Coping in an Age of Uncertainty

ive heard a state- of- the- art vinyl playback system and it was head over heels more musical and real sounding than any digital system. theres a seemless quality to vinyl that digital technology, at this time, is not able to capture. however, vinyl is time intensive(record cleaning, proper set-up,no remote, short paying time, etc) vs the ease of digital. i have a levinson 37 and 360s digital system which is very enjoyable but there is a quality to my less expensive analogue system- VPI turntable with a Graham Slee phono pre (which is remarkable)- that reproduces music that is more realistic.

Please, don't let this thread die!

Well, there's no uncertainty anymore. SACD has become an audiophile product, something like MFSL in the '70's. And DVDA....

CHECK THIS.....My MARANTZ DVD 9500....is the Most analog sounding REDBOOK CD player I've heard to date....the sound is as warm as "toast" .....my old cd's sound Listenable and actually Enjoyable...AND YOU GET SACD AND DVD-A to BOOT....You otta hear the STones on SACD...WHEW...buying a plain redbook cd player only is a mistake when you can get this kind of analog sound for $1600.....Anyone buying a cd player or a Universal Player MUST check this out....IT BLOWS AWAY ALL THE DENON's For Audiophiles.....It actually makes Redbook cd's sound JUST LIKE HIGH QUALITY VINYL played on a TOP-END SYSTEM.......Re- discover your cd collection and get SACD and DVD-a to boot for $1600......This Marantz MakesMUSIC.....and it makes me smile.....

I doubt if many here remember the mid 70s debacle over the CD4 and SQ4 formats. Both ended up being doomed. One is that RCA and Columbia could not come up with a decoding format that worked for both. So the four channel died a quick and I hope a painless death. Although I know many folks invested heavily at the time in this format. Only to have obsolete gear 18 months later.

As far as I am concerned SACD, DVD-A and other formats, is that I belive it is headed for the scrap yard as well. It will take sales in the millions to save either one. How many of us are going to repopulate or musical library with these additional formats? I won't go to that expense and the vast majority will not either. It is just not sensible to do so. The Redbook format has been with us since 1982 and was developed between Philips and Sony. I have every reason to belive that the Redbook format will continue for the fore see able future. Sure there are 18,20,22 and now 24 bit CDs on the market as well as HDCD, but the basic format remains Redbook.

I have two CD Players one a Classe CDP.5 player with HDCD and recently acquired an Arcam CD73 that is a 24 bit player. Very happy with both of them and is ceratinly all I need for the digital format.

If the SACD and DVD-A survives, which is highly doubtful at this point, it will be because the software and players have become more affordable. Players will in time, will only come down in price, if the demand for the software increases and the price of the software decreases. I just do not see that happening. Costs have to be recovered to do this, it will be cheaper for the manufactures to cut their losses and get out of the SACD, DVD-A arena.

I for one will stay with the current Redbook players I have and enjoy the music library I have amassed over the years. I see no reason to repopulate my library. Financially it just doesn't sense.