I had the opportunity the other day to hear the SACD format for the first time - I've really been putting this off! The associated equipment was the Vandersteen 2ce (I was there to audition these!) new McCormack 125, McCormack pre (?model) all run with silver cables and interconnects (?brand). At first we were listening to "normal" CD's and I found the Sony SACD-1 to be overly bright with a very thin midrange and not much depth. The dealer was nice enough to replace the SACD-1 with a Parasound CD-2000. I felt the sound was much smoother with the Parasound, overall. THEN, the dealer put in an SACD disc. All of a sudden the highs were clean, crisp and the mid had warmth and the soundstage got deep - a HUGE difference! Anyway, I'm not going to do anything yet due to the limited # of titles but it did get me excited about what could come in the next couple of years. Listining to the SACD was the closest I've EVER heard digital come to analogue!
Is SACD really this lousy?
Bought a Sony SCD 1 and this is boring me in my system. Have had it for 2 weeks and just cannot get interested. Previously I had a CAL CL2o and we were astounded by how the DVD DAD's sounded-fall into the soundstage, reach out and touch the performers. Also the dynamic range used every bit of the VTL's 275 watts into the Maggies. The 44/16 side of the CL20 was at best lukewarm. This after coming off a Meridian 508 20. Then I tried the Wadia 270/27ix. In my system, all the write ups were proven wrong. Then I went to the Linn Ikemi. It was great except I couldn't forget that sound of the DVD's with the CL20. Sooooo....off I went to get the Sony SCD 1. I don't have a dealer here but trusted it wouldn't dissappoint. WRONNNG! I called Steve Huntley at Great Northern Sound to see if he could do anything. He said it was a great player, it's just that Sony missed the boat when it came to the analog section. He is in fact drawing up a mod to deal with this very thing that he says will approach the Accuphase. That however will cost anywhere from $1500 roonies for the SACD side to $3500 for both. Anybody have any comment on this or am I the only one experiencing disappointment?