Mark Levinson 380 to 380s upgrade?

I went through the upgrade this past fall. I went from the ML 38 to the 380S. There was a tremendous difference. The soundstage opened up and became more coherent. The instruments took on a more defined space with more free space between them. The overall sound became smoother and more defined. IMO the whole aural picture becams more coherent, clear and defined. The upgrade was well worth the cost. Keep in mind I went from the 38 to the 380S. I am also using the ML 332 amp. How do you like the SCD-1? Did you compare it to any of the other SACD palyers on the market? Thanks, Doug

I really like the SCD-1, it just sounds great. I compared to the 777ES before buying, and I did not hear that much of a difference. I was going to buy the 777, but they made me a deal on the SCD-1 I could not refuse.

I have since heard the Marantz (At a dealer) on a 380S, 33H and Vienna Acoustics Mahler... It sounded simply Awesome! Had the dealer plug the SCD-1 in and... It sounded as awesome to me. I was not able to hear much of a difference between the Marantz and the Sony, although the Marantz seemed to produce a touch less hiss. (The only way I hear hiss on the Sony is at full gain with my ear to the tweeter)

The super Audio CD format is just great. I just want there to be a lot more music. Many of the recordings are re-masters, and you can very much hear the limitations of the original recordings on most of those. I have a few SACD that were recorded on DSD equipment, and boy... They sound awesome! One of the demo discs that comes with the machine is a dual layer disc, allowing you to hear the difference between SACD and CD. Not surprising, SACD is much more detailed.

The irony here is of course that I know I bought another Betamax... DVD-A will eventually win the format war, and the SACD catalog will probably never grow past 600 titles. Even so, I enjoy the fire out of SACD. If you have the money to burn, and you want the most awesome CD sound ever, the SCD-1 is worth the money.

Niels.

I wouldn't write off the SACD yet. It appears they have the lead over DVD. I listened to SACD at the Hi-Fi show in Chicago almost two years ago. I was ready to buy then. But, I don't have the money to drop on a potential Betamax. Now that it appears as though SACD has the lead I am becoming less reluctant. I will still wait it out for a while though. Good luck with the upgrade if you choose to do it. It took Madrigal about two weeks to turn mine around, but that was four months ago.