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In Reply to: RE: Advances in SACD Playback Over the Years posted by sisterray on February 14, 2020 at 19:51:57
You are fortunate to have one in working condition. Sony SACD players of this age and from this range are well known for failure of the Optical Pickup Unit ( either mechanical or the laser).
I think if you really like the jukebox facility then keep with what you have until the decision to change is effectively made for you. You are not going to find a new substitute.
Yes, modern DACS are better but this is only guaranteed if you are comparing players at a similar level to that Sony ES and these days that means spending big now that Oppo is no longer in this market ( e.g. with a Marantz SA-10). Remember the sound is not just made by the DAC but by the analogue output stage. Otherwise you will be seeing if Sony's (nearly) finest of twenty years go is outclassed by one of today's commoditised universal players which are not even aimed at the audiophile market (good as they may be for their intended purpose). I can't answer that question having never tried.
One other question concerns me about these universal players. They are DVD machines and for machines made since January 2013 high resolution audio has not been available from the analogue audio outputs for movie sound. Is that the same for SACD as it seems only 16/44.1/48 is fed to those outputs? That is the disc will play but hi-res audio will only exit the machine in digital form via the HDMI port? Just a question that I do not know the answer to but is worth having answered before you spend.
"We need less, but better" - Dieter Rams
Follow Ups:
I am also very enthusiastic about the Marantz SA10, both for SACD and DSD file playback.
PAR -
Thank you for the thoughtful reply.
I heartily agree regarding the importance of the analog output stage. That factor is always overlooked in reviews.
"'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice./And when justice is gone, there's always force./And when force is gone, there's always Mom. Hi Mom!" Laurie Anderson, "O Superman (For Massenet)"
Having owned at least 11 top quality sacd players over the last 20 years-from modified sony players (Allen Wright) to the yamaha cds-2000 I would say the latest marantz are superior. The Ruby KI sacd player which I own upsamples everything to 4 times dsd and really has a unique and rare sound. Expensive but worth the money.
Not to intrude on the thread here, but I've been weighing up investing in a Ruby KI, and I'm wondering how the DAC functions on it. I'd be interested in replacing my separate DAC with one integrated into a SACD player. I stream from a hard drive a lot, though, so I'm concerned about its ability to handle high-bit files.
JB Coleman
See the review of the Ruby, including of its DAC, in the new issue of the Absolute Sound.
Just noticed that, thanks! I'm probably going to take the plunge (right after I clear my credit card, at any rate). Best,
JB Coleman
You are welcome. As I may have said earlier, I think the DAC in the Ruby is the same as in the SA10,
which I think is really excellent. It seems expensive, but the Absolute Sound is pushing disc-DAC combos that cost ten times as much.
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