No question that SACD brings stereo to a whole new level. There is no comparison, the difference is akin to the superiority of good vinyl over redbook and it's completely addicting once you appreciate it. To be honest, I have a heck of a time analyzing the SACD side of good sacd players (I've heard many good and great ones, a few bad ones). I can pick apart the redbook side of any player in a few tracks, but SA-CD, after only a few seconds of listening, makes it near impossible for me to think about the equiptment; I get lost in the music, the ease, that naturlness, realness, coherence and life of the music. When I do force myself to compare, to listen to a redbook layer of a SACD, I in general will find that SACD is smoother, its more open, its fuller, its vastly more extended up top, it has better detail and clarity with a lower noise floor, it's simply more like real music...but I quickly forget about all the fluff and realize there is beautiful, life-like music playing in my room when playing the DSD side.... Like every other format it of course is recording quality dependant, yet I've heard things with good SACDs that my best CD's are completely lacking.
Every person I've let hear SACD in my system (strictly 2ch), even nonaudiphiles who don't care in the least about this hobby, have had no trouble picking up on the very differences I hear wrt the superiority of SA-CD, and this without any prompting from me. That's what amazes me and give me hope for the format, along with the flood of new titles finnally making it to shore and Sony promising to open the flood gate in 2004.
It's also worth observing that, as far as I can tell, Ben_campbell is the only person on this board, out of hundreds or even thousands of members, actively crusading against SACD at every turn. He can't hear the difference, as stated a hundred times now, which is fine; we all hear differently and we value different things in sound reproduction. However, do note that the fans of the format hugely outnumber the unbiased detractors, and likewise, appreciate that when I say I'm a "Fan" that is short for "Fanatic!"
Every person I've let hear SACD in my system (strictly 2ch), even nonaudiphiles who don't care in the least about this hobby, have had no trouble picking up on the very differences I hear wrt the superiority of SA-CD, and this without any prompting from me. That's what amazes me and give me hope for the format, along with the flood of new titles finnally making it to shore and Sony promising to open the flood gate in 2004.
It's also worth observing that, as far as I can tell, Ben_campbell is the only person on this board, out of hundreds or even thousands of members, actively crusading against SACD at every turn. He can't hear the difference, as stated a hundred times now, which is fine; we all hear differently and we value different things in sound reproduction. However, do note that the fans of the format hugely outnumber the unbiased detractors, and likewise, appreciate that when I say I'm a "Fan" that is short for "Fanatic!"