Are "Redbook Only " CD players Obsolete?


With the advent of Universal Players ;ones that play DVD..CD..SACD..and DVD-A; Are standard "cd only" players OBSOLETE.......The "NEW BREED", like the MARANTZ DV 9500 can play ALL these formats and do it Better than most of the cd only and dvd-cd players at ANY PRICE...and all for under $2000.....why would anyone want to limit themselves......SACD and DVD-A are awsome for us audiophiles..and how much better can the "video" get?...Combine this State of The Art technology with the Fact that the Redbook CD playback is totally natural sounding..very analog like....and better than CD only players I've heard costing much more.... IS This is a NO-BRAINER........
dennish
Gunbei,
It really is great, it got a rave in HiFi+. In fact it's so good I'm constantly trying to sell it or trade it, always the mark of a great piece of gear. What the heck is wrong with me anyway?
Metralla: That is not hard to believe. I agree that the redbook performance of most Sony SACD players I have heard is only adequate at best. They excel at SACD only, unless, as you argue, they are modified. Then the redbook and SACD improve greatly. I still think modified players are a quality, cost effective, way to go if you want a multiformat player. For me though, there is a comfort level in owning modified gear that I just don't have. I am probably going to dump my single-sided Hi-Rez discs and save up for a great redbook only player.

SACD did get me into jazz and classical music though, so I do not consider it a waste of time and will keep the vast majority of my hybrids.