Disappointed in SACD player


Well, there I was yesterday. At the chain store who Sony has designated as their retail point of attack for SACD in the Philadelphia, PA region. Tweeter, formerly known as Bryn Mawr Stereo and Video. Formerly, Bryn Mawr Stereo(but we all know what happened there). Since my recent misfortunes with CD players, I was considering a jump to a Sony SACD player. One thing about Sony, their stuff is reliable. I found one player, the 5 disc changer. It was hooked up in a HT setup. Not even prominently. There was also another CD player in this system, along with a DVD-V player. As no salesman came into the room, I didn't pursue. I found no other player in the store. Finally, when we were looking at tv's, someone asked us if we needed help. I asked about SACD, and was told two players were on display. I asked to see the one that I didn't see. I was taken to a wall of DVD players, and sure enough, the ES9000 was there. Not hooked up, sitting there like all of the other DVD players. And in fact, THAT IS HOW THIS STORE IS MARKETING IT. As a DVD player! The guy gave me the big spiel on it, from a DVD perspective. 12 bit scan, instead of 10, etc., etc., etc. All of which is meaningless to me. I am not a HT or DVD guy. I spend my time on two channel audio. The guy left me less interested in the player than when I came in. They could not even find any SACD material in the entire store. Not even a sampler. I came in wanting to be impressed, wanting to leave with the desire to buy an SACD player. Needless to say, I probably won't be buying very soon. Wasn't this supposed to be Sony's summer of all out SACD offensive? Players starting at $350(which still will probably come), creating interest with the general public and lifting the new format to something beyond the niche of the lunatic fringe. As it is now, it is not even as recognizable as DAT, and miles behind MD(which was very prominent in the store). Both of which are monumental flops in the words of Sony.
trelja
For the real scoop on SACD, just read what audiophile owners of this product have to say. They're the real experts at this point. I personally would not rely on Tweeter sales people to enlighten me on SACD. The few times that I have shopped at Bryn Mawr (now Tweeter), I was less than impressed with the sales staff, due to their lack of experience in both product knowledge and salesmanship. I now own a Sony SCD-777ES for a few months now (Purchased used on the net). I have also owned numerous (high end), redbook cd players, and the Sony redbook sound quality compares favorably with all of them. On SACD, it is the equal or better then the megabuck cd players I have tried. I’ll admit that there is just not enough SACD software available at this time, I can only hope this will change soon. This is just my experience, however, do an Audiogon search on SACD, you will learn more then what a salesman has to offer…
Tweeter is THE WORST. They are staffed by a bunch of incompetant knuckleheads and know less about what they are selling than just about any retailer that comes to mind. As far as I am concerned the only lesson here is, if you want milk, try a cow.
I have the Sony 9000 SACD, CD, DVD player & I am impressed. Not only with the SACD, but how it plays CDs. Had a CAL 10 which I loved, but CDs on this player sound better. Also musical DVDs are impressive. Reason I purchased this player is that I could experience all 3 musical formats. Not at ALL sorry.
I also suggest that you contact J&R Music World. I just bought a SCD-333ES from them and they are blowing them out for $600 which is half price. If you are interested in 2 channel as I am then this is by far your best bet. Their new machines are all multichannel and the 555ES which is basicly a multichannel version of the 333ES will set you back $1500. BTW, I bought a 777ES from J&R a year ago for $1800 and just sold it for what I paid. I am very happy with the 333ES and with a Perpetual Tech front end is far superior sounding to the 777ES and much more convienient to use. Also, doesn't take forever to load a disc. The 777ES is I'm sure a better transport but with all of the reclocking and upsampling the differences are marginal. Also, Modwright will upgrade the 333ES for around $350 so for less than a grand you can have something very close to SOTA and convience too!
It is unfortunate that the salesman wasn't informed and didn't enable you to demo the gear that you wanted to, but please don't let that dissuade you from pursuing SACD.

I have been modifying and comparing a 333ES and a 9000ES the past week or so and I am very pleased with the sound of them both, especially after the mods.

The 9000ES sounded clearly better to me stock than the 333ES, but they both sound good. The 9000ES is also at least twice the price at about $1200 (www.oade.com - not sure of latest prices) vs. the 333ES at about $600 (www.oade.com - ditto).

For SACD playback, they are both staggeringly good. Again, the 9000ES is better, but they are both great.

I have my own mods company - ModWright LLC - www.modwright.com and as another poster mentioned, I do offer mods for both the 333ES and the 9000ES. I won't go on here about them as there is a lot of information on my website about the 9000ES mods and information on the 333ES mods will follow. The prices for 9000ES mods start at $250 and go up to $800 and the price for the 333ES mod is $350.

If you are interested, please go to www.modwright.com and e-mail me directly at modwright@yahoo.com if you have questions about SACD, digital audio or audio in general.

Forget about the salesman and listen for yourself - I think you will be impressed.

Take care,

Dan W.