Although I'm all-in with Redbook (ARC CD 3 mk II), it's been said by many members and reviewers that it's hard to find a standalone CD/SACD deck that plays both formats equally at high quality SQ. The one that is always recommended is the ModWright Sony XA-5400ES fully modded.
It's more common to buy the deck for your preferred format; ie, ARC builds Redbook only. There's lots of chatter here about getting the best SACD playback, but it's often from a deck that excels in reproducing the SACD layer over the CD layer.
It's more common to buy the deck for your preferred format; ie, ARC builds Redbook only. There's lots of chatter here about getting the best SACD playback, but it's often from a deck that excels in reproducing the SACD layer over the CD layer.