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Have you gone hi-rez? Which format and why?

I've had a taste of SACD and really liked it. I have an inexpensive Sony SACD changer and a few SACDs. I have not heard DVD-A. At some point I'd like to get a higher-end hi-rez player and I'm leaning towards SACD. My search at Tower informed me that there are more SACDs available than DVD-As, but some research suggests the availability of either runs along record label lines. I also get the impression that DVD-A leans toward multi-channel listeners where SACD still addresses both equally (is this a valid assumption?).

There are some universal players coming to market, but you know the old addage... jack of all trades... Regardless of my hi-rez choice, I will keep my redbook CD player for some time. I read today that Arcam is releasing two new DVD players in March that support DVD-A. Their news page stated that it would be too difficult to incorporate SACD and I wonder if this is a sign or if it's just Arcam's choice to support only one format for whatever reason. In my searching I also noticed that the number of CD players is decreasing (at least in the mass market) and most are producing DVD players with CD playback. According to the Arcam news page, it's easier to incorporate DVD-A into a DVD player because SACD requires a separate reading mechanism.

I'd like to hear whether or not you decided to add hi-rez to your system and if so which format and why? FWIW, I don't have and won't have multi-channel. Thanks!
budrew
gthrush1
241 posts
 
Sounds like you need a Sony SCD-1. You'll never look back and wonder if it was the right choice. Both "redbook" CD and SACD playback are up to par with the big boys.

Although the $5k retail price might be a shock, not to worry because they sell for $3k new in the real world. At that price, most other competitors are rendered obsolete.
rockvirgo
587 posts
 
Nope, I'm clinging to stereo redbook. Back when home theater came out it was heralded as the salvation of the beleaguered audio retailers. But at that time home theater was anathema to two channel fans. Somewhere along the line the backwards compatibility of DVD with CD seems to have convinced alot of people that the home theater concept wasn't so bad after all. Now every other Audiogoner trumpets how great his multi-player is either right out of the box or as successfully modded to a-phile standards. And the twenty-somethings want to know what DAC's are good for. It was subtle; it appears the home theater revolution is a fait accompli. Best of luck in your search for quality.
eddaytona
216 posts
 
I have a dedicated DVD-A player (Toshiba DVD which also outputs into my HT set-up by coax and to 2 chnnel with RCA) and a SACD player (Phillips 1000) into 2 channel. Also a nice CDP (Ah! Tojoeb with upsampler and all other upgrades). Cost of the whole mess was $1600 ($1000 for the Ah! alone). Not the most elegant solution but works well for me and saved a bunch of dough and avoided the jack of all trades syndrome.
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