Thiel Owners

@tomthiel

Some considerations when looking to use a disc spinner as a SACD transport:

The PS Audio solution is pretty much limited to coupling their Perfectwave Transport to one of their own DACs via a fairly proprietary I2S connection. It’s an elegant solution, although rather expensive.
I have a friend who has this setup.

Otherwise, the approach I would consider would be to employ the Geerfab D.BOB (Digital Breakout Box) which is a $1000 item that sits between an SACD spinner with HDMI out (like an OPPO) and a DAC supporting DOP (DSD over PCM) via its COAX or Toslink input. The Benchmark DAC3B is a compatible DAC.
Note if connecting a spinner directly to a DAC via COAX or Toslink, you will not be able to access an SACD’s DSD layer (only the CD layer of a hybrid SACD).

An alternative solution, and the one that I employ, is to rip SACDs to my music server, and then use Roon to play them (you could do this with JRiver or some such as well) using a DAC that supports DOP (in my case a Chord Qutest). The ripping process is somewhat involved, so won’t get into that here ... but if interested, can provide guidance.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me directly.

I gave up disc spinners some time ago.  Yes I still have them for video and extras (like a modded Oppo BDP-83 which gets little use but is there if someone brings a disc over - it is set-up to convert SACD discs to 88.2kHz and send it to my EMM Labs DAC 2X via a coax digital cable).  I've been ripping SACDs for many years and also ripping them for others (and happy to do it) when they wanted to convert to file playback.  My SACDs are in a closet.  Yes with file playback you need to keep back-ups but a disc spinner will at some point will no longer be usuable.  Before file playback, I used an HDMI audio de-embedder (with an an upgraded power supply) and took the  88.2kHz files directly to a good DAC.

jafant - Bill says it’s an endemic problem, they all succomb sooner or later depending on how much uptime they’ve had. He says mine looks like it may have been powered-up for long spells which develops more heat. Some of the surface-mount components are discolored and/or wave solder joints may be intermittent.

The problems are isolated to the SACD section. It played SACDs when I got it from the Thiel auction, but after a day, the bay door stopped working. I took it to a local repair shop who couldn’t really deal with it, and then sent it to Bill many months ago. The CD section played fine for me and for Bill; he aligned and lubricated the tray mechanisms and fixed a ground for the door circuit. Since I am not a hobbyist or collector, and my studio / life is presently disrupted, I just want it gone. If anyone wants it, I’d be pleased to get reimbursed for Bill’s bench fee (unknown as yet, but nominal.)
I see that SCD-1 player as possibly the most iconic piece of industrial design in our arena. Any takers?

All - thanks for the input and advice. I'll be reading and learning and hope to purchase something when I land in a new studio space. You'll be the first to know. 

@tomthiel Interesting that your contact for the SCD-1 recommended it not being on for a long stretch. Mine told me to keep it on all the time until the end of life. I am not so sure that is the best approach.