SACD / DVD Audio - Worth the investment?

[Ambrose]

I have recently built up my 1st AV system being a replacement for Stereo system which no longer practicle in new house. Sadly........

Priority is for Audio CD playback but capable as Home Cinema still. I have B&W MT-20, Arcam AVR280 and Marantz DVD 6001 to try and fit the bill.

Stereo I have to say isn't bad considering but having just heard Queen greatest hits 1 & 2 in full 5.1 I was very impressed! Question is weather to invest in SACD / DVD Audio as a format and how good is this?

I believe I need to get Analogue interconnects and not sure how the Sub will need connecting also?

Anyone comment on SACD/DVD Audio and in reference with my setup?

ALSO, would a dedicated CD player make a substantial difference to Stereo playback here or is the MT 20 package limited here?

Thanks in advance!!

Ambrose

 

[Anonymous]

From what little I've heard, I reckon so....It's just that in relative terms there's not that much of it out there....and it does also really vary depending on the recording/mixing (I read that the SACD ofÿTubularÿBells is supposed to be veryÿdisappointing)

I have the full Bjork collection that was issued in a 5.1 box set, and some of the new R.E.M reissues...They sound fantastic.

I'm hugelyÿdisappointedÿin the MT30's...Perhaps it's my room, or I'm being too harsh, don't know...I kinda knew there would be a compromise for music, but went with them understanding they were about the best you could do for sub/sat...but I have been somewhat disappointed on the music/stereo front....I have a feeling thatÿultimatelyÿI'll change them and go for something bigger up front.....Unfortunately, it seems that unless you spend big money with something like Classe, Naim, et al, it's very hard to get quality with both from one system.....

 

[Ambrose]

Thanks SC,

Your comments are helpful and system wise I am a step down from yours also. Time will tell I guess if I end up with the same feelings. I did consider the XT2 for fronts but didn't have the funds and also much more conspicious in the lounge.

Would be interesting to know what a dedicated CD player sounds like with our systems. Also, has anyone heard Dark Side of the Moon, War of the Worlds or Dire Straits in SACD as these would be top of my list!!!

Cheers

Ben

 

[Anonymous]

Funny, it's the XT package I've got my eyes on now....We'll see. According to the mag the other month, there is supposed to be a revised version coming next year sometime....

Hmmm, Floyd stuff would sound cool I'd hope. It seems a good few bands are 're-issuing' their back catalogues, re-mastered, and including 5.1 mixes recently....

Have a look on Amazon at SACD lists and some of the comments, gives a rough guide I guess....ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

OK - my tuppence worth. My DVD player can handle both SACD's & DVD-A's You need analog connections to play the multichannel SACD's. DVD-A's with DTS sound (lke the DVD-A's for Queen's The Game & A Night At The Opera) will be carried by digital (in my case HDMI).

The SACD's of both Dark Side of the Moon & War of the Worlds in multi-channel are very impressive. There are poor surround mixes of some albums but, to be honest, I don't think many labels/artists are bothering with multi-channel remixes these days. I think the music industry is more interested in portability at the moment than sound quality.... Check out the usual on-line retailers for available SACD/DVD-A titles. There is a dedicated site listing all the SACD releases (just google SACD and you'll find it). Never seen anything similar for DVD-A's.

 

[Anonymous]

....or Naim's N-Sats, I meant to add on the previous post....though I have dosh for neither !

 

[Anonymous]

"Dark Side of the Moon" is acknowledged as one of the best SACDs available. It's a fantastic demonstration of what the format is capable of and the style of music suits a multi-channel mix down to a tee! It's a widely available disc and because its a hybrid, it'll play in the car and can be ripped to your MP3 player! "War of the Worlds" again suits the format very well and again is a hybrid. I must admit I do also own the Tubular Bells release and although I enjoyed the listen, I hadn't heard the album for years so couldn't say whether I preferred the stereo or multi-channel mix. I have one or two other SACDs, bought mainly to see what they all sounded like. I'm no recording engineer type expert, but I'd say that many of them simply have some 'presense' in the rear channels and have the bass separated out to be sent to the sub - other than that I'd bet they were based very much on the basic stereo mix. What I'm not convinced about is a stereo only SACD. I've got Michael Jackson's Thriller in this format for example and on my system I really couldn't say that it sounded any better than a CD. Obviously, a single layer SACD cannot be read by a standard in-car player nor can it be easily put onto my iPod.

