford won't be good, it just that the Mercedes-Benz would be where my money go.

And the value of a Krell will kept much higer over the same period of time as a Sony or a Arcam. So when you deicde to sell it, you won't lose out as much. But at then end of the day, Audition!

 

[dhwilkin]

Quote:

Vertigo-1 said... and it's none of the above.

And the mystery cdp is...

 

[Vertigo-1]

Quote:

Originally posted by dhwilkin And the mystery cdp is...

Heh, you know I love to leave you guys hanging.

 

[MooGoesTheCow]

Hmm...here are some other names of used equipment:

Linn Mimik
Audio Refinement CD Complete
Naim CD3.5
Krell KAV 250

and my personal fave, just bringing it up again...
Meridian 506/508
It would be great if you could audition a meridian...I know your R-10 kings will thank you for it

 

[MacDEF]

I know what it i-is

Quote:

Especially with your musical tastes, Vert, I think a redbook-only player is the way to go. New SACD players have great scarlet-book playback, but red-book playback is not up to par with the best in the $1k-1.5k redbook-only players.

Dan, I'm not sure about that. For example, the 333ES has been reviewed to have Redbook playback comparable with some of the well-known $1000 players (Planet, A3CD), and Jude seemed to think the same when he did his comparisons.

This makes sense to me. If SACD players had great SACD playback but bad Redbook playback (or even less-than-stellar playback), serious listeners would have to buy two different players, and IMO they wouldn't sell well. But by making SACD players that have great Redbook playback, people will buy them because they aren't sacrificing.

 

[DanG]

Mac: that's nice in theory, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be true.

I can't say from personal experience, but from what I read on AudioAsylum, the Marantz SA-1 (supposedly the best of the best consumer-company SACD players) has less-than-A+ redbook playback. In any case, it would be nice if the 333 were as good as a Cary, but I just really don't think that the 333 can compete with the better CD-only players. We'll just have to see, though -- perhaps I'll get to do some auditioning eventually!

 

[squirt]

the Sony SCDXA777ES has just hit the market. At $3000 its a bit out of range for most but i'm considering this SACD player...I would like to know how well this player plays regular CDs before i blow that much bucks on it...Does anyone know of any reviews on this player out there yet or pending?

Also looking at the Marantz SA14

 

[Vertigo-1]

Man I never could pronounce that fish's name...

I would think that SACD players do indeed have to make a compromise on normal CD playback. One is trying to be a hybrid, the other is strictly built from ground up to be dedicated to playback only one format. I'm trying to soup up my CD playback at the moment, so I'll definitely end up going for a CD only player. I'll even leave HDCDs out of the equation.

 

[markl]

The Sony units have been designed to sound great on both kinds of media.

Sony uses two separate lasers for CD and SACD playback on the 333 and the 555 (not sure about 222). The DAC in the 333 is identical to the one on the SCD-1 ($5K). The only "compromises" are in terms of the analog section, which has decent, but mass-market parts.

SACD DACs will provide outstanding Redbook CD performance as they are ten times as powerful, with much better specs needed to tackle SACD. This is why Sony claims in its literature that their SACD player's performance on Redbook CDs exceeds that of regular CD players.

I think buying a Sony SACD player and then "fixing" the analog section is the way to go. Of course, that's what I'm doing...

IMHO, the only "deficiencies" in going this route are:

1. No HDCD
2. No "upampling" (at least to best of my knowledge).

markl

 

[squirt]

Man I never could pronounce that fish's name...

The "Hoo moo hoo moo noo koo noo koo a poo a a" also known as the Reef Trigger Fish or the almost identical looking Lagoon Trigger fish is the state fish of Hawaii...Trigger fish get their name from their ability to extend a narrow barb-like fin on the back and also in their keel. They extend their "triggers" when they seek cover in narrow holes and the trigger acts like a fish hook barb which will prevent the fish from being pulled out of the hole by a predator, including people...i've tried pulling a humuhumu from a hole on more than one occasion and its simply impossible and they made grunting noises like a pig when ever I pulled on them...right about now everyone reading this is saying "who gives a rats okole about that freekin fish", so i'll move on...

I just realized the new Sony SCDXA777ES is a multi player model like their other SACD players except of course the SACD-1. Sony seems to be in love with multi players now days but i was expecting this new model to be a single player likes its predecessor. One important reason i liked the predecessor was its transport section and i can't help but think maybe Sony took a step backwards on the transport section on the new version...However if Sony is able to improve on the sound quality with the new version which i suspect they may have now that it sports a new DAC i guess i may still consider getting it but the Marantz SA14 is looking more attractive to me now...

 

[Vertigo-1]

squirt, I meant that little line as a joke between us...since the rest of these folks probably don't even know da kine is a fish.

Anyways, I'm about ready to tear my hair out here...would somebody care to convince me to spend so much on a CDP versus spending say, $700 on one?

 

[ai0tron]

I know that fish, I used to have a shirt that had one on it. Everyone would ask me how to pronounce it's name.