Beyond SACD with Redbook: Price No Object

Re, B's 4/19 question: redbook vs. remastered *to* sacd; Agreed, B! During a quick and relaxed comparison with a friend (he only brought 2 discs and his Sony 1), we actually favoured the redbook on my S-Line cdp over the sacd layer on the Sony. Of course, no original DSD recording involved (which is impressive, if fatiguing to my ears). Cheers!

Hmmmmm....this is all very interesting. Thank you for so many excellent posts.

Maybe I should just buy the Mephisto II for redbook with a Sony ES 9000 for DVDs and the occasional SACD?

Or go ahead with the SCD-1 as planned and buy the Audiomecca DAC? And a Sony ES 9000 for DVDs?!

Do any of the Audiomecca fans have a view on the transport vs. the DAC? Do you think the DAC would work its magical upsampling charms with the monster Sony or do I also need the quirky floating french transport.

Thanks for the advice. You're all invited for a drink and a demo if I can ever finish this system.

CW

Cwlondon, I will catch heck for this comment, but in a test in my own system the Sony SCD-1 and the Sony ES 9000 were more a personality issue than a real performance issue.

In the deepest bass, particularly classical music, the SCD-1 does go deeper and with slightly more accurate timbre. The 9000 actually excelled in soundstage depth and midrange resolution, Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Couldn't Stand The Weather" comes immediately to mind.

The looser in the contest was the two year old Levinson transport and converter that was bettered by both players. The owner of the SCD-1 kept his unit, I kept my ES 9000, and the Levinson owner sold his gear on Audiogon the very next week. Used the cash to buy a used VPI turntable and arm and a new Sony just like mine.

Of course he got to hear all this in a direct comparison. Makes the decision much easier than talking about it.

Jadem6 - What is and what is not is relative to personal preference. The "shimmer and sparkle" quality that you speak of is clearly a quality present in SACD music reproduction (on early players). Whether that quality is something "George Lucas" added or the first generation SACD players emphasize, I do not know. If you were to compare SACD to vinyl or live music - I think you would find less "shimmer and sparkle" in both live music and vinyl.

The newer SACD players seem to lean toward less emphasis on shimmer and sparkle and attempt to present a more analog or life like - organic quality of the music.

With a new Sony SACD player, the difference between Hybrid layers is diminished simply because the SACD layer on these machines has less "shimmer and sparkle" making the differences less apparent. I too have the Allison Kraus SACD Hybrid disk.

Yes - the capability of SACD is greater than CD but ultimately the outcome depends upon consumer acceptance and the various implementations of the technology. Today we hear so many different sonic signatures in redbook players, just wait and see what happens when the well respected high-end companies really get going on development for the SACD format!!

Cwlondon: I own both the Audio Meca and the Sony ES 9000. I can tell you that I no longer even look at SACD releases. I never listen to any of the SACD disks I own. I only use the Sony for movies. For the first time, I'm satisified with my system and it was the addition of the Audio Meca Dac (an upgrade from a Dodson Audio Dac) that made the difference. It is a very special player... I can listen to it for hours and still get goose bumps!