Tír Na HiFi

I have begun to consider purchasing a SACD player. I am not interested in hearing music in surround sound but would buy on the basis of reaching those alleged depths of detail in those layers below the CD layer.

What recommendations would people make for an entry level player? Are there any considerations that I need to take into account?

At the danger of going off topic, I would advise researching other methods of playing back "hi-res" music e.g. streaming etc.

Hi Fergus ,
I have a Marantz SA-8400 which you can see at the bottom of the photo on this page viewtopic.php?f=8&t=374 sound quality is very good .
You are welcome to call and hear it or better again make me an offer for around 300 euro.
KM

dubber wrote:At the danger of going off topic, I would advise researching other methods of playing back "hi-res" music e.g. streaming etc.

Thanks for the input dubber but I actually want a piece of kit to play some hybrid SACD discs that I have in my collection.

Ken Moreland wrote:Hi Fergus ,
I have a Marantz SA-8400 which you can see at the bottom of the photo on this page viewtopic.php?f=8&t=374 sound quality is very good .
You are welcome to call and hear it or better again make me an offer for around 300 euro.
KM

Thanks for that Ken. Leave that one with me for a bit; I am interested and I will get back to you later.

fergus wrote:

dubber wrote:At the danger of going off topic, I would advise researching other methods of playing back "hi-res" music e.g. streaming etc.

Thanks for the input dubber but I actually want a piece of kit to play some hybrid SACD discs that I have in my collection.

OK, I would maybe try to get a "loaner" if it's only a temporary "experience" itch you're wanting to scratch. I'd advise against going for a cheapish universal DVD/SACD player type-thing, I've heard a few that weren't up to much ...

dubber wrote: OK, I would maybe try to get a "loaner" if it's only a temporary "experience" itch you're wanting to scratch. I'd advise against going for a cheapish universal DVD/SACD player type-thing, I've heard a few that weren't up to much ...

OK dubber....thanks for the advice....I will bear it in mind.

I know where you're coming from fergus. I also think dubber has a point.... most of the cheaper machines may have the capability to play sacd but will make it sound average. I would wonder about an oppo player though - it seems to get good reviews.

But if you have a dac already, the route of the hiface from a laptop is a no-brainer.


Fran

I have a 220v Pioneer 757 AI multi disc player that was good for its time. It is a few years old now. See http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/arch ... index.html

You can have it for free if you are willing to pay for shipping from the US (after you have received it)

The only SACD player I've heard is the dCS Verdi la Scala with either the dCS Elgar or the dCS Scarlatti DAC. SACDs sound even better than CDs on these machines!

The bigger classical recording companies seem to have given up on SACD, but some of the smaller ones continue to bring them out regularly.