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Are Sony SACD Machine Owners Crazy??

I am sorry about the "tabloid" title..but another
post I did got little response on what, I think, is a real
question. Ie:.. many people have stated that the playback
of standard format cd's (16/44) on these SACD machines is
very good...indeed beyond things like Levinson..etc. The
question is ..in this age of "upsampling" 24/96..and beyond, how can these one bit/bit-stream (in "redbook" format) units
be so good? This is asking the owners of the model 1, 777,
9000..etc. Sony players..how can this be so. I had owned
the Xa-7es at one time, and thought that the excellent
playback was the FET analog stage...these new SACD machines
are all using OP-AMPS....not very "high-end". The concern
I have is that while we all hope for a format that will give
us analog sound in a digital format, the near-term concern
is what any unit...SCAD or DVD-A will do with my collection
of standard CD's?
whatjd
tommart
72 posts
 
Everyone has different standards. I had a 10 year old $500 Sony CD and a Sony 300 CD/DVD player that had similar CD audio. I bought a $500 Panasonic DVD-A player and $600 JVC DVD-A player. CD quality was no better. DVD-A was slightly better. I then bought a Sony 9000ES. CD play was better than DVD-A on the Panasonic and JVC. SACD was a step up. I returned the Panasonic and JVC.

Still, I'm sure that my S9000ES is not as good as a $2,000 plus transport/DAC combo.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
valschaf
9 posts
 
I find the sound quality of SACDs on the SCD-1 decidedly seductive, with great subtlety of detail, but with a very slight euphonic glaze on all disks--an artifact of the medium?--that is maybe a little too pretty to be true. However, CDs on the SCD-1 sound thin & lifeless compared to my Sonic Frontiers T3-P3 combo. My wife noticed the difference in 2 seconds.
jph1
15 posts
 
I recently purchased a 9000es to replace my Adcom gcd 750 with intentions to modify later on. The stock sony is nowhere near as good as the adcom in the areas of high frequency air, dynamics and soundstage especially. The mids are more musical, however on the sony. Boy, was I disappointed, hope the mods help
bmpnyc
713 posts
 
Guys, did the units mentioned have enough break in time? You really need to listen after 4-500 hours. I'm not kidding.
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