Getting into SACD

Depends on your budget I guess.

But the K05 should be on your shortlist.

Going a bit further up, Playback MPS5.

Rocky -

you are headed in the right direction, add, Marantz to your list.

Jafant beat me to it. The Marantz SA-15S2b is quite nice.

Whats your budget and what kind of sound do you like? Whats the rest of your system? I have owned both Esoteric and Luxman. I prefer the Luxman.

Rest of system -
Essence Jasper MkII monoblock amps
Musical Design Chameleon pre (tubed)
Essence Reference Super Gem speakers
Intuitive Design ICs and speaker wire
(Arcam FMJ 23T cd and VPI Classic 3 TT)

Budget is no more than $1,500. And I will have to sell my Arcam to finance this purchase. I want a cd/SACD player who's redbook quality is at least on a par with the Arcam. I won't sacrifice redbook quality in order to gain SACD capability.

IMO, lower priced SACD players do not do redbook as well as dedicated players near the same price. I have owned the Sony 9000, 5400 and the Esoteric X-05 and found this to be true in all three cases. Perhaps the more expensive players like the Esoteric X-03 and up do better, but I have no experience with them. I finally gave up on SACD and went with a better redbook player and found this to be a more satisfactory solution for my tastes. IMO, a better redbook player playing a standard CD sounds better than a lesser SACD player playing the SACD of the same recording. But again, that's just me.

Your Arcam is pretty tough to beat!

Thanks for the input. If that's the case, I will forget about adding SACD capability and upgrade my current streaming hardware/software.

The TEAC PD-H600 was considered by Absolute Sound to be one of the best CDPs under $2K at the beginning of this year even though you couldn't source one anymore. I own one and it's a great CDP for the money, but for $1600 (demo price) the Marants SA-15S2b betters it by a big margin insofar as Redbook is concerned and plays SACD as well.

It's all about how it sounds in your system.

All the best,
Nonoise

Glaucon - there's a pair of Jasper monos on sale here on Audiogon. And if you're ever thinking of selling your pre, please let me know.
If you have the time, please email me off-line. I'd like to know your thoughts on the change from the Essence to the Summits. I'd entertain making that move, but my listening room is smallish and not sure it would do justice to the Summits.

Yashu - sounds like you're familiar with the Arcam. Any recommendations for an affordable upgrade?

I had the Arcam FMJ CD23 for quite some time. Teriffic player, but I think it would take considerably more than $1500.00 to beat.

At the same time I had the $1000.00 Oppo BDP 95, in my system, and for audio it wasn't even close. The Arcam sounded much, much better in all aspects. Really no contest.

Not sure what $1500.00 player would sound better than your Arcam. Perhaps a new Marantz?

I would buy a Doge6 from Pacific Valve. 30-day money back, but you won't return it. There's a reason they virtually never come up for sale.

Yashu he is referring to the Modwright Oppo, not the basic one and that modified Oppo has been compared to 25k EMM Labs and 17k Playback Designs.

Personally I think the Playback/EMM do not compromise on CD playback at all even though they play CDs.

I would try the Oppo 105 because imho it is a fantastic Redbook player.

I can't say it is better than the Arcam because I haven't heard it but I the new 105 is designed for superior audio.

Audition is the way to go if that is possible.