Linn Unidisk or Musical Fidelity kW SACD or ???

Bsal -- Yup; XLR connections from the CD player to the pre and on to the amp. No question, the balanced connections reduce the noise enormously. EMM...now wouldn't that be nice!

Dear Tin Ears:
Your trepidation was justified -- nobody has said a word about the Musical Fidelity KW SACD. I've owned one for a couple of months now and here are my subjective ramblings I posted elsewhere. I hope that it helps you. I think that the unit is fantastic, and deeply satisfied with its performance. I have not compared it to any of the other units you're considering, but have listened to a fair amount of high end players, and wouldn't trade the KW for any of them. Here is my earlier post:

Hello fellow Musical Fidelity and fidelity fans:
I've been eagerly awaitng some reviews of the new KW SACD player, as I was lucky enough to get one in the first wave. I finally realized that I probably should just share my enthusiasm for the unit.
My KW SACD joins my TriVista 300 integrated, which power Wilson Sophias, and all are connected by Transparent cables. I listen to blues of all eras, blues based and psychedelic rock primarily from 66-71 (and some stuff that the still living dinosaurs from that era currently put out) and a bit of late 70's punk/garage/indie stuff. Also, Pink Floyd, Bowie, the Velvets, Norah Jones, the White Stripes, the Stooges, Dylan, the Stones, some reggae, and whatever else is good and/or catches my fancy. I've been known to listen to some stuff just because of the sonic ear/mind candy quality (it just sounds so good) but generally I hate myself in the morning.
That being said, I am bowled over by the KW SACD. I had trouble imagining how my system would improve (for my ears; after all, this is all subjective). My soundstage was deep and three dimensional, high and wide. Dynamics were great, instrument placement was good, and the sound allowed you to hear quiet little touches while other instruments were booming away.(I won't embarass myself by telling what my prior cd player was . . . oh, what the hell -- it was a much loved and faithful Denon that will be of voting age in another two or three years . . .)
That being said, I was knocked out - out of the box - by the dramatic improvement brought by the KW. The soundstage, already big, became HUGE, as if a billboard of sound appeared in my listening room. The low end not only tightened up, but whole areas of it appeared for the first time. The dynamic range is spectacular, from a whisper to deafening in the same passage (music permitting). The broadening of the soundstage was also accompanied by what a music loving nonaudiophile friend descrbed as "being surrounded by the music." Before, my system exhibited great depth; now, the music seems to come out and wrap around you, and is far less constrained by the lateral edges of my Sophias, as it once was.
The clarity and precision of instrument placement, and reproduction of minute detail is, well, startling. You really can hear the pick hitting the guitar strings; you can feel the steel of the brushes washing across the drums. Speaking of feel, the emotional impact of the music through the KW is remarkable (I'm running out of adjectives). More than once, and to more than just me, the music has brought up goosebumps -- flushes of them, in fact. You know what I listen to, but okay, I'll admit it, Norah Jones brought on tears.
I have done a litle bit of back-and-forth between the tube and solid state output stages, but I've pretty much settled on the tube stage. The realism, presence, feel, warmth, palpability, emotion of it is more to my liking. The solid state stage is good, don't get me wrong, but it seems to trade a bit of these qualities for a bit of a higher frequency push (and maybe even a bit more volume). In one or two instances I found it helpful as a sort of a limited equalizer, but on the whole, I can live without it.
Now, SACD. Aaaah, SACD. With the KW, SACD is like uber-vinyl. There is a distinct smoothness and analogue quality imparted by the (admittedly very few) SACD discs I've spun on the ol' KW. Because the KW does what it does so magically, I might never have considered that there was yet another level of sound reproduction possible. Having heard the SACD side, however, I know differently. All of the redbook playback qualities are, well, just a little more yet with SACD playback on the KW. Now, the hunt for SACD's begins!
Well, there you have it -- my thoroughly unscientific, biased, subjective and rambling thoughts on a great player. Perhaps the greatest praise I can lavish on the KW comes in the form of my wife's reactions. She, who upon learning of my, er, investment in my self, I mean system, quietly refused to come into my listening room. Ever. Until the arrival of the KW. Drawn in by the huge, beautiful sound, she begrudgingly confessed, "I hate to admit it, but that really is amazing." She, who was quietly plotting ways to burn down only this room of the house, looked at me, looked at my system and completely seriously said, "We're going to need a bigger room for this."
Bill P

I love the piece. Its simply amazing. Hope that this helps.
Bill

Bill,

Great post! Thanks for taking the time to give that review. I, too, was surprised that no one had chimed in with a nod for the kW SACD. But it is a relatively new unit, so maybe all those who have one are too busy listening to it to respond ;) I have been trying to get a demo unit, but my local dealer doesn't have any in stock right now. I would love to audition the kW along side, say, the X-01, which is another unit I am surprised no one has said anything about. I guess people are kind of tired of these "help me buy my next piece of gear" threads!

Bill, et al -- Good news (I think)... my local MF dealer is suppose to get a kW SACD in next week from Signal Path. He promises to burn it in a bit and let me audition it. He also carries Linn, and he wants me to run it against the 2.1, which I have already heard. But it should make for an interesting comparison. I wish I could get the kW up against the Ayre, but I had to give that back so someone else could give it a listen. Don't these people realize I am on a qwest?

Good evening, Audiogonnnnn -- In case anyone is out there listening, here is an update....

Today I went to my LD and gave a listen to his Linn 2.1 and the Musical Fidelity kW SACD he just got in last night. I had heard the 2.1 at another dealer, and was interested to see whether I came away with the same impression as last time. Answer -- yes. It is a nice unit and does a good job with the soundstage and keeps the higher end pretty liquid. Still, it is kind of weak in the bass. Interestingly, both this 2.1 unit and the 2.1 unit I listened to from the other dealer could not play the vocal on track 6 of Elenor McEvoy's "Early Hours" SACD.

The MF kW SACD was interesting. I thought it did a very good job reaching low and controlling the bass. It was a tad edgy on the high notes, but I attribute that to the fact that it is a brand new unit with no break-in time, and because the dealer hooked it up by its solid state RCA connections (the cool thing about this player is that it has both solid state and tube connections!).

I have the kW at home now, and I will be auditioning it this weekend. I am listening to it right now, and I am pretty impressed. Not sure where I will come out on this one, yet.

So here is the question, for anyone who has a view -- Audio Aero is launching its new "Prestige" CD/SACD player in a couple of weeks. This will be a $13K unit. If I like the MF after this weekend, should I just get it, or should I hold off for the AA Prestige? Anyone out there hear the Prestige at any recent shows that would like to share the experience? Is any player worth $13K??? Ahh, what an obsession this has become....