I recently made a direct comparison of the RCA-BMG Fiedler Gaite Parisienne on imported SACD (a hybrid from BMG Hong Kong) with the JVC XRCD reissue. SACD was through my Classe Omega SACD player, a $12,000 player built on the transport of the SCD-1. CD was from the digital outs of the Omega, as transport, to a dCS Purcell upconverter and dCS Elgar. Rsesult: the JVC sounded superb, but the SACD was noticeably warmer, richer and had more of an analogue sound. Same comparison with the RCA-BMG Fiedler High Performance version of the Carmen Suite: the RCA 24 bit transfer sounded in your face superb, but the SACD had all of the same detail and was a bit fuller, richer and had a wider spread. Any negative analysis of SACD made on a $500-$1,000 Sony SACD player versus an Audio Aero Capitole or something like that is playing ostrich and denying that SACD, played back on comparable quality equipment, is simply better than CD, and however poorly initially marketed, deserves to succeed.
XRCD vs. SACD
Having listened to several JVC xrcd's on some state of the art redbook gear, I am of the opinion that most that I have heard sound more natural to me than SACD on a budget Sony SACD player. I have not, however, listened to any higher-end SACD players in my system. I would be very interested to hear from those who have made this comparison and can provide some input with regard to how the XRCDs compare.