I sold my 777es for an electrocompaniet emc-1 mkII and I am very happy about my decision. |
Bingo, trust your ears Mejames. Rebook done right is hard to beat. |
Hi Mejames,
Interesting post. Would you mind offering some more details regarding your experience? For example, did you compare any hi-end redbook DACs with the SCD-1 as a transport to the Capitole? Also, how does SACD on the Sony compare to redbook on the Capitole? |
10 days ago i had a shootout between the Capitole and my Marantz SA-1. the Capitole sounded great, but not in the league with sacd on the SA-1.
the sacd was more open, detailed, and natural. voice was more textured and "real" sounding. a piano was more dynamic and "complete". if you were not going back and forth you would not easily realize the differences. but over time the naturalness of sacd comes thru.
my conclusion; even a great cd player like the Capitole falls short of a very good sacd player. the additional resolution of sacd wins every time assuming a sufficiently hi-quality output circut. |
to rzado I traded a Wadia 27 digital converter for the modified Sony player, I never had the opportunity to directly compare them A/B. was using the 27 with a Wadia 20 transport I've never used the Sony as a transport only. The Capitol hasn't arrived yet. The problem with SACD is the limited software available for my music taste, there are less than 20 available I like. The differences between Red Book and SACD on the titles I've compared is so minute its barely worth the change. Would switch to SACD if the software I like was readily available example Pink Floyd. |
I would probably agree with the fact that a true DSD transfer could probably be"better" than a great redbook only CD player.However with the limited titles that are true DSD it really is not worth making comparisons since there is so little true SACD software.The SA1 is great player,but there are a # of players,Mephisto II,Capitole,Accupahase,ect that beat it on redbook.SACD is very promising,but Sony is well on the way in producing another Beta fiasco with their poor selection of artists,and lack of real DSD transfers.When you think about it,if there were not companies like Telarc,DMP,ect Sony would have just about have zilch in DSD.Personally ,finding a top notch redbbok player is the way to go.You will never run out of good available software. |
Sony have no interest in SACD.They are floating it to be a roadblock to DVD-A.They want to confuse the marketplace.
Hey they and Philips get a royalty on every redbook cd made.Why would they want that to stop. |
Sattothestars, i agree to an extent with your comments. the SA-1 is merely "very good" for cds so i have a Linn CD-12 for my 16/44. i also did a shootout between the CD-12 and the Capitole where i preferred the CD-12, but not by alot. on a previous thread i went into much detail on this event.
i do feel that even sacds not DSD sourced still sound better on my SA-1 than the cds on the Capitole, but the amount of difference is not as consistent. |
On SACD sound the Marantz SA-1 is untouchable at that price point. In RedBook CD playback one has to spend Big Bucks to match up the sound of the Marantz SA-1. Use to have the Levinson 31.5 & 30.6 combo (sold it once I heard and bought the Marantz SA-1). Levinson combo plays great Redbook CDs, but could not justify in comparison to the the Marantz SA-1 as playing both formats.
Be happy for today and the future, stick with the Marantz. |
IMO, the Marantz SA-1 was no where in the same league as the Goldmund, or the EMC-1. Yes it was broke in. Yes, it was on for several days. Yes, it sat on a neuance board as did the other two. It was not as detailed, transparent, or could it soundstage as well as the other two. It sounded slow, a touch dark, and not nearly as envolving. I was not alone when I did these comparisons. Maybe Jcbtubes would like to jump in this discussion. It was his Marantz SA-1. He couldn't unload it fast enough.
The SA-1 may be just right for some systems. But it sure failed in these two systems.
Keep the Aero Mejames. Just another opinion from another audio enthusiast. I mean no offence to any Marantz SA-1 owners. |
Brulee, i assume you are referring to 16/44 on the SA-1 and not SACD. i agree that there are now a few cdps like those you mention that are better with 16/44.
i have heard that fully modified SA-1s are much better on 16/44 but i have not personally listened to any. |
Natalie, How is Philips and Sony keeping DVD-A players roadblocked?
It seems that anyone that wants to build a great SACD player (there are a few)could have built a great DVD-A player (none I know of, but I anticipate being corrected.) DVD-A doesn't need to be "roadblocked," the mfgs of DVD-A machines and people that are trying to establish standards seem to be trying to derail DVD-A before it gets going. I have no preference to who wins the Hi-Res software war. I just want better digital hardware for whichever format "wins." ...And of course I want those to play Red Book at a much higher than current standard.
Actually from what I have been told, the SACD licensing is so expensive that we may never see quality inexpensive SACD players except from Sony and Philips. This would lead me to believe they are semi-roadblocking SACD from the masses. Either way I don't like it, but I don't see them roadblocking DVD-A with their actions. Best Regards, Aaron |
Thanks for the response, mejames. I was just curious to see someone else's experience with a modded SCD-1 v. hi quality redbook. I actually own an SCD-1 with the pretty much full on Audiocom/Kern mods (BG caps, Vishay S-102s, Superclock, SC PSU, Superregs, Op-amps, Relcaps, Hexfreds, WBT jacks), that I am still breaking in. At this point I find my Dodson DA-217 Mk II D (with the SCD-1 as a transport) to be noticeably better for redbook CD that using the SCD-1 alone. However, I have found that SACD reproduction with the SCD-1 beats out redbook on the SCD-1/Dodson combo in the few direct comparisons I have been able to make (e.g. Rebecca Pidgeon, Honeyboy Edwards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana). |
