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Downgrading Help

OK, so I have come to realize that I cannot afford to keep neither high end CD player I own, mostly because a lot of that cash came from credit.

I picked up the Philips SACD1000 player as my replacement for a digital front end. Last night, comparing the Philips to the Wadia 860x I currently own (not for long!), was truly tough for me. The Wadia is just so much better on redbook CD (the Philips I thought was better on SACD vs. the Wadia on CD).

I don't have much $$ to spend ($600) on an improvement: here are my options:

1) get the Philips player modded somewhere; which mods though, and will this really give me an increase in detail (blackness?), dynamics, soundstage depth, and naturalness?

2) get a DAC?

3) wait until I get some more cash, and get a better DAC or more mods later?

I'd prefer to make this player work, rather than getting another seperate CD player....

Thx
dennis_the_menace

Showing 5 responses by glen

glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
Dennis,

My 1000 will be in at the end of the week, I'm curious to see how it compares to my Theta DaViD/Classe Dac-1 combo. Heck I paid more for the Digital cable than I did for the Philips player.

What I really want to see is how the SACD's in the Philips player stack up to redbook on my other front end. If they sound as good I'll be impressed. Maybe when my SACD collection gets up around 100 I could dump the digital front end in my bedroom, maybe not.

I still have my H/T system to play redbook if I went that route. We'll see, I'll post after I've had a few weeks to check things out.

Say does the philips play DTS CD's? I read an article that said no, HUMMM.... thats odd.
glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
Cool, Maybe the format will catch on. Kind of reminds me when DVD's first came out. The selection was awful for the first couple of years and DTS was still a pipe dream. Now look at it. Guess we'll have to keep are fingers crossed and hope SACD catches on. Worse case cinario is one of my kids gets a DVD player in there room. OH DARN...

Please report back after the player has had some time to settle in.

I still need to pick up some interconnects, I don't have any RCA's in the house. Also, I need to figure out how to add six analog signals into my Casa-Blanca II pre-amp.

I definetly want to give those multi channel discs a try.

Take care
glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
You guys probably know that one of the things their hyping with SACD are the multi channel discs. I found out today that I can't run six analog outs into my Casa-Blanc II. Theta has some ideas on decoding SACD down the road but till then I guess it's strictly stereo for me.

Does anyone know if the multi-channel SACD discs default to stereo?
glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
Dennis,

Let's say for one minute that your whole redbook collection was magically transformed into SACD format. How would you feel about the Philips then compared to the Wadia and BAT player? (Assuming all three players could play every disc in your collection of course).

By the way, what are you cabling with on the Philips and are you using all six analog outputs yet?
glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
Dennis,

I've been browsing the SACD market for a few days now and I see a few good ones (at least thirty). The trick is not to panic. It took DVD'S a while to get rolling. Remember this is an investment in the future.

I've read a lot of favorable reviews, and I see a small used market starting to take off. It can only get better with time.

Start by buying those six titles you liked. I don't think you've seen the whole list. Try going to Sony's web site it may surprise you.
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