The problem is that manufacturers favor their home team formats for better fidelity. Good SACD player manufacturers don't do a great job on CDs, and I am skeptical about how well they do with adding DVD-A to their machines. Good DVD-A player manufacturers have no credibility with SACD, if they would include this capability in their offerings. I feel like I should get three boxes, one optimized for each format. My system is a two channel set up that I use for movie audio, too, so I am not thinking about multi-channel SACD, yet. I am using a Sony SCD-1 for SACD and CD play and a Meridian 598 for DVD-A and DVD-V play. My sacrifice is having merely decent quality for CD playback on the SCD-1. Maybe the Spectral, eh?
Another consideration is that manufacturers are beginning to devote less attention to further improving CD playback, refocusing their R&D efforts on the new formats. This happened with VCRs when DVD-Vs began taking off. The big, well-built, high end VCRs started to disappear -- out of production. The units still available got cheaper and chintzier, with fewer features, lower build quality, and fidelity peaked out. When I sensed this, I got the last generation top of the line Sony and hoped it would outlast my tape library. This isn't a direct parallel to CDs, because new format players will still play our extensive CD libraries. But the idea does make me think about buying a last, great, high end CD player before the marketplace replaces them with diluted quality product, perhaps embedded in universal players. Not quite yet, though. Maybe the Spectral, eh?
Sorry for rambling. Good luck.
Another consideration is that manufacturers are beginning to devote less attention to further improving CD playback, refocusing their R&D efforts on the new formats. This happened with VCRs when DVD-Vs began taking off. The big, well-built, high end VCRs started to disappear -- out of production. The units still available got cheaper and chintzier, with fewer features, lower build quality, and fidelity peaked out. When I sensed this, I got the last generation top of the line Sony and hoped it would outlast my tape library. This isn't a direct parallel to CDs, because new format players will still play our extensive CD libraries. But the idea does make me think about buying a last, great, high end CD player before the marketplace replaces them with diluted quality product, perhaps embedded in universal players. Not quite yet, though. Maybe the Spectral, eh?
Sorry for rambling. Good luck.