SACD Demo

Too many variables, Keis. You've got to hear it in your own system or one with which you're very familiar before you can really make any judgments. A modest system (and I wouldn't term yours as modest) that is properly set up and matched in a properly treated room can easily outperform a more expensive one that is mismatched or in a poor listening environment. FWIW, I got a Sony SCD777ES SACD player, which isn't a bad player but wasn't what I was used to in the way of resolution. It did clearly demonstrate to my satisfaction in my system the superiority of SACD over CD on the same discs. I have since had the unit modified by Jerry Ozment of Audio Logic, whose dac I use, to replace the entire analog side of the Sony with the tubed Audio Logic analog section (including the power supply--another #%!*# power supply and cord) and am VERY pleased with the results--now the player is a much more alive, dynamic, dimensional and high resolution player. Time will tell whether anyone will issue enough software to take advantage of the format; I'm not overly optimistic. I also have 24/96 discs, which also are quite an improvement over standard CD, even upsampled ones; I'm not sure yet about the 24/96 vs. SACD debate yet. And, while these developments are getting digital closer in many respects, I'm not giving up my turntable and vinyl...

Seniorm and Allie have hit upon what I consider to be the biggest difference I've heard with SACD, which is the ease and openness of the presentation, particularly when compared with red book CD. For lack of a better analogy, with CD I feel I'm listening to music in a box, with SACD the box is gone. I used to get that feeling only with vinyl and analog. In addition, the highs may seem at first listen to have less energy than their CD counterparts (some people may prefer CDs for that reason, on an initial listen and with particular types of music), but to my ears they are much more natural, extended and fleshed out on SACD (same observation with 24/96 as well). The stock Sony is a very smooth player too, which helps in that regard, although I found it a little too polite, hence my going for the mod mentioned above. One thing I do note is that SACD, and for that matter 24/96, seem to get you much closer to the master tape in your playback; this may not always be a good thing, especially where the master tape isn't all that good. My hope is that Telarc and Delos and Hyperion can get time at the SACD plant to give us future releases in that format.

Gino makes a good point. Most of the reissues out there on SACD have been from analog tapes. Given my love of vinyl, I don't mind that, although the quality of those tapes is variable, and I'd prefer reissues from the best of the Decca, EMI and RCA catalogs to Columbia's (thank you, Classic Records, Testament and Speakers Corner). If, however, the master tape was made from a 16 bit digital machine, I'd avoid it because I would think that you're sure not going to get any more on an SACD than what was on that tape in the way of information--you'd might as well stick with the CD. As far as waiting for better players, I understand the point but fear that the medium is doomed to failure if there aren't enough sales of hardware and software at this time to justify it, and let's face it, the audiophile market is about all that really cares about the better sound quality. In this regard I'm perplexed at Sony's strategy of high-priced players and SACD-only, as opposed to hybrid, discs. Seems like they want it to fail....but that was another thread, I think.