My son in law, Chris, has an Oppo 970 unit which he purchased due to the highly favorable reviews it received for its up-converting capabilities on DVD. It also plays multi-channel SACD's, which he regards more of a novelty than anything else. When I first heard a multi channel SACD on this unit, through his system (somewhat pedestrian, but at least decent sounding), I was impressed, and that's one of the factors that made me decide to purchase my Marantz SA-8001.It was difficult to judge the video performance of the unit, as Chris' LCD TV is a very, very small Polaroid set, and far too small to make a decent impression, regardless of the associated equipment.

I knew Chris was disappointed with the redbook CD playback of the Oppo unit (it stinks, frankly), and when I asked him if he'd like my Adcom combo - GCD-600 changer/GDA-600 DAC - (that the 8001 replaced) he all but jumped for joy. He's absolutely delighted with the units, and after a visit with my daughter, grandsons and Chris just this past week, I can see why.

I brought two of my newest SACD's with me (Lang-Lang's two Rachmaninoff works, and the Spano/Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem") to hear how the multi-channel effects were used on them, as my system isn't multi-channel. Nor surprisingly, the rear channels on both discs were used primarily for ambient hall sounds which, while not knock-out impressive, were at least pleasant.

Then I asked him to play the same discs (or at least portions of them) on the Adcom combo. The resutls were amazing: the Adcom combo, despite being only 2-channel, and being well over 10 years older than the Oppo, just plain blew away the sound quality of the Oppo unit: far more definition, better clarity and more "punch" to everything. And, despite lacking the genuinely pleasant effects of the ambient sounds from the rear, the overall sound quality was infinitely superior with the Adcom units.

While I'm thoroughly satisfied with the performance of the Marantz SA-8001 over the Adcom combo, I'm happy to know that such old equipment still holds its own, and should make a pretty good package if anyone wants a CD player of very good quality, but doesn't want to spend fortune. The combo doesn't play DVD's, nor does it read the SACD layer of a hybrid disc, but both are usualy available used for a song, and couldn't be a better deal.