New SACD Player

[highfell]

Can I have some advice please. I have seen a new SACD coming out from my favourite band and have decided to buy a SACD player and ditch my unused Marantz SE 52. I have no other SACDs ........ But will now start to buy some.

i have a Fatman 202 Valve Amp, which I bought last year and which I love and Mission 701 speakers. I tend to play my CDs ripped at 320 through my IPod, Ipad or iPhone. I don't want or use surround sound.

I still have my old Rega Planer 2 Turntable but I don't use it. I have always appreciated good sounding HiFi systems but I am not prepared to spend thousands on the privilege. I have a bluray player.

So what to buy? Essentially I want a CD player that also plays SACD disks. I don't mind going second hand.

My budget is up to £300 but only if the difference moves the sound into a different league. I am really after a budget player.

I have seen a Sony SCD XE800 (new for 2012) for £13,0 rather than £180, does anyone have views on this or obviously alternatives?

I would also be interested in people's views on the Fatman - any good or is it fluff over substance?

Many thanks for any advice.

Nigel

 

[BigH]

I would not bother with SACD players, you are better off streaming downloads. By the way blu-ray dvd players play sacds. SACDs never really took off and I think will die out fairly soon as more people switch to downloads. Also what SACDs that are available are very expensive, typically 4-5x the normal price. Even HDTracks downloads are only about $18.

 

[the record spot]

Not quite true. SACDs are readily available for good prices, check Amazon for some examples. There are several thousand titles available, check SACD.net for more info. Prices vary, but you'll pick up SACDs for around a fiver. Plenty out there, just shop around. As for the format dying, well, it's still being supported and Sony include it on most of their Bluray players.

 

[6th.replicant]

As above.

And there're plenty of classical new-release SACDs each month; Linn Records* has a large selection of SACDs, all of which are cheaper than the equivalent hi-res download; all of PentaTone's* releases are SACD. And at the other end of the price scale - ie, chuffin' pricey - there're plenty of 'limited release' goodies from CDJapan.

And FWIW, the best recording I own is a MoFi (aka Mobile Fidelity) SACD remaster of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.

* - Linn and PentaTone SACDs are cheaper from Amazon.

 

[highfell]

I sort of knew all of that and my question was about a Player not the SACDs themselves -

Any advice on players or comments on the Fatman please?

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

I sort of knew all of that and my question was about a Player not the SACDs themselves -

Any advice on players or comments on the Fatman please?

FWIW:

I recently bought a Universal Disc player to replace my CDP, for the purposes of having one machine to play all/most of my disc based formats. I also own a PS3 which plays some of the same formats too - including SACDs. In terms of SACD playback both machines sound very similar. Although in my case they are both transports only, as they are connected to a separate DAC.

 

[iMark]

We bought a Sony BDP-S590 to replace an ageing Pioneer universal player. The main reason being that it doesn't have HDMI out to connect to our new television.

Since we also want to be able to watch Bluray discs, we decided to get a Sony player which comes with SACD support. We have about 50 SACD, mainly classical, hybrid discs. We don't have a multichannel system, so it doesn't bother us that the Sony only has RCA stereo out for connecting to our stereo receiver.

Since we also have a DAC Magic, the Sony is connected to that to upsample Redbook CDs and regular DVDs.

The only downside is that the Sony doesn't support DVD-Audio. But we only have 4 of them and I don't think we will get any more.

We can't hear any difference between the old Pioneer and the new Sony. Stereo SACD just sounds great on our system. And the Sony plays Blurays and DVDs really well. We really like this little box of tricks.

IMHO SACD Hybrid discs are the most convenient form of music disc. There is the multichannel layer for people that have a capable system. There is the high resolution stereo layer which sounds really good on a decent stereo system. And the CD layer is great if you want to rip your CD for your iPod. The record companies (like Sony and Universal) have really missed a trick by not releasing any more new stuff. The prices for second hand SACDs are incredible. We have a couple that have been out of print since the early noughties. One of them is Infénitement by Jacques Brel. A couple of others are the original Peter Gabriel stereo SACDs. I'm very glad I bought them at the time.

 

[stevieg330]

Hi Nigel,

One other option you might consider if you don't mind going second hand is an Arcam DV135. Admittedly faulty (spindle motor failed) when I got it I paid the princely sum of £19, so maybe you could pick up a good one for not too much money, It's by far and away the best cd player I have ever owned and plays SACD's superbly as well. I have a Sony blu-ray player which also does SACD and it can't hold a candle to the Arcam for sound quality.

Just a thought.

Kind Regards

Steve

 

[Singslinger]

Something from Oppo perhaps? Though I'm not sure if it would fit your budget.

 

[GSB]

A consideration aswell is if you want multi-channel sacd,i have two pink floyd sacd's and in multi they are awsome!

 

[the record spot]

Any advice on players ...

Take your pick - Denon's DVD3930 is a terrific player that comes with all the additional disc formats: SACD, HDCD, DVD-A. Sounds great too.

Sony's current Blu-ray player crop do the trick, barring the S185 which doesn't have it. There are a few to choose from, so you're not short of players either current or past generations. Depends on budget, functionality and how keen you are to lay hands on a player. One great two channel player is the Marantz SA7001 and the same but KI version. Fantastic build and sound quality.

