Ok, who uses or has heard SACD?

Well, I personally think SACD & DVD-A both sound better than LP or CD, but I don't have a lot of HiRes discs, and only a couple of them are SACDs.

I have to agree that the Redbook standard still has a lot of life left in it. I've come to the opinion that a lot of the edge attributable to SACD is due to the DSD mastering process; I've been floored by some of the CD remasters made with DSD.

I don't have a high end outboard DAC or anything, though I would like to go that route eventually. But even with my present gear, the best CDs come pretty close to the sound of SACD. The new XTC remasters, particularly, are stunning. I was flattened by Nonesuch , which is among my favorite albums of all time.

I've been reading the rumors lately of SACDs demise, and rumors that Sony is about to pull the plug. While I doubt the validity of these rumors, it's no secret that the format isn't doing very well. I'd like to see it survive, but I just don't see Sony and Phillips doing much to try to ensure it's survival. The "masses" don't care about high res audio and the audiophile guys don't want to be stuck with a DAC setup they can't tweak or change. I know encryption is the real goal of SACD, but I don't think it will take off til they incorporate some type of standardized digital output.
 
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I have a Sony NS 755

I needed a DVD player with a built in decoder. I started looking around and it looked like a good option with both Dolbly Digital, DTS, and multichannel SACD. It has bass management for all three. So I got it primarily as a DVD player with SACD as a bonus. They include a mulitichannel sampler with the player and when I played it was WOW! I was impressed!! I know this is not one of the ES units but it still sounded great!
 
Have You Considered the Philips 1000?

Tweeter is offering a $399 special on the Philips SACD 1000. This player has gotten some positive reviews. It originally sold for $2,000 and more recently for $1,000. At $399 it seems to me to be a better buy than the mass market Sony players. As far as I can tell it's being discontinued and replaced by lower priced models that have some additional features, like bass management (which doesn't matter to me since I'll use it only for two channel stereo), and upsampling on Redbook CD's.

I have some doubts about the future of SACD and was planning to wait before making the plunge, but when I found out about the sale I decided even if SACD goes the way of Betamax I can afford a $399 mistake. In any event the 1000 is supposed to be an ok redbook CD player too.
 
Two weeks ago I decided to dip my toe into a HiRez format. SACD and the Sony 775 changer got my attention , especially after the Prez of our audio club tried one and said it compared favorably in SACD to his 777ES. By the time I decided to make my move, the 775s were all gone from my area so I ordered a 222ES changer from Oade for $350 delivered. When it arrived last week, I opened the outer box and enclosed funds and reshipped it to SACDmods.com for the full boat all channel mod plus an IEC connector . Mathew E mailed me that he was going to do it over this weekend, but I haven't got a shipping E mail from him yet.
When I get it, I'll break it in on my 2ch system, and then A/B it against my Cary 308T. I bought it for my HT system and my remote system(kitchen&deck) since it has two outputs and can be a source for both of them at the same time for background music. If it sounds better than the 308T, I guess a XA777es is in my future as the Prez keeps telling me. For you AA members, the Prez is DannyB.
 
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