Recommended DVDa/SACD player ?

I'm willing to buy a player from higherlevel class. DVDvideo ability is not mandatory, but would be fine.

One of the biggest needs - supporting both DVDa/SACD formats in excellent way. Quality of Redbook CD format is not important.

Few my suggestions:
Onkyo SP1000E
Lexicon RT10
SHANLING SCD-T200
Sony SCD-777ES
NAD M5
T+A 1245R

In case of DVDvideo players I give 90% for audio and 10% for video.
I'd be glad to hear your advices.

 

Sony SCD-777ES
I owned one of these for a while and really enjoyed it however they have a potential transport problem and you're in deep trouble if it goes wrong....

 

I've had a problem-free several years with the upper (but not top) part of the Marantz range, first DV8400, now DV9500. The current equivalent is DV9600. Unlike the current Linn players, which I otherwise might have bought, e.g., Unidisk 1.1 or 1.2 the Marantzes are totally reliable, give equally good or better picture, have HDMI and sound is good enough for me too, from any type.

 

Yah, I'll add Linn to my list.

 

Fine but I was actually recommending the upper end of Marantz

 

Hi!
Sofar i have had:
Lexicon RT-10 (Best for movies,soundstage not very good)
Sony scd 555 es (Problems with TOC error)
Sony scd 777 es .Scd 1 (Same problems as Tim f)
Maranzt sa8400 (Good value for the money)
MF Trivista (Noisy transport)
MF KW SACD ( Stay away from that player)
Shanling scd 220t (make sure you get a UK Model)
Maranzt SA 1 (The first models had problems with the transport)
Maranzt sa 15s1 (Still in use.)

 

SteveC, sorry bad translation

hsam, I'm quite surprised about the bad soundstage of Lexicon. It was my hottest candidate.

Marantz SA15s1 is not very expensive as far as I know. Are you satisfied regarding the soundstage?

 

Hi!
The lexicon can be bought for around £1000 new.I bought mine at audiologica for £800 brand new.
And yes i like the soundstage in the maranzt(Very good value for you money) Or you could go for the Sa 11 s1.

 

Well, if you want DVDa _AND_ SACD you can eclude the Sony SCD-777ES, T+A SACD 1245R, NAD M5, and IIRC also the SHANLING SCD-T200 - they play CD and SACD (usually only stereo, no mch).

The DV-SP1000E, Lexicon RT10 and T+A SADV 1245R (note that there are TWO players with similar names) play CD, DVD-Audio and SACD. Some are Mch (like the T+A), some are not, some offer video, some do not.

Most answers suggested players that only play CD and SACD, but not DVDa, and this does seem not what you asked for ("supporting both DVDa/SACD formats in excellent way").

cheers
Roberto

 

Yes, you right, but it's pretty hard to find out the player which can offer everything in reasonable price, that's why I do have all those players on my list..
As I said, DVDvideo is not mandatory.
SACD is the priority. I would be very happy if DVDa is included as supported format.

 

If you are willing to take a risk on support in case of problems, you might try to import from Hong Kong or a similar place, to save some money. Due to my good experience with the first Marantz (DV8400) I imported a DV9500 from HK for almost half my local price. I expect you could find a source for many of the recommendations you have had, if first you are confident the equipment is reliable and without known problems.

 

Coques,

I would add Esoteric to your list. I heard the DV-50 and it is rather good indeed, very accomplished and tweakable in the sound department. Not warm, but detailed and a good soundstage. I believe there are better models recently coming out (UX-03 I think it is) and this should be a fantastic player.
Tony should be able to give you more detail on this.

hsam, could you let me know why you say that about the KW SACD? I am quite surprised you say that, since I remember your post in the review section saying you preferred it to a large number of players at the time. I am curious about what happened!

Cheers,
Jack

 

Arcam?
dvd 139

 

I finally bought Sony SCD-777es. Pretty good CD player and really good SACD pl.

Yesterday I arranged a little sound contest among the CD players I've got currently at home. (Sony 557esd, Sony 777es, Krell 300cd) and I couldn't realize any difference when comparing directly, just by switching the input on my preamplifier while the same redbook CD was used.

The rest was: AP VirgoIII, T+A pre/amp, AQ Mammoth/DHLabs(signal).

I just wonder, if it's a good way of comparing the sound from the different sources. I'm afraid my brain is not able to evaluate the differences in sound quality during direct comparison

 

Yup! I use A-B testing that way.
But to avoid bias, sub-concious or otherwise, I also get help from a friend who is a musician and my teenage nephews. Children have best hearing. Get them to make ticks on a table and short notes.

I have a Denon DVD-2900 a highly acclaimed universal player that has won many awards. But it is probably low-fi compared to the gear you are talking about. It is not up to the standard of Arcam CD93 T for CD sound quality. Haven't really evaluated its SACD and DVD-A capabilities.

 

I tend to find that a lot of people only listen to the hi-fi virtues when doing an A-B dem, rather than how the music is expressed. This can cause confusion and problems and, IMO, is somewhat missing the point...

 

Have you thought about getting a dedicated 2 channel SACD and a cheap DVD player, or is a number of boxes thing?

 

Don't quite understand. I always thought musicality is a hi-fi virtue. For example, I find that some makes are better for classical music. Musicians who know nothing about the technical side of hi-fi also notice such differences.

Or did you mean something else? Could you differentiate between what you mean by 'hi-fi virtues' and 'how the music is expressed' ?

 

Well, we already had a Toshiba DVD player, sitting under the TV and happily doing the thing it does.

Dedicated 2-channel SACD players tend to be twice as much as a good CDPs. Since the SACD failed to make the mark, at this stage, I am apprehensive about spending too much. Thought I will get this universal Denon to find out for myself.
But from what I am hearing now, to properly evaluate SACD, expensive SACD equipment, such as from Sony, is necessary.

 

Hifi virtues such as "depth of soundstage," "Imaging," "blacker blacks," blahdy blah blah.

Musical expression as in does what the musicians play make musical sense, does it have a purpose, does the singer mean what they are singing...

I think you need to audition SACD carefully, I only got the astounding benefits I did when I tried the player I ended up buying. IMO unless you are buying such a specialised player you are better off getting a good red book player like an Accuphase.