Thanks for some insightful responses. All day today I have been auditioning my brand new Philips SACD 1000 player ($399.99 at Tweeter), comparing its sound on SACDs to my venerable $25,000. Jadis redbook cd rig. I must say that while the Jadis shows its considerable advantage over the Philips unit on redbook, the SACD player presents a sense of spaciousness and depth of soundfield I have never experienced. This is fresh out of the box! Why on Earth aren't more high-end manufacturers producing SACD players? Yeah, yeah, I've heard the nonsense about limited titles and concerns over viability of the format. Do you really think Conrad johnson or Audio Research would be able to keep up with the demand for a sub-$5,000. SACD/DVD-A player? How many of us would put down deposits right now, sight unseen ( or unheard)? If a $400. Philips player sounds this good, what could a CJ or ARC do with this format? Maybe I'm just in the midst of "new toy" euphoria and I will tire of SACD in a week, but I seriously doubt it. As long as this format sounds this analog-like, there will be enough audionuts to support its continued existence, even if it is rejected by the masses. Esoteric companies will make them, and MOFI-like companies will record them. I don't see SACD dying!
XRCD vs. SACD
Having listened to several JVC xrcd's on some state of the art redbook gear, I am of the opinion that most that I have heard sound more natural to me than SACD on a budget Sony SACD player. I have not, however, listened to any higher-end SACD players in my system. I would be very interested to hear from those who have made this comparison and can provide some input with regard to how the XRCDs compare.