Rob Babcock : I think that's something of an exaggeration, AV. It's not like they're playing tapes & records, or making toast & painting your house!
They both play the same silver disc, and while SACD uses DSD to hold music, it's essentially a DVD. DSD is even possible on a regular DVD is someone wanted to do it. There's no reason on earth that a universal can't be as good as any other player- reviews of the Linn Unidisk and Esoteric Audio universal player say they are in fact among the best players in the world for either format. Yes, they're very expensive, as you say. Yet TAS has recently raved the Denon DVD-2200, basically saying it competed with any player up to $1000 (although MSRP is only $600). I myself have one and have not heard it bettered by a standalone player under $1k.
Life is too short and music is too important; don't cheat yourself out of any enjoyement you can get fromthe music. Buy a cheap DVD-A & a cheap SACD if you must!
BTW, you ought not turn up your nose at the Pioneer- it's good for the price, and in the APL-modded form it's turning the high end on its ear! APL is selling the modded player for under $600, and word on the street is it's stiff competition for players up to $2.5k! Check out APLs forum and the discussion of this player
here.
