I think if Krell, Theta and the like bring their first generation SACD players to market they are more likely to be priced much closer to the Accuphase than anything else. It may be quite a while before we have real selection among "affordable" SACD players.
I was chatting with the folks at Resolution Audio regarding mods for my Quantum and asked where they were at with SACD. I was told they "just want to bring a product to market" but don't feel this is around the corner due to the format war. Nor can they afford to play at this point. This must be a frustrating time for other companies with similar niches in the audio world. My guess is that Krell, Theta, etc. will be there first, and soon, but with very expensive players. If nothing else but to begin positioning themselves for marketing purposes. Will we then see the same development of more affordable players, coming close to the big boys at various fractions of their price, as was the case with the CD format? If so, when? Will improvements come fast and furiously once everyone jumps into the water, eclipsing the performance of the super expensive first generation players? My opinion is that due to their performance and price points, the Sony products are the sensible choice in the iterim. Even so, I'm still waiting. Just not enough out there to get me excited enough to take the plunge.
