Sony SCD-1 or BAT VK-D5 / D5SE

Might as well stay in the BAT family, if you're happy with the sound of your preamp and amp. I have the VK-D5se and it sounds great on cd's. I also have a Sony DVP-S9000Es which fills my occasional HT/SACD need. IMHO, there still isn't enough SACD software out there to invest mega-grand into a SACD player. A modified SCD-1 may sound as good on cd's as the BAT, but you're talking a lot of money.

Jayctoy, 1500 SACD releases already? It's been over 3 years, and 1500 is a grain of sand at the beach, compared to the amout of software available on regular cd or even LP's. I'm happy you like your modded 9000ES, don't take it personally. When there are 100,000 SACD releases there may be something to make a fuss over. SACD does sound very good, but not good enough for me to change my personal musical tastes. I've owned the 9000ES for over a year, yet I only have bought a couple dozen SACD's. Many of the 1500 releases are forms of music that don't interest me. I have over 1000 regular cd's (out of millions of choices), that sound better on my BAT, then through my un-modded 9000ES.

To be brutally honest though, LP's beat them both sonically. Akaddict said he's primarily interested in cd's. Don't take it personally, I'm very happy that you're enjoying your music.

Cheers,
John

I think it really depends on how much SACD you plan on listening to. Go to www. amusicdirect.com and look at the SACD selection. Does it fit your musical tastes? How many of them do you REALLY want to buy? Like I said, I've owned SACD player for well over a year, and although the format does sound better than regular cd's, on most recordings, they need to burst the software dam, for me to invest more in hardware. I only own a couple dozen SACD's vs over 1000 cd's and LP's. Perhaps if they had 10-20 times the number of releases they currently have, I'd spend another $1700 to have my 9000ES modded. Perhaps not, since when I want to hear music reproduced as faithfully as possible, I use vinyl.

IMHO, on redbook cd's the 9000ES is more dynamic and better at the frequency extremes than the BAT. The BAT is much fuller and richer in the midrange, which is key for me, as the midrange is where the music lives.