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This is very difficult for me to admit, but....

Duilawyer, NonA, etc got me to thinking with their posts denigrating SACD. So, this past weekend I did some more thorough listening tests myself and have come to the conclusion that while SACD sounds marginally better than CD about half the time, when there is a difference it really isn't all that great. And sometimes, the CD layer sounded more dynamic and crisp than the SACD layer - ideal for rock music. Gradually, I found that the only real improvement with SACD for me is multichannel over stereo. So, I did some experimenting with the various digital processing schemes on my Denon AVR 5800 and found I got some pretty good results with well-recorded CDs in "5-channel stereo" and "stadium" modes.

I had taken a miniscule improvement and built it up in my mind to the point where I completely neglected making any meaningful comparisons between standard CD and the hi-rez formats; I had begun to take SACD superiority on faith alone. I'm done with this SACD folly. What a waste of the last three years of my life.

Thank you Duilawyer for "deprogramming" me!

P.S. I also listened to the CD layer of the Schubert Trios SACD that I trashed in an earlier post and found I was mistaken. I now enjoy it very much. There are no wrong notes.


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  Kimber Kable  


Topic - This is very difficult for me to admit, but.... - Dalton 10:34:22 01/26/04 (191)


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