SACD - Dying already?

Why should "local stores" expect to sell SACDS? One can get them more inexpensively on the 'net and if you buy from Amazon UK, you can get them months earlier than their US release. Next. Dying already? Some of you guys have short memories: Three years after the introduction of CDs I remember driving to San Francisco because I heard of their "vast" selections available--over 300 CD! (There are now 2144 SACDs available and an average of three new releases a year.) And what's with all the "Sony this and Sony that?" Let 'em collect they're proprietary fees and make machines; the musical products I've been purchasing from the Indie labels are *so* much better than what the majors have been putting out in the last few years. The only stuff worth listening repeatedly can be found in the niche markets anyway.

I look at it another way and think it's major failing has been in not attracting more Audiophiles.

Slappy is bang on with his general analysis which many here have been making for a few years,their policy has been flawed from the start but their new policy as in the case of the Dylan remasters where a few months after the hybrids they release the same discs as Redbook only( and at a much lower price) seems pretty crazy to me.

I also believe at the mid-level of high end playback machines there is a gap in the market currently not filled.

If the Meitner/EMM Labs Dac is the state of the art (and all indications are that it is)where are the machines in the price ranges downwards that offer playback where SACD could be seen as a bonus?

A decent strategy would probably have doubled (at least)SACD purchases.

I've always said that SACD would survive (at best)as an Audiophile format and nothing else.

It's future will probably now be determined by those early adopters staying loyal and a decent push to establish SACD as the Audiophile standard however I see no evidence to suggest anything other than a slow withdrawal into the background .

The main reason Sony has cut back on SACD production has to do with royalties. There are some greedy folks who think that because a hybrid SACD disc has three different versions (redbook CD, 2 channel SACD and multi-channel SACD) that it means they should get paid three times. Pffft!

I agree that SACD remains the product of internet and direct-mail purchases. I'm not sure about the future of the format, but if we audiophiles can keep vinyl alive, surely we can do the same for SACD. The question is whether or not it's worth the effort.

The format will, of course, survive. All of the above is just postulating, which at best is an educated guess and at worse just opinionated speculation. 3 things will ensure it's survival (if not others):

1) Sony has yet to ever give up on a format they have introduced, no matter how dismal public acceptance. (Minidisc, Beta - still with us. thriving in their niche)

2) Multichannel.

3) Ability for single disc inventory (e.g. Hybrids)

-Ed