sacd,vinyl, and rebook....

My take is...

"SACD is a needlessly complicated way to improve the marginal resolution of Redbook digital recording. The same result is obtained simply by increasing word length to 24 bits, and the data rate to 96 KHz, (called DVDA)".

I hope everyone read the link cited by Albertporter (11/3).

Two things are obvious to me.

1. Digital PCM may be imperfect, but 24 bits are better than 16, and 96 KHz is better than 44.

2. SACD superiority is a snow job by Sony, and many audiophiles have been fooled.

The subtle differences between SACD and DVDA, and perhaps CD may require a high end system to be distinguished. On the other hand, even the most lowly LP system reveals, and is limited by, clicks, pops, warps and skips due to dirt balls on the stylus and/or the slightest damage to the grooves.

Albertporter...My point (which you didn't get) is that real world problems of LPs, clicks, pops, warps, dirt on the stylus and groove damage aflict even the most modest system. You don't have to spend much before these medium-related problems limit sonic quality. Even a super high end system like yours cannot overcome these problems, although it might sound good with pristine LPs. On your system, a scratch on the LP will be reproduced with stunning fidelity! Various electronic devices were developed to cope with these problems, but I am sure that a purist like you would not use them.

By the way, did you ever experience DBX encoded LPs? Now that was really superb vinyl technology. It was just as quiet as digital, which is what most people liked, but also phono pickup performance (distortion etc) was greatly improved by avoiding extreme groove modulation. Too bad it died.

Albertporter...A system that can recover the most subtle groove modulation cannot avoid response to groove defects. If what you say is true you are fortunate to own LPs in perfect condition. It was my experience that even new LPs from good labels usually came with a few audible defects.

I have heard some very expensive vinyl equipment, although I could never afford/justify owning it. Like a race-tuned Ferari it's nice, but not practical for real world use.