To be perfectly honest, I was not all that impressed with the new SACD format. I mean, like Spicy said, there was a noticeable difference, but not THAT noticeable to justify the cost. I've yet to hear anything that melts my room with warmth and "live" -ness like a good recording on vinyl does. For those not willing (as I once was) to cross back in time into the world of vinyl, I would recommend purchasing one of Rotel's single-disk CD Players utilizing the new HDCD decoding. Much cheaper in price as compared to the Sony SACD Player.