As for DVD-Audio, compatibility issues with other kit again prevented me from really seeing the potential for the format. I've got several discs which I like a lot: Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, REM's Out of Time and one or two others I like less. You get some graphics and album artwork to look at on your telly and the multi-channel mix is more interesting and more 'live' feeling. But, some discs won't play in a standard DVD player, certainly won't play in a CD player and I've had no luck getting them into my pc.

If you, like me, get a universal player as part of your setup, then by all means buy some multi-channel discs and have a listen to them. It can't hurt. If my universal player gives up the ghost, I might well get another universal player just so I can keep listening to the Dark Side of the Moon!!

Wiring players up involves using 3 pairs of stereo cables (or a special 6-phono to 6-phono multicore cable) from player to your amp's 5.1 channel input sockets.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey deejay2007, where did you get Rumours from ? I didn't even know it was out in DVD-A...Just looked on Amazon, but only available through resellers at £34 ! Cheers.

 

[Anonymous]

SC:Hey deejay2007, where did you get Rumours from ? I didn't even know it was out in DVD-A...Just looked on Amazon, but only available through resellers at £34 ! Cheers.

I think you'll find that a number of SACD's/DVD-A's have been deleted and are advertised as only being available through resellers on Amazon. Whether the resellers actually have them is a moot point. You will also find some SACD/DVD-A's on sites like Amazon that were planned for release but cancelled due to the formats never really taking off. Rush back catalogue albums are notorious for this or Aerosmith's Rocks or Black Sabbath's Paranoid...

 

[Anonymous]

I got Rumours from Amazon when DVD-A was a pretty new aspiring format. Sorry to hear it's now only available second hand. It's a decent mix of the album, but I'm not sure it's worth £34!

 

[Ambrose]

Thanks Deejay for comments. I am tempted to try just for Pink Floyd SACD!

I have my Amp Arcam AVR 280 connected to DVD player (Marantz DV6001) via Coax cable and amp is connected with phono rather than speaker cables.

Will this work still just by adding 3 pairs of phono connections as suggested?

Cheers

Ambrose

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think so! I'm not entirely sure what you mean when you say that the amp is connected with phono rather than speaker cable"...

Firstly, connect the DVD Player to Amp digitally via coaxial or optical cable, so you get Dolby Digital or DTS soundtracks through to the amp. Coaxial cable is often considered to be of a slightly higher quality. Secondly, connect the DVD Player's 5.1 channel output to the multi channel input of the amp using 3 pairs of stereo interconnects or a dedicated 5.1 interconnect. You use this analogue connection just for listening to multi-channel discs. In some amps I think when you select the 5.1 channel input some of the video circuitry is bypassed allowing a cleaner signal path - might be wrong on that...

You could opt to just do the analogue connection and use the DVD Player's internal decoding to send analoge sound from standard DVDs to the amp... but I've always gone for digital connection for DVDs and analogue 5.1 connection for DVD-A and SACD listening. For a while I also connected my DVD Player's two channel (stereo) output to an audio-only input on the amp and used that in video bypass mode for listining to CDs! That was a whopping 4 pairs of stereo interconnects, a digital coaxial interconnect plus a Component video interconnect all coming out the back of my dvd player!!! My wife went spare when I announced that I'd almost matched the cost of the player with the cost of the interconnects! Lol!

Hope I've been of some help anyway, and if you do get a universal player and some multi-channel discs, let me know what you think of them!

 

[kinda]

Hello,

Slightly off-track possibly, but I've been wondering similar, and whether to bother getting a universal DVD player, (for CDs, DVD-audio, SACD, and so on), or just a CD player.

SC, you seem to be into pretty high end stuff, and I'm wondering how you find the DV7001 for CDs? Do you find the DAC better than the one in the SR8001? I've got an SR6001, and have been considering the DV7001. I'm going to do some demoing, but do you think it stands up against £400-ish CD players?

