Help regarding SACD/CD players


Yes, I still spin the cd's, and I love them. I love shopping for them, organizing and reorganizing them (sometimes on the same day), admiring my organizational skills (and then lamenting my lack of them), and rediscovering that I own this-or-that-cd after almost buying it earlier that day. Consider it an irrational fetish, if you must; insist (to yourself) that I should grow up and join the streaming community; laugh at my growing collection of SACD's, declared all but dead years ago. But, if you have the kind of advice I'm after, please offer away.

I have a modest living room system, powered by a fabulous Luxman receiver from the late 1980's. I play my cd's through an NAD player (which I run through a Schiiit Audio Multibit DAC), and SACD's through a Yamaha BD/DVD/SACD/everything-else player.

Here's my question. Does it make better sense to:

1. Get a really good (within reason, and probably used) SACD/CD player to do all the work? Maybe something from Arcam or Marantz, or something in that general price range? Any suggestions on what I might look for?

2. Keep SACD-ing through the Yamaha, which sounds good, but replace the NAD with a transport (I like the Audiolab 6000CDT better than the Cambridge Audio), and then graduate to a better DAC? I have a whole lot of cd's, and relatively few SACD's, so the priority is with the former.  

3. Come up with some heretofore unthought of option? (Yes, I will likely secure a Bluesound Node 2i at some point, but I'm an inveterate incarnationalist and gotta have my discs, silver and vinyl. Cleaning, holding, admiring; they're like children! I love my babies.)

4. Just shut up and continue to play on what I have? My wife favors this option, though she has yet to learn that it is but one option. 

Thanks,
Tony


 
anton99

Showing 2 responses by jazzman7

Tony

How many SACDs do you own?
How many CDs do you own?
Oh, and what is your proposed budget?
My view/advice/opinion on this matter to a very real extent is based on the answers to these questions.


Tony

Take your time and be strategic with each addition you make to your system. Have a road map in mind. You don’t have many SACDs at present, but a whole lot of CDs, and you like handling physical media.
You mention the desire to explore streaming down the road, and there I can’t argue the choice of going the Bluesound Node route. But all things being equal, if you have a player that is still functional, I’d start with the DAC. A DAC upgrade will have benefits both immediate and in the future. If you think you might get involved big time with SACDs, then I do recommend that the new DAC be DSD capable; otherwise don’t sweat DSD capability. I happen to have a Chord Qutest and absolutely love it, but there are a whole host of good DACs to be had out there. If you should ever get into SACD big time, then something like the D.BOB (digital breakout box) would be something that I’d recommend adding to your road map.