I bought a (demo) 777 as a way of killing 2 birds with one stone - get a fairly high-end redbook player and be able to play sacd. There's the added benefit that it's an excellent transport (for redbook) but that wasn't my objective. At any rate, I agree that the available catalog of sacds is pathetic. I have an LP12 so I don't need to rebuy "Tapestry". That being said, I had to at least go rebuy something just to hear what sacd can do, so I got "Sketches of Spain", and the difference is not subtle - it is pretty much on a par with good analog. Supposedly the 777 can be mod-ed to improve its sound a good bit for about $450 - maybe when the warranty runs out - but in the meantime let us pray that the 'format war' results in sacd being a new standard because it kills redbook. And if not, I'll have a great transport.....
Are Sony SACD Machine Owners Crazy??
I am sorry about the "tabloid" title..but another
post I did got little response on what, I think, is a real
question. Ie:.. many people have stated that the playback
of standard format cd's (16/44) on these SACD machines is
very good...indeed beyond things like Levinson..etc. The
question is ..in this age of "upsampling" 24/96..and beyond, how can these one bit/bit-stream (in "redbook" format) units
be so good? This is asking the owners of the model 1, 777,
9000..etc. Sony players..how can this be so. I had owned
the Xa-7es at one time, and thought that the excellent
playback was the FET analog stage...these new SACD machines
are all using OP-AMPS....not very "high-end". The concern
I have is that while we all hope for a format that will give
us analog sound in a digital format, the near-term concern
is what any unit...SCAD or DVD-A will do with my collection
of standard CD's?
post I did got little response on what, I think, is a real
question. Ie:.. many people have stated that the playback
of standard format cd's (16/44) on these SACD machines is
very good...indeed beyond things like Levinson..etc. The
question is ..in this age of "upsampling" 24/96..and beyond, how can these one bit/bit-stream (in "redbook" format) units
be so good? This is asking the owners of the model 1, 777,
9000..etc. Sony players..how can this be so. I had owned
the Xa-7es at one time, and thought that the excellent
playback was the FET analog stage...these new SACD machines
are all using OP-AMPS....not very "high-end". The concern
I have is that while we all hope for a format that will give
us analog sound in a digital format, the near-term concern
is what any unit...SCAD or DVD-A will do with my collection
of standard CD's?