Looking for suggestions on dedicated SACD/CD player

[stanrozenfeld]

Hello, everyone!

I am one of those guys who loves to have everything in one player, but since I am totally enthusiastic about high def dvd, but still want outstanding sacd/cd playback, I guess the era of "one player does it all" has come to an end... for now.

While I eagerly await my Toshiba hd-dvd player, I have started doing research on a stand alone sacd/cd player. I am looking for something mid-fi/low hi-end. I am looking to spend no more than $500, though less is always better. But I would like to get an audio analog out performance in the same league as Denon 3910 or Sony 9100ES. Maybe I am expecting too much, but I figure with video out of the equation, perhaps it's doable.

My other absolute requirements are complete bass management for SACDs AND CDs, as well as speaker/level adjustments. Firewire would be nice, but it's not an absolute requirement. Ditto for MP3 playback and hdcd decoding. Changer is not necessary, as I have trained myself to get up and change the discs . I am willing to buy a used item, but right now I am just looking for model numbers.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Stan

 

[shokhead]

Hello, everyone!

I am one of those guys who loves to have everything in one player, but since I am totally enthusiastic about high def dvd, but still want outstanding sacd/cd playback, I guess the era of "one player does it all" has come to an end... for now.

While I eagerly await my Toshiba hd-dvd player, I have started doing research on a stand alone sacd/cd player. I am looking for something mid-fi/low hi-end. I am looking to spend no more than $500, though less is always better. But I would like to get an audio analog out performance in the same league as Denon 3910 or Sony 9100ES. Maybe I am expecting too much, but I figure with video out of the equation, perhaps it's doable.

My other absolute requirements are complete bass management for SACDs AND CDs, as well as speaker/level adjustments. Firewire would be nice, but it's not an absolute requirement. Ditto for MP3 playback and hdcd decoding. Changer is not necessary, as I have trained myself to get up and change the discs . I am willing to buy a used item, but right now I am just looking for model numbers.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Stan

Come to an end?? CD players are on the out. DVD players do everything,well. I'm pretty sure most of the people on here only have a DVD player,i'd be surprised if they had a cd and a dvd.

 

[stanrozenfeld]

Yes, I used to have Denon 3910 which did everything, but I am talking about the coming of high def dvd. None of the announced blu-ray or hd dvd models will have sacd support, and cd support is questionable for some blu-ray models. This is what I meant. Hopefully two years down the line, format war will be over and they'll come out with some really cool universal players that do everything, but it's not happening any time soon!

 

[Khorn]

Come to an end?? CD players are on the out. DVD players do everything,well. I'm pretty sure most of the people on here only have a DVD player,i'd be surprised if they had a cd and a dvd.

I have seperate audio and video systems. I wouldn't pollute my audio with vid circuitry. I have a dedicated SACD/CD player with my sound system and DVD players for the video systems.

In the case at point I would suggest a good mid quality (1K-2K) used sacd/cd dedicated player which you might be able to score for the price area you are willing to pay.

 

[stanrozenfeld]

Can you make a suggestion for what's a good sacd/cd audio only player, given the criteria I outlined above?

 

[shokhead]

Can you make a suggestion for what's a good sacd/cd audio only player, given the criteria I outlined above?

There will never not be a format war and you just cant keep up with A/V tech unless your semi-rich. Why SACD/CD? What about DVD-A and DTS? Most ok DVD players have a Vid button to turn it off if you think it makes much difference.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

In the case at point I would suggest a good mid quality (1K-2K) used sacd/cd dedicated player which you might be able to score for the price area you are willing to pay.

Only in America, where a cheap CD player is $9, will stepping up to a $2000 CD player only be considered "mid quality".

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Khorn]

Only in America, where a cheap CD player is $9, will stepping up to a $2000 CD player only be considered "mid quality".

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

We're talking "dedicated SACD players" here. Check out the average price for all models in that catagory and maybe you will get my point.

 

[stanrozenfeld]

don't want to ignite an argument here, guys. I prefer sacd/cd player, because, based on my collection, I can live without dts cds and dvd-audios. I also like the fact that sacd hybrid is backwards compatible and can be played on my computer and car. I don't like the idea of turning on my tv and messing around with menus just to play dvd-audios. I'll leave it at that, but it doesn't mean that dvd-audio is a not legitimate choice for someone else. I can just live without it.

I've been doing my research separately, and asked a reputed dealer, and a modder... they both independently told me that for under a $1000, Sony dvp-ns9100es is the best player out there even if you discount its video section! This was quite a surprise. So unless I find something else, I'll be keeping this player just for the audio. The problem is that many older top notch players do not provide adequate bass management for sacds AND cds.

 

[shokhead]

Many newer ones still dont have good bass management also.

 

[stanrozenfeld]

yes, I know. I guess they make the assumption that if you use analog out, you must have full range speakers. I know that all the Denon players have bass management, and I was surprised to find that Sony has bass management too. You couldn't tell that from the manual, and many people said that they didn't think it did bass management for CDs. But once I hooked it up, I was surprised to find that it did and it sounded great!

I know that many top players from Marantz and Pioneer Elite do not have bass management.

 

[shokhead]

Sony SCD-C2000
Sony SCD-XA9000ES
Marantz SA8260

 

[stanrozenfeld]

I am curious about the Marantz SA-8260. Were you able to compare that to Sony 9100ES? I am going to try to verify that it does complete bass management, and see what kind of prices are available.