Any comments you have on the DV7001 would be much appreciated.

Incidentally, I also was hoping the MT-30 might be good for films and music, after seeing reviews, but when I did a demo it was disappointing. I ended up going for the Tannoy Arena, which for me was better, and also was much less expensive.

Thanks, Ian.

 

[Anonymous]

Ian

I got onto the DV7001 through the mag, and yes, I do think it's good at it's multi-format duties, at that price point. However, and I'm sure the mag staff and others with far more experience will tell you, you will always get better quality from a box dedicated to a particular task/format. I was just at a budget and point starting out into a AVÿset upÿthat it suited me, and I also knew a good majority of my music playing would increasingly also come via digital with something like a Sonos/AppleTV/separate DAC, so the CD playing wasn't SO important to me, but least it was there if and when...

THAT was the theory ! However, on getting it all set up and my first few sessions with it all, I seem to have thrown all my early thoughts and priorities out the window! I HAD presumed I'd be on a Marantz upgrade path, and already had my eager eyes on their new Pre/Pro units in the 8003 range (which are certainly getting good audio reviews) and then I guess going Blu-ray at some point (Marantz's BD8002 would seem the logical replacement for the DV7001).....BUT, I've sort of stopped in my tracks.

As I've said above, and elsewhere, I've been a bitÿdisappointedÿwith the music sound I'm getting. To be honest, I don't think that's down to any of the Marantz (It's reputation intact!), more the speakers....but it has reminded me and brought it home that music should have been more of a priority for me. I thought I had chosen well in terms of decent 'compromise' AV/Audio kit, but stereo just seems bland and has no body in the mid-range....Sure,the B&W's sound great with movies/tv and some multi channel music, but anything from 2 channel seems to be lacking. Perhaps I was expecting too much and I'm being harsh as my room is quite large and 'hard', and they are sats after all...I also have to fess up and admit I bought them blind (well, deaf), so fingers burnt and lesson learnt there!

I think a change of speakers will keep me happy for a while and hopefully rectify some of my complaints, although it's a bit of a problem with my room layout.ÿ

Back to your question, I do think the DV7001 is a good CD player, but, I think the important thing is for to decide on what is the important priority (if any), as my experience indicates! I can't really comment on any £400 player as I don't know, but if you were to compare a Naim 5i, which I think is roughly the similar list price as the Marantz, there would be no competition would there....Perhaps that's a bit unfair, but you get my drift. If you DO want a £700 box that does both for you to a pretty good level, thenÿdefinitelyÿgo ahead....

I can't really comment on the DAC in the player vs the one on the SR - I just haven't had much time to play around yet, so sorry. I only got it up and running about a month ago. At a guess, I'd say probably the player has the edge, just based on the fact that the Amp has so much else crammed into it, for not much more cost - but as I say, that's pure speculation.ÿ

Don't know what your time scale is Ian, but it might also be worth hanging on for a bit if you are not in a hurry. The DV7001 has been out for a while, and with Marantz bringing out new gear in the '3' range, they MAY be a new DVD/universal player coming....Pureÿspeculationÿon my part again though. There's also the BD8002, though more expensive, and I haven't seen any reviews re it's CD performance. But if you get aÿbargainÿon the 7001, go for it I'd say, I don't think there is anything else at that budget.

Incidentally, I'm not sure what the UK prices are, but one factor in me getting the Marantz kit was that it is so much cheaper out here in Thailand (more so Singapore where I got the 8002), I mean we're talking nearly 1/2 price...!

I think that unless I do do the 8003 thing, or even if I do,ÿultimately I'm going to change the whole set up, and do what I should have done in the first place (had I the budget), stick to myÿarchitecturalÿroutes of no compromise (!), and build a Naim audio and AV set up....although obviously this is aÿcompletelyÿdifferent league (slight problem for SACD player though, and their DVD5 is fairly low spec these days)....Anyway, I'm saving pennies ! So if you want some Marantz gear barely out of the box, you know where I am...!

Er, sorry this got long...I'mÿwaffling ! SCÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Oh one more thing Ian if you get the DV7001, make sure you get the latest firmware upgrade ! Download from Marantz. Read here.

SC