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to SACD or not

Here looking to possibly get a sacd player to replace the rotel 1072 I've used happily for some while now. As my sacd collection grows I cannot help but wonder how a solid built player with no frills would be to listen to. Thought of going with a BAT player but many rave on the Ayre unit. EMM Labs is also a thought if I came across a deep discount. Budget is between 5 & 10k

Any opinions or comments are greatly appreciated
velocityofhue
tmsorosk
1,013 posts
 
I went from the Marantz SA11 to the Ayre C5 recently , expecting only a small improvement , but got much more .( the Marantz broke 3 times in 3 years ) . AS far as your question , SACD was stumbling before , I don't think the appearance of Blueray audio will help it out .
fafafion
190 posts
 
Here are my thoughts:
1. Getting into SACD is a no brainer especially if you are a classical music fan. SACD done right is CLEARLY superior to redbook player.

2. Stretch your budget a bit and get a (used?) dcs Puccini. It trounced every single box player in existence.

3. If you decide for whatever reason to buy Ayre player, make sure you run it fully balanced probably with a matching Ayre amplifier. I always find Ayre products to be rather "thin" sounding.
peteferg
11 posts
 
Crawl over broken glass to get hold of a Sony XA5400ES SACD and then have it upgraded by Modwright. Read all the reviews on here and on the Modwright site. Buy for about $1100 and upgrade for $2000 - suggested to be the best SACD/CD under $20,000. I love mine - it has taken several months to break in and just keeps getting better. It blew away my Musical Fidelity kw SACD which (when it works) is reviewed as very good.
This would be the best investment you could make - top dollar will not beat this unit - it sings
Peter from Perth in Western Australia
Yes I am a long way off - I research Audiogon and over forums very carefully before I buy unheard. Love the Sony !
montejay
285 posts
 
Try audtioning an Esoteric. You won't find a better built SACD player (or sounding IMO)with the best transport made.
Look for an X-05 or X03se in you budget new or find a P05/D05 used.

Regards,
sutts
697 posts
 
Love my EMM CDSA-SE (~ $5,500 used)- reviews are spot on. More natural sounding than my friend's Esoteric P-03/D-03 combo... The only other machine I would consider at a similar price point would be the Marantz SA-7S1 (~ $3k used) with mods by Jena Labs (~ $2K) for total of $5k... Above that it takes BIG $$$ to beat these machines IMO... **Caveat- this is for SACD ONLY. On Redbook, my battery p/s modded 47 Labs Flatfish transport and Audio Note 3.1x Balanced Dac betters the EMM...
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