SACD/DVD Audio Combi Players?

I can not reveal my sources or which manufactures but there will be combi players at the end of the year. A couple of companies will be showing them at CEDIA. But expect them to be expensive. I think it will be cheaper to buy two separate player for each format.

best i've heard is the accuphase dp-100/dc-101 combo. good news is: you can upgrade the dac to accept dvd input (tho the dp-100 won't play 'em). bad news is: the pair will set you back $28k.

Hi SG69. As a guy who was very excited about these new formats, I've decided to let software dictate when I buy any hardware that's software dependent. For now, I buy my CD's and try to get the best sound out of my Cd player and DAC because no matter what format comes to the front, you're only as good as the software available. I'm not into Classical or Opera but it seems that's most of the titles that they offer for SACD at least. Take this time to ponder what tweeks you might be able to make now to make your hard earned and cherished CD collection sound better in the mean time.

Right now, do not buy a Sony at list price. The $5,000 SCD-1 is sold in the low to mid $3,000. The $3,500 SCD-777 is being sold for around $1700. The $1,500 list S9000ES DVD/CD/SACD player is still hard to find discounted, but some have mailordered it for around $1,100. The $1200 list SCD-333 can be bought for around $800. A new player released in Europe, the SCD-555 is getting rave reviews and might be the best yet. Sony has not announced a release date in the U.S. It sells for around $1300. There are subtle differences between all these players. All of these at one time of the other have been judged by some as the best. One thing is certain, you get a quality CD/SACD player with all of these choices. Sony is a mass market manufacturer, not highend, and is pushing to significantly increase the number of SACD players.

Personally, I love my S9000ES as a CD and DVD player. SACD is a free bonus. Some people have sold their SCD-1 and SCD-777 players and bought the 9000ES because they thought it had better SACD sound.

Pioneer has announced a SACD/DVD-A player. It's around $4K if I remember correctly, but SACD supporters do not think it will be good. It takes the SACD signal and converts it to a DVD-Audio type signal. This will limit the SACD to DVD-Audio quality--a step down. Rather than 2,820K/second sampling, it will be converted to 96K or 192K/sec sampling.