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SACD sounds worse or CD sounds better or ....?

I have been going through a rather substantial system upgrade over the past few months. The only thing that hasn't changed (yet) is my source: a Bel Canto PL-1A UDP.

Everything sounds better with the new system and I am very pleased.

BUT one thing is puzzling me. Whereas before, with my less capable system, SACDs always sounded substantially better than Redbook CDs. Now the difference between the two formats is not as substantial. And the source hasn't changed. And I was running PL-1A analog out before as well.

The only thing that has changed at the source is that my new pre-amp has balanced inputs, and so I am using the balanced outputs from the PL-1A whereas before I was using the RCA outs.

Does this make any sense? Any thoughts as to why a system that is generally better in every sense (more extension in both directions, better resolved, better balanced, fuller, etc), would end up have less of an apparent difference between CDs and SACDs?

Thanks for your thoughts.

--dan
dgaylin
dgaylin OP
255 posts
 
Islandmandan -- thanks. SACD sounds better. So I guess the title of the thread is misleading. Everything sounds better for sure. It's just that the difference between SACDs and CDs has diminished. And the source is the same. I forgot to mention I also upgraded power cords and interconnects at the source, so that could be a factor as well, in addition to switching to balanced outputs. But I'm still struggling with why the delta between SACD and CD would shrink. Maybe the old system was not allowing the CD playback in the player to reach its full potential, but why would it result in SACD and CD sounding so much closer than they did previously.
jylee
306 posts
 
I can't explain why the delta between CD and SACD changed, but when I owned PL-1A I had similar feeling. SACD through PL-1A didn't sound much better than CD. On a side note, I'm pretty convinced that no universal player truly excels in all formats. It's all about trade off, or picking your own poison so to speak. My Linn Unidisk sounded noticeably better than PL-1A in SACD, but the other way around in redbook CD. At that time SACD was more important to me, and I chose Unidisk. I'm not sure whether I would make the same choice today.
dgaylin OP
255 posts
 
Jylee -- yes, I think that's quite right. I had tried several other UDPs before I settled on the Bel Canto. Very substantial differences among and across formats and players. And SACD used to be more important to ME too until so many labels abandonded it. It complicates the next choice though, as I have quite a few SACDs...
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islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
Dgaylin, like you, I have a UDP as well, though not in the same league as the Bel Canto on the face of it, but due to excellent modification work on my old warhorse Marantz DVD8300, outboard DAC, and Genesis Digital Time Lens, my Red Book is near the equal of the hi-res formats. I can't concieve of being without a UDP, it's invaluable to those of us with large collections of c/d's and SACD's as well.

Maybe some mods might in order for the Bel Canto? Many, however, feel that is a bad thing to do for resale value considerations, but I tend to hang onto equipment longer than most. To each his own.
Enjoy,
Dan
dgaylin OP
255 posts
 
Islandmandan -- you make an interesting point that provokes a thought (probably part of what Jylee was getting at)....different DACs for different formats in the UDPs mean different capabilities. Your outboard DAC for redbook improves its performance in your system So, as per your initial point, going to different outputs and cables could indeed raise the level of one DAC more than the other, hence redbook CD performance could improve more than SACD performance, even though both improved....plausible anyway.
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