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

Showing 2 responses by drubin

I wonder if that's SACD per se or just the sound of the Sony units. Art Dudley in Listener has commented that he hears almost no difference between the SACD playback of the several units he's reviewed, but I find it hard to imagine that there would not be a large difference, just as there is between CD players. When (if) we start seeing more high-end SACD players, I suspect we will hear a different SACD sound.

Sorry for the topic drift ...