Which of these SACD players would you choose?


Oppo BDP-80 (blu-ray, SACD, DVD Audio) - Retail $289

Pioneer Elite PD-D6-J (SACD) - Retail $499 on Sale for $229

I already have an Integra 6-disk CD player and a Samsung blu-ray player that would be replaced by the Oppo and obviously would stay with the Pioneer Elite.

It seems that there should be less compromise with the Pioneer Elite because of its retail price and the fact that it has fewer features. I have room in my entertainment center for another component, but would mind keeping it simple.

What are you thoughts?
mceljo
Tonight I did a little comparison between my Integra CD player and the borrowed Pioneer SACD/DVD player. First, I compared a burned to the standard track on the SACD on the Integra to see if there was any difference, I didn't notice anything. When I'd switch from one to another it seemed like the "new" one was slightly better until I switched again. Next I forced the SACD player into standard mode and noticed a huge difference in soundstage between the two. The Integra has a much fuller and wider soundstage compared to the Pioneer that was more centered. With standard CDs, the Integra sounded better to me. When I compared the Integra with the SACD track on the Pioneer the soundstage was about the same, BUT with the added quality of the SACD it now sounded like it was happening live and very front and center. I found it interesting that the same soundstage difference was there but went from a negative to a positive with added fidelity. As a note, when I compared the standard CD versions, I swapped disks in the players to confirm that the burned version wasn't audibly different.

I find it hard to compare at time because my audible memory is pretty weak, but some things simply can't be missed.
I should probably clarify that the Integra CD player is connected to my Integra 50.1 receiver with a Toslink so the receiver is doing the d/a.
I compared the Integra CD player using an analog connection tonight and it sounded very similar to the borrowed pioneer. I wasn't expecting the two CD players that are different brands and ages to sound more similar than the Integra CD player compared to itself using digital and analog connections. It seems the Integra 50.1 receiver must be using a different D/A converter to yield such a different sound. I'm not sure which one give the sound that is the closest to what was intended in the recording.