SCD-1 can be purchased at 2850 new.

I concur with Topkat. SA-1 is indeed better than SCD-1 in just about every aspect. Most of all, SA-1 simply sounded more natural than SCD-1.

The going price for a used SA-1 should be less than $4K. It is a steal at at that price since its redbook CD playback will rival most high end two pc equipment without feeling shameful. The SACD, in addition, will blow you away. I've A/B the Bruno Walter Beethovan 6 against the original Columbia release and a 1984 SONY 180gm re-issue, the SACD has far greater detail and bass definition (my analog frontend is TNT5/JMW12/Helikon) and won easily. The only concern of mine is, will SACD die like XRCD because it is too expensive with too few vendor supports?

Tommart, that is true the Marantz SA-1 is discontinued in production. That was there statement piece, and believe it or not -Japanese companies don't make any money with these type of pieces. It's all for show, and this is what we can do , is there attitude. Early in my career I was a house counselor for a large Japanese company.

So buy them while you can, before they are all gone. There were only 250 pieces brought in to the USA.

Yes. The Marantz SA-1 sounds better than my Wadia in regular CD playback. And in SACD playback , the Marantz is in another world of quality playback of music.

Yes the Marantz is great, but be aware that it's just been discontinued. May find better prices than the $5500. I'm also not sure how long Sony will be selling the SCD-1. Sony appears to be going multichannel with all their SACD players. First the SCD-777 was discontinued and now I understand the SCD-333 will soon go. In the U.S., that leaves only the SCD-1 and the S9000ES DVD/CD/SACD as Sony's only stereo only SACD player. Soon people will be scrambling for SCD-1s, like they are 777's right now.

Topkat, do you mean your Marantz SA-1 blew away your Wadia on both SACD and CD, or just SACD only ? Please clarify. Thanks.

Steve (Siddh)-had compared the two SACD players for about a month before I made the purchase of the Marantz SA-1 over the Sony SCD-1. i have a personal friend that I do legal work for who's a Sony & Marantz dealer. Both machines were A & B in my system and the Marantz won flat out in head to head performance.
The Marantz regular CD playback is smooth and sweet sounding. Not bright or edgy like I heard in the Sony player. The Marantz SADCD playback is just incredible. It blew my $10K Wadia two piece front end (which I sold already).
Melhsu, I had many different and more expensive digital gear in my day. The Krell MD-10 & 64X. The Levinson 30 & 31 combo. The Wadia latest two piece setup. All very nice and excited when first installed in my system. But this Marantz...blows away the competition. Like I said before this Marantz for a retail of $7500 and average street price is $5500. It's worth every penny and you will definitely not need an outboard dac. I do not work for Marantz, just want to tell the Audiogon members on the good products. Marantz is the best of analogue sound in a digital box.
Happy listening.

anybody?? I plan to buy one SCD-1 in May and use it with a MSB platinum DAC for redbook CDs.

Topkat and Rdr4b, How good is the Cd sound from SA-1?? If it's as good as the very best u have heard, please post your opinions. please compare the sound to other CDP or DAC u've heard. A million Thanks

If budget is secondary to sound, then SA-1 is definitely the one to get despite that SCD-1 is a better constructed unit. When playing SACDs, the SA-1 sounded more natural and musical but the SCD-1 isn't bad either. However, when playing redbook CDs, the Marantz is much better since it yields a fuller body to the music. By contrast, the SCD-1 sounds much flatter. However, SA-1 is going to be hard to find for under $4K.

Topkat, Have you heard both units, and if so, in comparable seetings and to what extent? Was the better sound apparent in both SACD and conventional playback?
Thanks, Steve

Buy the Marantz SA-1. A much better sounding unit than the Sony SCD-1 without the gimmicks.

You can find it at www.oade.com. They just quoted me $2850 last week, with a four week wait.

Bill E.

Where???

My last post was 42850. It should be $2850.