Am I behind the digital eightball?


Here's the scoop. I own the AA Prima cdp. I love the sound. When SACDS first came out, I avoided listening to them, not only because of the limitation of my Prima, but the 500 or so cds I have. Now, there are oodles of players that do both. The Ayre C-5xe review has got me thinking. Is there a digital front end that will, at the least, give me what I have with my Prima, plus SACD with equal panache. Now, better than my Prima would be nirvana. I bought my Prima new three years ago, and would love to spend, proportionately, the same $$ for a cd/sacd player. Any thoughts, recommendations? thanks in advance, warren :-)
128x128warrenh
Counter the cost of a SACD player vs. the quantity of Redbook music you could acquire. SACD holds no interest for me because I've assembled a few Redbook rigs that play music so well I have no desire to start over. Much better to hit the used CD shops and enjoy not only the music but more music.

Perhaps a TT is in your future. That is a format to consider exploring, esp. since the vinyl renaissance is well under way.
Hi Warren,

I guess the recent discussion on the Prima triggered the upgrade itch for you.
You might want to talk to Howard (Boa2). He upgraded from the Prima to a
Cap I, and finally to a Denon APL 3910. He very much liked the Prima but
thought the APL 3910 is a huge upgrade.

For me, the Prima is a keeper for now. My analog rig has to change before the
Prima in my current setup...Since I got the Prima i realized I have to get a new
phonostage, table, etc to keep up.

Good luck with the upgrade itch.

Rene
I really don't have an itch. Just wondering if I'm missing out on SACD, and if I am, is their a player that can do what the Prima can (at the least) and do SACDs equally well. Just a thought I'd throw out to the 'gon. I'm happy as a pig .. with my Prima...
Every SACD unit I've heard just adds a bass hump around the 750 to 1000 hz to my ear! Reminds me of the old Dolby on cassette tapes. It's just an opinion. It still don't touch a turntable!
It looks like I am somewhat a voice of dissension here, but I have recently had my eyes opened to the potential sound quality of SACD with the EMM Labs gear. Even though I have owned the Meitner digital gear for over a year now, I only recently got around to buying a bunch of SACDs and doing some comparative listening.

I agree that redbook CD sound can be really great, but, with orchestral music, redbook sound has always come up noticeably short of my analog front end. The sound of well engineered SACDs is, on the other hand, clearly superior to redbook CD sound in my system, and the sound quality is stunningly close to that of my analog front end.

So, after having avoided the high rez stuff for years, I have now grown very enthusiastic for the SACD format. I hope that the format manages to survive in our little audiophile niche of the market.

So, Warren, especially if your listening preferences include orchestral music, I would like to see you move ahead to experiment with the SACD format. We need all the market demand we can muster to try to keep this format alive. ;>)