Fly in the SACD Ointment?

I've been an audiophile for about 30 years and have tried
basically all the major specialty record labels. I've come
to the conclusion that most of the music I really don't care
for too much and the recordings are unnatural at best. Along the way I've also collected a lot of Christian Contempory music much of which is incredibly well recorded. In fact, over the last 18 months I've hosted a number of club type events and no one can believe it. I've never seen any of my CD(s) ever reviewed in Absolute Sound or Stereophile and yet in direct comparisons the Christian CD(s) consistently blows the Popular CD(s) away. Better yet, if you have kids, positive material is flowing into their minds instead of this steady stream of remorse and regret. Check it out in all the major music clubs.
steady stream of

i've already replicated in redbook cd format most of my favorite lp's. for the nonce, i've no plans to do the same with sacd, should the choice ever become real.

i waited almost 3 years after the introduction of the cd format to buy my first player (a mission dad-?). the novelty of a more-or-less silent background enticed me just enough to purchase a handful of cd's at the "salons" that first had them available. none of those discs, none, sounded as good as its vinyl counterpart. i abandoned the cd format altogether for roughly seven years, clinging to the magic of analogue as more and more "record shops" emptied their display cases of 12 inch platters and replaced em' with those silly long boxes that would fit the abandoned bins.

in 1995, i grew tired of chasing down the elusive new releases on vinyl and bought my first true highend cd player, an accuphase dp-65. while that player was several orders of magnitude better than anything else i'd heard before, it still couldn't beat the sound from my turntable. but, now i could actually buy every new release available, just like in the days when lp's were the medium of choice. i've gone through another 3 cd setups since owning the dp-65 and now possess what i feel is one of the best combo's available. my cd collection has grown like jack's beanstalk. and i'm content....... well, perhaps not entirely.

i've been listening to the 2 box accuphase sacd combo (dp-100/dc-101) for nearly 2 years now in my good friend's sound room and elsewhere. i like it, but i've not been swept off my feet. certainly not to the extent of $28k. lately, tho, i've heard some of the handful of dsd recordings available. now i begin to understand how reviewers of the system, as in the latest tas, pronounce it BETTER than the best vinyl.

still, after reading all the posts to my thread on "the age of uncertainty" and continuing the contemplation of my navel, i'm not ready to hop on the sacd bandwagon. i will when i can no longer get the new releases on redbook or when the prices of the cd/sacd formats reach congruence. the only thing that might push me to move more quickly to the side of sacd would be american gramophone's realease of a dsd box set by the label's most famous "artistes." 'course, this is just my opinion, FWIW. -kelly

I have more LPs than CDs and about 30 SACDs. I only have 3 CDs that I also have in LP. Right now, have have no SACD duplication. However, I'm thinking about buying the SACD Abraxas album. That ironically is one I have in LP and CD.

Getting a SACD player doesn't mean you need to get rid of your old software.

That said since I bought my 9000ES in December, about 75% of my music listening is SACD. In my car and PC, close to 33% of my listening is the CD layer of SACD discs. I've only bought one DVD since December--Fantasia.

IMO, we have yet to exhaust the sound quality available in the current format...check out Mighty Sam McClain or Ernie Watts on JVC's most excellent xrcd format! There is no subsitute for top-notch recording, mastering & manufacturing, regardless of format!

Oh, I forgot to add the best part...NO new/special gear required to take advantage of xrcd!