Sony SCD1 vs. Mark Lev 37 as transports

I have a scd1 and for the money that I paid for it it's hard to bet as a cd & sacd player

I have the Sony SCD1 and have also considering the Transport/DAC equation for Redbook. Here's what I've learned in a nut shell:

Nothing, short of the very best vinyl setup can touch
SACD -- buy the Sony for that reason alone. As for a transport doing Redbook, the big Sony is excellent, but there are others out there that are equally as good, perhaps better. After hearing some of the best (sorry haven't heard the ML 37 but have heard the 360s and was impressed)I'd rank the Sony up there with other $3-5K transports -- still, I think mine could still benefit from a DAC for Redbook. Trouble is, the DAC equation is changing very quickly, as more highend manufacturers take into account SACD, HDCD, etc that I'm not quite sure where my listening is going. I'm almost glad I'm not budgeted for this yet, as i don't really want to make a decision until after the CES show next year, when I can really get a sense of where the market is going and what sounds best.

More specifically, its difficult to answer your question, without considering what the Levinson or Sony will be paired with. To satisfy yourself, you're going to have to audition both. (I think the transports in your price range are all good, it's the post transport processing that will have the greatest effect on what you hear.) If you are considering the ML 360s then I think the ML 37 would be your best choice. But I'd still buy a Sony in additon to that (you can pick the SCD1 up in the low $3K range on Audiogon or eBay.

There's going to be a lot of shaking out in the DAC/SACD/CD transport/DVD-A market, especially with the (vastly inferior) multichannel stuff confusing the market even more so as manufacturers look for "numbers" and new markets by going into the high end?? multichannel market as they chase all those consumers with 5 speakers.

Be patient, and since you've narrowed your choice to two, listen to both. And why not contact Levinson to see what they are planning to do with SACD? My gut feeling is that within in 12 months, we'll many more high end solutions to SACD -- a Levinson 37SACD/360sacd?? -- I can only dream.

A couple of more points. I spoke to Sonic Frontiers on Friday and they told me their future plans. They are going to be offering an upsampling upgrade for the Processor 3 within two months. Expected upgrade price is $1895. A

They are designing an SACD player, but Sony keeps changing the transport design and they are waiting until things firm up and the transport prices go down before offering it as a product. I suspect this is why we have only seen the Sony and Accuphase SACD players so far. Also, Sony has not released an interface for SACD yet so we won't be seeing any SACD capable DACs for a long time.

Well, let me start this by saying that I already have decided eventually to get the new dCS CD/SACD transport to go with my dCS Purcell and Elgar, so everything else I say is a temporary conclusion. Having said that, I have been running the Sony SCD-1 and the ML 37 into my Purcell side by side for a couple of months, using balanced (on the Levinson) and RCA (on the Sony)versions of the same digital cable, NBS Monitor 0. There is a noticeable difference between them as transports (and yes, I've tried the RCA cable on the 37, and that's not the reason for MOST of the difference). The Levinson is generally warmer, smoother, and has a wider sound front on orchestral music. The Sony has more detail at the frequency extremes, is slightly brighter overall, is slightly more dynamic in its presentation,and is a bit more forward. There is a difference between the two on ambiance retrieval, but it's not clear from recording to recording which is generally better--the Levinson seems to get more on most recordings, but then all of a sudden the Sony will get more convincing ambiance on a particular disc than the 37 does. The real point isn't which one is "better"--I marginally prefer the Sony--but that as a transport the Sony is completely competitive with a $4000 Stereophile Class A rated component. In case anyone is interested, I've posted the Levinson for sale here on Audiogon, for a good price, while I wait for the dCS transport. But for anyone who has a broken-in SCD-1 and a good DAC, I would just invest in a type quality digital cable (unless, of course, you're like a friend of mine, who goes nuts waiting for the Sony to acces a disc. I suggested to him he needs a shrink, not an audio dealer).

... great post Mgottlieb. I agree that the DAC market will be agitated for a while with more high end offerings and also that the Sony is a decent $4K transport for Redbook. Glad to see you've A/B'd it against other top transport(s) and seem to also conclude that balanced on the SCD-1 is not superior to RCA (if I read you right) given equal high end cables. Please let us know how the new DCS sounds with the Sony front end.