Cd/sacd player for under 2K?

The Sony SCD-XA5400ES is $1500, and sounds very good. If you really do want SACD, this is one of the best value players around. It takes quite some time to break in and really open up, but it will and has a clear and detailed, but not over bright presentation with excellent bass drive. A surprising player for the price. Balanced outputs done correctly, if that interests you.

Regards,

Joe, be bold and prove you have an open mind. Get a refurb sony 595 for $60. Yes it also does SACD. If you buy it from Sony Style and don't like it, you can have them come get it. Once you have that 595 unit, start auditioning, on loan, your choices in your system. That process can be very scary, as it may change your outlook on the hi-end.

Forget Sony, you can buy an Esoteric DV-50 for less than $1,500 and it's rock solid and sounds great (will even cover DVD-A for you!)

Thanks for all the input so far. I hope to hear more ideas. My only concern with universal players is a potential trade-off in capabilities. I haven't heard the esoterics yet, but I am leaning toward keeping the dvd side separate from the cd side. I will hold off though until I can hear an esoteric. I would not mind being wrong on this. Thanks again.

Joe in Mobile

FWIW Esoteric makes players that don't have DVD-V as well, you'll need to research the model # but I think the SA 60 does just this.