Am I behind the digital eightball?

It looks like I am somewhat a voice of dissension here, but I have recently had my eyes opened to the potential sound quality of SACD with the EMM Labs gear. Even though I have owned the Meitner digital gear for over a year now, I only recently got around to buying a bunch of SACDs and doing some comparative listening.

I agree that redbook CD sound can be really great, but, with orchestral music, redbook sound has always come up noticeably short of my analog front end. The sound of well engineered SACDs is, on the other hand, clearly superior to redbook CD sound in my system, and the sound quality is stunningly close to that of my analog front end.

So, after having avoided the high rez stuff for years, I have now grown very enthusiastic for the SACD format. I hope that the format manages to survive in our little audiophile niche of the market.

So, Warren, especially if your listening preferences include orchestral music, I would like to see you move ahead to experiment with the SACD format. We need all the market demand we can muster to try to keep this format alive. ;>)

APL 3910 is a great choice. The Muse Model 11 is also a very nice sounding player.

Bill

I would avoide the SACD bug if at all possible and maximize your redbook CD playback. After traveling a long, expensive, and frustrating road with SACD (as I have detailed in other threads) I just do not believe it is worth it.

I received an email on the side from fellow audiophool explaining that Peychev has a poor reputatioin for follow up service and support. Peychev, 'twas stated, appears to trash other modders and legitimate manufacturers on AA. His mod philosophy appeaers to be very ephemeral. 18 months ago he was grooving on Burr-Brown Dacs, last year Wolfon, two months ago, Crystal, and now? Yep, something new again. Then there is the ubiquitous problematics if Peychev goes out of business, leaves the country, or becomes a Moonie: where o where do I get OEM support? All that being said, I'm still, however, excited about the APL given the audiophools who have emailed me exclaiming killer praise for Peychev and his modded Denon. Well at least the sound of his mod. Peychev emailed me in a timely fashion with his price and what he does. Very clear, friendly, and low pressure. What's an audiophool to do?

Hi Warren,

(With tongue half in cheek.)...On the other hand....Although you may be safe to assume that the big corporations will not likely be big Moonie supporters, you wouldn't be so safe in assuming they won't leave you high and dry after they take your Money. Case in point: The Phillips corporation left its transport clients high and dry without any replacement parts. And this is for a transport in which a critical part has failed in a lot of the units. (If I recall correctly, the model number is 1000.) Who gets stuck supporting those clients? Surprise! It's YOUR "Might Become a Moonie" person. Alex has not given up on those clients and has gotten the bum rap because Phillips didn't have the replacement parts. It appears that a fellow audiophile (who apparently is not YOUR audiophool :-)) discovered that one of Marantz's players had an equivalent replacement part. Why did that "dependable" Phillips Corporation not inform its clients about this? Just a wild guess: They wanted those clients to buy the latest new model. They may not be Moonies, but they are into Monies....And as for your comments about Alex's upgrades: Progress is inevitable. Do you stay with Sony's original "Perfect Sound Forever" or do you move on. And if you choose to move on, do you continually replace entire components with new ones as many of the big "dependable" companies (The Monies) would like you to do, or do you just pay for the parts and labor for the upgrade as many of the modders would have you do? Each of us must make that choice based on our circumstances and preferences. Based on how you ended your last post, it appears you have not closed the door to the APL option or to other mods. If my interpretation is correct, I would suggest, that you do some more homework. And when you do, I think you will get a more balanced picture about Alex and more importantly his superb machine. Since your last post was disproportionately negative, your homework up to now may not have been a representative sample. Enjoy the journey!

Best Regards,
John