Tim, with all due respect to the Capitole (i guess i was misspelling it, sorry), any sacd player with a sufficiently high quality output stage should better any cd player, assuming other issues are equalized. how many sacd players have a sufficiently high-quality output stage?....possibly not man (i do think the SA-1 qualifies). the additional resolution of sacd, taken proper advantage of, wins every time.
the wild card here is the volume control and gain stage of the Capitole. if you love what it does, it may "add" something that you may prefer over whatever the sacd player you are comparing it to does. but this sacd player will be most likely going thru a preamp of some sort and add the signature of that preamp. so now you are comparing the relative performance of these preamps. personally, i believe the volume control and gain stage of the Capitole slightly colors the sound compared to my reference; which is "no" preamp (active gain stage). many prefer an active gain stage, and they may not agree with my preference. unless you can isolate the gain stage from the Capitole you will not know what and why definitively.
comparing the volume performance of the Audio Aero Capitole 192/24 with the Placette RVC in my setup made it clear to me that the Placette was the more neutral performer. whether that is preferable in all systems would be a matter of taste....."can you handle the truth?"
the Capitole used in this comparison is owned by an Audio Aero dealer, is the latest version, and fully broken in. i would be surprised if your friend with the Tenors is not familiar with the dealer involved here.