I bought the DVP-NS500V two weeks ago. For under $300 it's a fine "training wheels" SACD player, but don't expect to be blown away. Do expect a long break-in period during which it sounds pretty bad. I'd love to see a comparison between this unit and some of the earlier, more expensive SACD machines.
The new line of Sony DVD/SACD players
Just in time for xmas, my musicdirect catalog came in mail this week. In it, I found an interesting Sony ad, depicting thier line of relatively inexpensive players. They changed up thier $1000 model, making it a little more normal looking. Who knows what else, if anything, they did to it?. The most interesting is the single disc player for $299 (the DVP-NS500V). To me, a poor man, that sounds like a good deal. Lots of toy-value, but i do not have time to watch movies...just time to type. Knowing Sony, it probably plays DVDs well. It will be interesting to see how well it plays SACDs, and to a lesser degree, CDs. Has anyone checked this out yet? It seems to me, however, that the average person who would buy this might not get a large increase in sound quality. The improved signal generated by SACD, relative to CD, might lose its steam after going through a dude's reciever, generic cable, and polk speakers. I really don't know, though. Does anybody here? I might check one out, compare it to my RCD-971. Hopefully my friend, who is now looking for a DVD player, will buy it. Then maybe we will get the low-down. Good luck to Sony in puching SACD. I am guessing that this player will be the most significant model in attracting attention to the format.