"local" sacd's

When I bought my first dvd player,I got blank stares at Blockbuster when I asked when they would start renting DVD's . I predict by next Christmas there will be over a thousand titles and the major music retailers will carry them. It takes time to shift formats. Look how long it is taking the HD tv thing to happen.

Excellent post, Onhwy61. Markel's point about upsamplers (or filters, or whatever they really are) is a good one, and I in fact did that about a year ago when I bought a Purcell upsampler, rationalizing at the time that between a $5000 SACD player with no software and a $5000 upsampler which made my 1500 or so Cds all sound better, I'd take the upsampler. I have not regretted that purchase. I then bought an SACD player (777ES) when the price came down to $1500 last fall and upgraded it as described in other posts. I can see the lowering of prices on these units only as a positive; if the masses buy them, it may encourage the making of more software. As far as comparing upsampled Cds vs. SACDs--same recordings, and the analog stages of the SACD player and DAC (Audio Logic) being the same--I can tell you my opinion, which is that while the Cds sound very, very good, the SACDs are more natural and have a greater ease to them, closer to analog and real music. I can listen to both very easily, but the SACD (and, I will also gratuitously add, vinyl) is my preference.

Hi, No_money, try the following web sites: 1. www.hmv.com -> Audiophile 2. www.amazon.com -> Music, do a search on all products for keyword SACD 3. www.chesky.com -> SACD Catalog 4. www.telarc.com -> Super Audio CD 5. www.delosmus.com -> SACD HMV is the cheapest: $18.42 (free shipping if you buy 4 or more).

jsbail, you mention the time it's taking to ramp up HDTV. There's more to this than meets the eye. The format only really shows its stuff when a screen is 40" or larger (resolution lines in larger screens are a major negative with the current format--that's why there are doublers).
I have also recently read a few articles that claim costly engineering problems re: HDTV transmission and additional reception difficulties beyond those found with the current format; this is slowing things from the broadcasting end.
For my part, HDTV does little for me. I'm not into HT--I get enough gee whiz! boom and screech at a flick--and don't watch enough television to make the investment in the format viable. I'd much rather upgrade our sound system than waste my budget on vidiocrity. As for "a thousand" 24/92 titles by next Christmas, we'll see.

Try the Elusive Disc for a fairly good selection of
SACD's. (www.elusivedisc.com).
They are cheaper than anywhere else I've found (21.99)