SACD vs. Vinyl

Assuming that you are interested in RBCD, you will get more by retiring the Sony for a RBCD player capable of giving the Marantz/Benz(and whatever phono stage) serious competition.

"Once your set-up is up to the mark, the quality of the recordings become more important than the format.."

Well said, but getting one's front end up to that "mark" is precisely the problem. Short of that mark one's relative opinion of the formats is colored by systems limitations. Most systems are below that mark(including the OP's, in the sense that SACD and RBCD players are available today that will surpass his vinyl rig.) Thus for most purposes the question is better answered in context than at the extreme of SOTA. A mid-line SACD player is not a significant upgrade over a mid-line RBCD player. Assuming that there are financial constraints, the best option is to avoid the cul de sac SACD collecting, and commit precious dollars to a better RBCD player or perhaps a hirez server option. A better RBCD player can close the gap with a mid-line vinyl front end while leveraging the ubiquity of the CD.

Coltrane1, IME with a highly modified CDP the grip on the room and effortlessness and scale of SACD approximates a high-end vinyl rig. However RBCD on the same modded player is not far behind, and easily surpasses SACD on the same player with stock circuitry. Dynamics of both RBCD & SACD on the modded CDP surpassed my TT until further strokes to TT. To echo Grateful, YMMV and wars between the formats become an arms race.

Carlos269, Seems to me that LF quality(as opposed to undifferentiated quantity of LF) is a result of issues particular to the formats and also the relatively high level of LF distortion found in typical audio systems. In my anecdotal experience, a very good SACD player delivers in all areas of LF control, authority, and extension. Vinyl offers a generally high level of LF delineation & tonality, but in the average set-up often lacks LF extension and the big dynamic envelope of SACD or even some of the better RBCD players. However, even high-performance RBCD players are nagged by slightly undifferentiated and monotonous LF. For me the escape from LF slurring is what leads back to the LP.