philips sacd 1000 as a redbook player

You realize that Phillips replacement for this SACD player is coming out soon and will retail for $499. It will be 24/192 and play DVDs. I imagine it will sound better with redbook CDs than the SACD 1000.

KF

KF - while it is known that the SACD 1000 has been discontinued and I believe that the 963SA is the replacement model its not a given that it will sound better. The SACD 1000 may have its limitations (no progressive scan, no digital out to a DAC for music) but it was a "statement piece" and its build quality (save the drawer) is reported to be substantial which is not the case with its replacment.

I would have to guess that if video is a concern then the 963 may be the choice to make but as a redbook/SACD player the comparison has yet to be made.

The 1000 has a mediocre to poor reputation as a redbook player. Below is one very recent thread from Audio Asylum's digital forum on it's redbook performance. My recommendation would be to wait for the newer model (963 I think) however, I have not heard the new model.

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/hirez/messages/113960.html

Rgd, substantial built quality does not always equate to better sound. I will readily admit that I am not familiar with the sound of the SACD 1000 or it's replacement. However, 9 times out of 10 a company will not not replace a piece with an inferior piece. I know there have been exceptions to this rule, but technology does progress, and there are usually good reasons for a piece to be replaced. Digital technology ESPECIALLY progresses. I do think that some of the newer generation of digital is sounding better than the cutting edge digital of two years ago. Take the Ayre CDP for example... Build quality on the Ayre is OK (not great but and deffinitely not like the AMAZING build quality of say the EMC-1 mk2 or Cary 306/200); NEVERTHELESS, I think the Ayre really does sound a lot better than those CDPs by a pretty good margin (in a few systems I have heard, including mine).

Phillips is replacing the SACD 1000 with a player that does 24/192 upsampling of Redbook CDs which should be better than the sound of the SACD 1000 on Redbook CDs. At $500 for the replacement, I am beginning to regret purchasing a new Sony $200 DVD player. Oh well... I guess I will wait a bit longer for SACD.

KF