+1 Denon DCD-1700NE
CD/SACD player Under $4000
Looking for a new player. My Sony XA5400 won't play sacd's. Tried a new laser assembly but still won't play sacd's. Like to find something at least as good as the Sony. Does not need to be a network player. Open for suggestions!
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Onix Zenith XST20 is an excellent, well-built transport for $2400. And you can pair it with any of a number of DSD via I2S-capable DACs to play in native DSD. I ran mine with a Denafrips Pontus II 15th and the SACD SQ was fantastic. Retail, that combo is $4400. Plenty of great DACs to get you under $4K. |
I spent close to a year trying to convince my favorite DAC maker to update my DAC so I can play SACD (DSD) using a transport. I have done this with a DAC I do not own, the Meitner MA3i and a GeerFAB B.BOB + OPPO player used as the transport. It was the very best I had from SACD. Tomorrow UPS is dropping of my DAC with the new feature to play SACD disks. I expect it to be better than the Meitner MA3i setup I thought was the best. In the past, I owned a Sony SCD-1 SACD player modded to Level 5+ by Vacuum State. That was exceptional, however the new DACs + transport are the way to go. What I recommend is the following transport over my 3 box setup for SACD. Onix - Zenith XST20 SACD Transport (Black) - Music Direct Then get a DAC that supports DoP on SPDIF input. I have a used RME ADI-2 FS DAC that I got for $500 used and it supports DoP on SPDIF. I do not have the Onix but the D.BOB + Oppo + RME sounds really good. The Mietner MA3i and my imersiv D-1 DACs sound a heck of a lot better and I expect those to sound better than 1 box SACD players, A few other DACs that would work this way are the Benchmark DAC3B, PlayBack Designs DACs, Holo Audio DACs, RME DACs, and DACs that support DoP on SPDIF. I have tried some DACs that say they support DoP on SPPDIF but it did not work. There is a Stereophile article about the D.BOB. |
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