SACD Players

[HPiper]

I am not very familiar with the electronics involved in playback of digital cd's, but I have a question I thought maybe some one here could answer. I have 2 cd players that both can play sacd or cd. I had thought that if a player would play one format real well it would also play the other. Most of the components are the same aren't they? However, one of my players is real good at sacd playback and only average on cd  playback and the other is exactly the opposite. Just curious what would cause that and is it common?
 Having said that I wonder if anyone knows of a player for less than $1000 that is equally good at playing both? I would really like to just have one unit if possible, but I can understand if you need to specialize and have one for sacd and another for cd.

 

[ec888]

  I am not very familiar with the electronics involved in playback of digital cd's, but I have a question I thought maybe some one here could answer. I have 2 cd players that both can play sacd or cd. I had thought that if a player would play one format real well it would also play the other. Most of the components are the same aren't they? However, one of my players is real good at sacd playback and only average on cd  playback and the other is exactly the opposite. Just curious what would cause that and is it common?
 Having said that I wonder if anyone knows of a player for less than $1000 that is equally good at playing both? I would really like to just have one unit if possible, but I can understand if you need to specialize and have one for sacd and another for cd.

 
I don't know if its possible that the DAC on your player is optimized for SACD playback and less for CD; but typically the biggest impact is due to how good the source for the recording and mastering was. To properly compare, you would need to use an SACD and CD of the same artist and the same studio.
If your player has a digital ouput, you should consider an external DAC instead and keep your player as transport. If not, the Denon DVD-2900 though old had great review and could probably be found for real cheap now.

 

[Shaffer]

  I am not very familiar with the electronics involved in playback of digital cd's, but I have a question I thought maybe some one here could answer. I have 2 cd players that both can play sacd or cd. I had thought that if a player would play one format real well it would also play the other. Most of the components are the same aren't they? However, one of my players is real good at sacd playback and only average on cd  playback and the other is exactly the opposite. Just curious what would cause that and is it common?
 Having said that I wonder if anyone knows of a player for less than $1000 that is equally good at playing both? I would really like to just have one unit if possible, but I can understand if you need to specialize and have one for sacd and another for cd.

 
Add $200 to your budget and you can have an Oppo105. A shade away from reference-grade sound quality for either format.