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SACD Audio Equipment

I AM SOLD ON THE SACD FORMAT. MY CD PLAYER THE CALIFORNIA AUDIO ICON MKII IS A GREAT SOUNDING CD PLAYER BUT THE DEPTH I HEARD FROM THIS NEW FORMAT PLEASES ME SO MUCH ITS TIME TO UPGRADE TO THIS NEW FORMAT. THOSE WHO APPRECIATE THE SACD FORMAT PLEASE SUGGEST A SACD PLAYER FOR MY NEW SYSTEM. I PLAYING MARTIN LOGAN PRODIGY SPEAKERS WITH A MARK LEVINSON NO. 336 AMP AND AUDIO RESEARCH LS1 PREAMP. MY NEXT UPGRADE WILL ENCLUDE A NEW PREAMP, BUT FOR NOW I AM CONSIDERING A SACD PLAYER.
electrostaticman
thorty40
149 posts
 
What is the retail on the new Pioneer DVAX-10?? Anyone know?
nnicot
15 posts
 
Based on your other components I think a good fit would be the Marantz SA-1 player. Though it's a bit expensive I think it clearly beats out the SCD-1 and 777ES on both redbook and SACD playback. It's a pretty impressive unit.
darrell's avatar
darrell
70 posts
 
The Pioneer DVAX-10 is $6000. You should be able to get it for $3800 or so. If you want ONE unit that will play everything except multi-channel SACD (It does play 2 channel SACD), then the Pioneer is the first chioce. I own both the Sony 9000ES & DVAX-10 and there is no comparison, the redbook cd on the DVAX-10 is much better than the Sony.
It should be better, the transport is much better isolated, the entire chassis is wrapped in copper, the cd drawer mechanism has a double air lock seal, and there are other features that further enhance the performance...and one more item I forgot to mention...It upsamples standard 16/44.1 to 24/96 and may (I'm trying to get an answer from Pioneer on this) upsample to 24/192. The SACD section still sounds better than upsampled redbook cd, but not by a large amount.
jadem6's avatar
jadem6
1,074 posts
 
I believe the 9000 ES is the best value. I own the SCD-1 and continue to be extremely pleased (2 years). I would look into the Pioneer DVAX-10. I know nothing about it, but if Darrell is correct that may be the state-of-the art today in affordable units. The Marantz is fine, but I think over priced for what you get.
My opinion is the same today as it was when I first baught my unit. Get in now, enjoy the upgrade in music and wait for the next generation. To not get in is wrong in my opinion, too much gained and little risked. In the next few years some great players with more to offer will come out, and I'll be there to buy, but today I'm loving the music and building a library. Yes the selection is limited, so what! The redbook is better than I had with similiar priced standard players and I have SACD, I can hardly go wrong. That is why I believe the 9000ES is the best value. Offers all thats avalible at a great price and gets you in and enjoying the benifits of the new tech.
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