Please recommend SACD player under $6K - "warm"

I would check out the Marantz SA14. A new mk2 has been out for about six months. It has balanced outputs and I would discribe its sound as more warm or laid back as far as CD players go. Its redbook performance is outstanding. List price is $3000. I love mine.

Save yourself some money and time. Life is good with a Consonance Reference SACD 2.0. I was going to have my SCD-1 tricked out the rest of the way by Modwright when I looked at the cost. I sold the Sony, bought a Consonance (it has a tube output) and pocketed the change. This also helped to fund my daughter's wedding. I have not looked over my shoulder since. Quest for Sound also says the unit has many reviewers clamouring for it and 2 of those soon-to-be-published reviews by well regarded on-line magazines kept the unit it is so good.

I have not missed the Sony at all!!

imo, the Esoteric and the MF Tri Vista are very nice musical players. no lean/cold sound from these players. an even better player would be the classe sacd player but at twice the price of the above units. all sony's (imo) tend to have a lean sound (especially in cd playback) but with the right mods/dac, can sound very good. i am using an external tube dac with my sony 9000es (for cd playback) and has opened up the sound and tamed the harshness that the sony exhibited before. it comes close to my $3000 cd only player, plus it has sacd plyback. the sacd playback from the esoteric and mf players sound more musical than the sony's i have auditioned (scd-1, 777es, 9000es). my opinion of course. you would need to audition for yourself because only you can determine what sounds good to you. I have auditioned several modwrights modified players and he does an excellent job at bringing out the best in sony players.

I'm going to expand the scope of the commentary by addressing combination players that have exceptional performance with SACD or DVD-A disks. Not everyone has the budget or shelf space for separate audio and video players, and thus must consider combination machines.

The current issue of "The Perfect Vision" (sister publication of TAS) has a review of DVD/SACD/DVD-A players, and they made very positive comments about the following machines which did a first-rate job with both DVD and SACD or DVD-A. I've listed the machines in order of increasing price, and indicated if the machine's performance was best with SACD or DVD-A.
1. Sony DVP-NS999ES (MSRP: $999) (DVD + SACD). Rating comment: "a killer player at a killer price".
2. Arcam FMJ DV27A (MSRP: $2999) (DVD + DVD-A). Rating comment: "reference-quality performer with all three of its formats: DVD, DVD-A, and CD".
3. Esoteric DV-50 (MSRP: $5500) (DVD + SACD + CD). Rating comment: "The Esoteric's sound is at once lively and detailed, and remarkably relaxed and easy with CD and SACD -- an addictive combination that reminds one of of vacuum-tube components. The only CD or SACD players I've heard that better the Esoteric sonically with either format are audio-only players that cost more. And we're talking slim margins, at that. At this point, I have seen or heard a better DVD player, period."

TAS also rated CD players in their Oct-Nov 2003 issue. Some of the units also handle SACD, and might be worthy of your consideration. The machines they listed in their "Recommended Products" review included:
1. Naim CD 5 (MSRP: $2300)
2. Ayre CX-7 (MSRP: $2950)
3. Gamut CD-1 (MSRP: $2950)
4. Meridian 588 (MSRP: $3895)
5. Simaudio Moon Stellar ($3950)
6. Musial Fidelity Tri-Vista (MSRP: $6500)

Marantz SA-14 placed atop the Neuance platform. A reference combination IMHO.

Richard