Are "Redbook Only " CD players Obsolete?

I'd rather listen to redbook through my $1k Audio Refinement than to SACD through the $2k Marantz any day!

I've heard the DV 9500. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Your statement that the Marantz can play redbook CD better than most players at any price is close to indefensible.

At this time, absolutely not. Universal players that play every format are OK for Audiophiles that want an affordable digital front end. However; Audiophiles that have near or state of the art Redbook CD front ends are generally disappointed in the compromises in sound, that have to made in these Universal players. Universal players as seen as some, to expand their choice of formats and software and sort of protect them from the outcome of the format war. This is never the case because the redbook front ends are really now coming into their own, with better software that is competetive to Hi-rez formats. Remember the Cd was suppose to kill off vinyl and vinyl last year sold more than DVD-A and SACD combined. Listen to the music and not the format. IMHO

Brianmgrarcom you had me rolling this morning.

dennish
Dont worry the condition you have now is what is called Complacencitis
---symptoms are a feeling that the gear you have now is not only sota but the best their could ever be. Leading to an increased feeling of happiness.

The problem is it ironically leads to the uncurable
Upgraditis at which time you will become very sure that the post above is the most silly thing you ever said be cause you feel the extremely powerful desire to spend money on a digital front end that you heard that most definitly makes the one you previously loved sound well in a word inadequate.
lol

Let's see, I have 575 cd's and one sacd i bought for the hybrid redbook layer. So do I want to maximize redbook playback or gamble on a format war? Well since I own a fabulous redbook player, a Tube Technology Fusion CD64, I think I'll stand pat. In addition, I'd put this player up against any universal on the market, and I do mean any.

I DO NOT think they are obsolete in any way. Here's my story (if you are interested):

Now that I have spent some significant time with an Exemplar 2900, I ask myself, is SACD really necessary? This player forced me to stop and think.

Prior to owning the Exemplar 2900 I owned the Sony XA777ES. SACD's on the Sony sounded very, very good to me. Way better than my redbook versions of the same discs. But after spending several months with the Exemplar I began to notice no significant difference, on many quality recordings, between the SACD and the redbook. For example, I owned two versions of Bill Evans 'Waltz for Debby': one was the SACD and one was the Super-K2 20 bit remaster. Well, on the Exemplar Denon, in my system, I could not tell a significant difference between the two, and, on a few tracks, I actually preferred the 20 bit remaster. This exeperience repeated itself a few times.

This has given me pause. It makes me wonder whether I should just go for a really high quality redbook only player and forget the whole Hi-Rez thing altogether (especially because I am two-channel and don't need DVD). While I have invested a lot of money in SACD only about 10% of them were music I re-bought and the vast majority were hybrids -- so it would not be hard to divest myself of the single-sided SACD's and keep the hybrids (which is mostly new music for me) if I wanted.

I have learned a lot and one of the things that keeps coming back to me is that maybe I just had never owned a really exceptional redbook player before the Exemplar. I have not come to any conclusions...I will definitely be auditioning hi quality redbook CDP's though in the near future. Thanks for reading,