Marantz SA-1 (Super Audio CD player) ?

Hello Simon. I noticed you have an impressive working knowledge of the new generation of Sony SACD players. Could you please be so kind as to answer a question I have? Do these new players initialize disks faster than the first generation players? I checked out the first players, but HATED the time to initialize a disk. That, in and of itself immediately turned me off. That is going to be something that needs to get better, in my opinion. Or are we becoming used to long boot times ala Bill Gates(Win 95/98/ME/NT)? Thank you.

Trelja: the boot time of 9000ES and I presume 3333..etc is much shorter then that of older generation. It may sound strange but I love SACD sound so much that I prefer longer loading time because I can turn off lights, sit, take a few deep breaths and wait a few seconds as in real concert. It brings me into the "right" mood. Thank you very much for your kind words - Simon

Simontju: I think the Marantz is slightly warmer than the Sony, I cannot tell you which I preferred because I could not conclude one was better than the other for SACD playback... just a tad different. Sony SCD-1, dCS Delius and dCS Purcell, VK-50SE preamp, BAT VK-150SE monos, Watt Puppy 6 speakers, Transparent Ref XL all around, PS Audio PP300, BDR Cones, pArticular Ypsilon rack, pArticular Duo amp stands and Transparent Reference PIXLs. I just replaced my Audio Research Ref2 and VT200 with the BAT gear but have listened to SACD with the ARCs as well.

A few of my reference SACDs are; Ellington - Blues in Orbit, Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven, Heau & Zygmanowski - Musique francaise pour clarinette et piano, Peterson/Brown/Jackson - The Very Tall Band, McCoy Tyner Quartet - New York Reunion, Al DiMeola - Friday Night In San Francisco, CharlesMingus - Ah Um, Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand the Weather, Yo Yo Ma - Solo and a few others.

Trlja: I would prefer it took less time to load, but I do not mind as it gives me a bit of time to pour another glass of scotch!

Jtinn, Your alright. How ya been?

Wow! You guys are true men. Able to turn a negative into a positive with the best of them. I bought a Cambridge D500 SE today. Sounds pretty nice out of the box. I really needed a player to hold me over for the period of uncertainty(I had been waiting to upgrade for 3 long years). I compared it to other players(in its class - didn't want to spend too much $$$), and it was the best. Then, after paying, my dealer drops the ULTIMATE bombshell. One from which I still haven't recovered. He gives me a piece of paper with a warning about the player. It says the player has a 24 bit/192 kHz processor designed for CD ***AND*** SACD!!! I asked, and he confirmed, that it plays SACD. I was floored, and asked why he didn't tell me before. I would not have needed to audition any other player, had I known this. I also told him to tell anyone looking at this player FIRST, before telling them ANYTHING else. The product literature makes no mention of SACD, so I am going to have to go out and buy one. Just to see... If it does, THIS $450 player will soon sell faster than lemonade on a July day. Will keep everyone posted. Best of all, my girlfriend bought it for me. Can't find a better woman than that!