 

[BigH]

Not quite true. SACDs are readily available for good prices, check Amazon for some examples. There are several thousand titles available, check SACD.net for more info. Prices vary, but you'll pick up SACDs for around a fiver. Plenty out there, just shop around. As for the format dying, well, it's still being supported and Sony include it on most of their Bluray players.

Well all the ones I considered were £20+ even used ones which were often far more than that, I just bought a lot of cds for £1.27 inc. postage.

 

[highfell]

Hi

Tthanks yo everyone for their comments. I need to keep to £200 or so, as I have just bought a Graham Slee Voyager - yesterday.

Like the idea of the Arcam 135 but haven't found one yet, and also the Denon, but both seem a little prone to wear & tear issues.

I have been looking at reviews of the Sony BDP-S370, which seem pretty positive.

Anyone heard it?

cherers

Nigel

 

[the record spot]

Yes, I used this player for a while, very good, nice sound, noisy transport on loading a disc but fine during playback, - can't really go wrong for the money. Buy with confidence. The picture performance is excellent incidentally.

 

[stevieg330]

Hi

Tthanks yo everyone for their comments. I need to keep to £200 or so, as I have just bought a Graham Slee Voyager - yesterday.

Like the idea of the Arcam 135 but haven't found one yet, and also the Denon, but both seem a little prone to wear & tear issues.

I have been looking at reviews of the Sony BDP-S370, which seem pretty positive.

Anyone heard it?

cherers

Nigel

Hi Nigel,

I have one and as a Blu-Ray player it's fine but I think it's only so so for cd or sacd. It was about as good at playing cd's as my old Marantz cd recorder was. IMHO there is no comparison between the sound quality of the Sony and the Arcam. The DV135 is just so much better. You could also look for a DV137 or 139 but I think they may go over your budget.

HTH

Steve

 

[manicm]

Nigel, you say you'll only be collecting SACDs now, how serious are you about them? Remember even high-end universal Blu-ray players don't have internal fully DSD decoders - they'll only output DSD streams through their HDMI ports. You'll thus need an AV amp with a DSD decoder to get the best out of them.

Another alternative is to check if you can purchase DSD downloads of your favourite albums, you can get newer DACs which include DSD decoders and play through PC.

If you are deadly serious about SACD, then the most cost-effective route would be a standalone player like the Sony SCD XE800. If not I would advise you skip SACD altogether. For all intents and purposes it is a dying breed, like DVD-A, and high-res 24-bit PCM (i.e. WAV and FLAC) audio is the replacement.

 

[CarlDW]

Have you considered the Pioneer PD10, PD30 or PD50? Each one can play SACD and I think the PD10 can be had for under £200...

 

[highfell]

Thanks to all for the very helpful replies. I have decided against a universal player as not surprisingly (and as an admitted very general comment) they don't all seem to play CD/SACDs as easily as a CD player - they seem to be issues on start up times, noise, display or even selection of whether the disk is a CD or SACD.So I come back to the Sony XE800 or the Pioneer PD10 (both at £170). The latter can deal with USB/IPhone input which is a bonus. I have seen no reviews of the Pioneer but a few positive ones for the Sony including this rather technical discussion which I understand about half of it!http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=hirez&m=274323Maybe I will toss a coin ...,..

 

[BigH]

Could be OK but why not just buy hybrid sacds, they are more avaiable and cheaper and you can play them on any cd player.

 

[manicm]

Could be OK but why not just buy hybrid sacds, they are more avaiable and cheaper and you can play them on any cd player.

Hybrid SACDs contain two layers - a native DSD layer, and a PCM layer. A normal CD player will just play the PCM layer, bringing no SACD benefits.

 

[BigH]

I see thanks for that, but at least you get the remastering benefit? Many say you can't hear the difference unless you play them really loud.

 

[BigH]

Not sure of the quality of a £170 sacd player, in fact you can get one for about £150 online, just wondering how much money is left after the sacd part for the dac/transport etc. Would be an intersting test between the sacd player v Marantz 6004 and one of the blu-ray dvd players.

 

[CarlDW]

Last time I checked the Sony SCD-XE800 was quite hard to come by, many shops only had 1 left or were out of stock.

In the future you could always use the cheap SACD player for transport duties only, and get a decent DAC to play it through.

 

[highfell]

Thanks again for the helpful comments. I have ordered the Sony XE800 for £140 from Amazon, based on the positive reviews for both CD & SACD palyback and the fact I could find no reviews, good or bad for the Pioneer.

It's only an entry only system but I am looking forward to it.

I will post a review of Marannt SE52 Vs the Sony XE800 playing Close to the Edge by YES normal CD and the new SACD respectively when both arrive.

Nigel

 

[the record spot]

Which version of Close to the Edge is it? The Bill Inglot remaster with the additional tracks, the previous remaster (I think by Joe Gastwirt which is also pretty good) or one of the Barry Diament masters - my version is the one made in Japan for the US market and is the Diament master. The new version is the Audio Fidelity by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman, so I'll be interested to hear how that goes.

If you have the Yes Album, Starship Trooper is the standout track to go for. The deep bass at the start of the track is a winner.