SACD or not

schmitty1,

Are you planning to buy SACD’s? If the answer is yes, then you should look into a Marantz SACD/CD player. There are few listings on Audiogon, check them out.

I currently own a Marantz SA-11S2 and both SACD and CD playback is superlative.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9dc1j-marantz-sa-14s1-cd-sacd-players

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9i8dh-marantz-sa-11s1-cd-sacd-players

I have redbook, DVD-A and SACD. I upgraded my Oppo 105 power supply which went a long way to makes all disc medium sound very good.

BTW: not all SACDs are a lot better sounding, especially when compared to high rez redbook

"...when compared to high rez redbook."

Redbook standard is 16/44.1. What is hi-res Redbook??

I don't listen to SACDs very often.  Some of the ones I have sound worse (some of the Japanese SHM SACDs I have) while some sound great.  I haven't done any back to back comparisons of a SACD and the same CD.  I think it's a nice to have.  I have  a Marantz KI-Pearl and it sounds amazing with both standard CD and SACD, given a good sounding disc to start with. 

I would focus on getting the best sounding and most reliable player you can and if it has SACD capabilities, that's a plus.  If it doesn't, that could be a plus also, you won't go spending a bunch of money on SACD releases, which generally cost more and may or may not sound "better" than a standard CD release of the same album (or a streaming version).

It’s true that not every SACD sounds better than a Redbook layer on the same disc, there are some labels that are known for their consistency in quality with SACD.  Channel Classics and BIS are two labels that consistently produce outstanding SACD.  Although a bit quirkier, the German Label Tacet and the Norwegian Label 2L are also outstanding, and simultaneously release their products in Blu Ray Audio.  Pentatone is another label with an extensive SACD offerings.  Most of them are great but there is some variability, as their catalog is divided between recycled Quad recordings from the seventies and newer fare recorded in the last 20 years.  Not all of the old Quad retreads are recommendable—the Masur/Leipzig Gewandhaus Beethoven Symphony cycle, for example.  OTOH,  Pentatone Brahms cycle with Janowski/Pittsburgh is superb, with a great deal of Hall ambience and detailing without spotlighting.