Buy a hi-end CD player/transport now?

I agree with those who have commented above re SACD and DVD-A. I recently heard SACD in a friends new Sony 777ES SACD player w/3.6 Maggies. Nice sound, but VERY limited software, and quite frankly I prefer music through my own Levinson M37 transport and M360S DAC that just plays regular ol' redbook CDs-- but I have 1000+. Well recorded CDs these days are very good, and I wanted the best front-end I could afford-- no regrets with the Levinson gear. Cheers. Craig.

I debated this issue myself last summer and went with a quality redbook-only CD player. I can play all of my existing titles and have thousands more to choose from. And the sound is outstanding! I found that many people who have high-end SACD players also use an OUTBOARD DAC to get better redbook performance out of their players so I wasn't convinced that there were any SACD players that also had redbook playback on par with the best redbook-only players. I don't see regular CD's going away anytime soon and I'm happy with my decision. Good luck!

the $3k resolution audio cd-50 & its replacement, the $3.5k cd-55 are well-respected single-box units. i wouldn't trade my modded art di/o for one of 'em, tho. if you can diy, it'll cost ~$200-$250; otherwise, get one already modded, for $300-$350. if ya got money to burn, sure, go ahead & spend more... ;~)

doug s.

Regarding the modded ART DI/O...From what I've been lead to believe over at the AudioAsylum forums is that the modded DI/O is an absolute STEAL for the money invested, but it's no giant killer. I've never seem anyone stack it up against digital front ends above $2k, for example. Do you have evidence to the contrary?

I would expect a Kern or Ric Schultz modded SACD player to "hand the DI/O it's arse" for $1-2k invested, no?

Aroc - as a follow-up, my "Kerned" 333ES did in fact walk all over my stock DI/O. I never got a chance to have the DI/O modded so I can't compare but given that I did compare the 2 units there was a huge difference in presentation. I'm not convinced that a modded DI/O would even be close but thats just my opinion using my system as a benchmark...

I don't think you can buy any new DAC for the cost of a modded DI/O that will perform as well and thus it does deserve its praise for a great return on such a small investment!