[psychogentoo]

Hi All.

I've been enjoying headphone listening over the past year thanks to HeadFi. Now I'm at a point in thinking about a SACDP upgrade. I'm thinking about a budget around $1000 for a new or used player.

I'm very happy with the SCD-C333ES that I purchased from Purk a while back but I'm left with a feeling that there could be an improvement. My current amp (XCan V3) is a limiting factor in my setup right now IMO. I'm rectifying this by purchasing the Raptor. Hopfully I'll have that in the next few weeks.

My main listening will be done with the HD650/Equinox and the W1000 with this set up.

Any suggestions? OR should I decide on a new CDP after I get the Raptor?

thanks

 

[BRBJackson]

1) Get the Raptor first, spend some time with it in your system, then see what your resulting sound signature is, and what's lacking.
2) I keep hearing very positive things (from a myriad of sources) about the Music Hall Maverick SA player. At $600 it appears to be a steal, with serious sonic improvements being possible after mods from Sound Odyssey, etc.

 

[arnesto]

Haven't listened to it yet, but I am thinking about getting the Marantz SA8260. Stereophile magazine gave it good reviews. Goes for around $800.

 

[DigiPete]

You could get a Denon 3910 for under $1000 online. This would give you DVD audio as well.

I am very happy with its sound, and it is well reviewed on audioholics and other places.

 

[tom hankins]

If all you want is much better sacd playback (and great redbook) find a sony 555ES and have the mods done by sacdmods. You can ask Purk how much better it is than the 333 he sold you. He uses it with the Singlepower, RKV MKII, or PPA amp with the 650 headphones.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigiPete You could get a Denon 3910 for under $1000 online. This would give you DVD audio as well. I am very happy with its sound, and it is well reviewed on audioholics and other places.

Did you ever compare it to a 2900? What continues to annoy me about my 2900 is the drive noise with SACD, sometimes it is very distracting with open phones. It's a quality issue (and Denon is highly indifferent about it) which more or less ruled out further Denon purchases of mine.

 

[ssportclay]

The drive of my SACDmods Denon 2900 is dead quiet.The Sony 555ES,Denon 2900,and Denon 3910 as modified by SACDmods should all be fine choices.The Denon is also great at playing movies.It scares the cat every time.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssportclay The drive of my SACDmods Denon 2900 is dead quiet.

Denon Germany even has a standard sheet you get if you complain about it saying "It's not our fault your CDs are irregular". There must have been quite some deviation in quality of this model..

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssportclay The Denon is also great at playing movies.

Yes, very much so!

 

[psychogentoo]

Sony 555ES, Denon 2900, Denon 3910, and Marantz SA8260 are on my list to check out and read further reviews on. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

But further, I would like to read someone's impressions on how the XA777ES or above stack up to for example the SCD555ES with SACDmods.

thanks again, you guys are great at making me spend lots of money.

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by psychogentoo Sony 555ES, Denon 2900, Denon 3910, and Marantz SA8260 are on my list to check out and read further reviews on. Thanks for the suggestions guys. But further, I would like to read someone's impressions on how the XA777ES or above stack up to for example the SCD555ES with SACDmods. thanks again, you guys are great at making me spend lots of money.

I own the SCD-1 and have spent alot of time listening to the sacd555. The 555 is a very powerful and strong sounding player with great bass responce. However it cant match the SCD-1 in detail or the refinement areas. If you have the 1200.00 to spend for the 555 with mods it is almost impossible to beat the quality of both redbook and sacd in this price range.
If you can get off around $2K the Sony SCD-1 on the used market is still a player that can compete with almost anything with sacd and has above average redbook for the used price range also. It is a better player than the 555mods, but only by a small amount.

 

[DigiPete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver Did you ever compare it to a 2900? What continues to annoy me about my 2900 is the drive noise with SACD, sometimes it is very distracting with open phones. It's a quality issue (and Denon is highly indifferent about it) which more or less ruled out further Denon purchases of mine.

I just sold my 2900. I never had the drive noise problem that others have reported, but I did have problems with it not reading some discs or tracks. I sent it back and Denon repaired it. After that it was perfect.

The 3910 had a little (15% ?) better sound than the 2900, but when modded both probably would sound about the same (which is really good!)

 

[psychogentoo]

No luck in finding a SCD-555ES with SACDmods...or unmodded players for that matter.

I did however find some SCD XA-777ES players on audiogon with either Audiomod and Kern mods for around $1700. What do you think guys? will this out perform the 555ES with SACDmods?

 

[nutcracker]

Is Sony SCD-XA9000ES for $1800 a good deal? $3000 list price. I guess its gonna be retired or replaced soon thus such low price???? Anyone know what class Stereophile rated this component? THANKS

 

[dariusf]

You can read the Stereophile review of the Sony SCD-XA9000ES at http://www.stereophile.com/digitalso...iews/1203sony/

I'm also thinking about upgrading from my Philips 963sa but still not sure what to get.

Quote:

Functionally, the SCD-XA9000ES is almost identical to the SCD-XA777ES. The XA9000 appears to use the same multilevel DACs as the XA777, fed directly by digitally filtered DSD data for SACD playback, or by CD data first transformed to 24-bit words by an 8x-oversampling filter, then upsampled to 2.8824MHz/1-bit data. Two DACs are used per channel in multichannel playback; for two-channel operation, six DACS are summed to minimize noise.

 

[psychogentoo]

I've decided to get a C555ES player and will get it modded by SACDmods. Thanks everyone for their suggestions especially Tom and DeeJay.

thanks!!!

My wallet hates you guys!