Sacd is superior because the sample rate is higher, producing
more information over the entire spectrum. Ritteri claims he hasn't
heard the difference between SACD and CD even with trillions of
dollars worth of equipment, but we cannot get pas his unfortunate
claim that SACD is the equivilent of adding music hall echo. What
this tells me is that Ritteri *DID* hear the difference, but simply did
not understand what he was hearing. The ambient information to
which he refers was due to SACD's higher sample rate which allows the recording to pick up more ambient information -- this is
what gives SACD the ability to recreate more of the subleties of
the performance and gives you more of the feeling that the performance is happening in your listening room. If you think you're hearing "echo" that was put into the music by the engineer,
how could you appreciate this additional information? Perhaps
Ritteri doesn't appreciate that information, but when he alludes to
"music hall echo" is stands to reason that he indeed heard it. This is sort of similar to Steve Martin's character in The Jerk. Upon being served 1861 Lafite Rothschild, Martin spits it out and yells, "take this away and bring me something FRESHER!" Obviously, Martin's character TASTED everything that makes the vintage wine superior, he just didn't understand what he was drinking. On the other hand, it *is* possible that some people don't care for the secondary and tertiary flavors in vintage wine and some people might prefer a lower sample rate, lower resolution, and less ambient information. But, if Ritteri did actually work in audio sales, as he claims, we can only wonder how many others were exposed to this misinformation. How many others are out there thinking the ambient information was actually just music hall echo due to
Ritteri's misunderstanding? Taste is one thing, but ignorance is dangerous.