Is SACD or something else for me?

[Willy S]

I have a Denon 1315R integrated amplifier and a pair of Canton RCL speakers and I´m interested in all kinds of a two channel classical music. I just have a few CDs but nothing else and I´m looking for a cd player for my system.

I almost don´t know anything about the differences between various media like vinyl, CDs, SACD, DVD-audio etc, so I´m asking what is the best route to go in order to get the max quality for my budget, which is around 300 euros for the player.

I have been reading that SACD players are even better for ordinay CDs, let alone the SACDs, than normal cd player in the same price range. Therefore, I´m asking if that is the way to go or is something else better?

Unfortunately, I don´t know anything about the specs of my amplifier. I hope it has analog inputs as well as digital, so I could use the DAC conversion in the SACD player instead of the DAC converter in the amp. I see on the back of my amp that there are following connectors: Inputs: CD, TUNER, AUX. Then there are DAT/TAPE (PB and Rec)

All advice is really appreciated!


Willy

[Wireworm5]

Just my .02 cents. There are people who claim that vinyl is the best, this may be the case but I believe you need a very good cartridge and stylus to acheive supierority. As for cd players, I first owned a cheap multi-disc player. It was a piece of crap but I didn't know it till I replaced it with a Panasonic DVD universal player, much improved. Then out of curiosity from reading other posts I decided I would try a better source. So I got a Sony Sacd universal player that also upconverts video to my HD tv. Immediately I could hear details in music that wasn't there with the Panasonic. On further testing over the next few days. I spun some mp3 discs and I was amazed that I was hearing details that I didn't think mp3's contained.
I wanted to understand how the sacd player could sound way better than the Panasonic DVD player, when it would read the same 0's and 1's from a disc. I thought maybe the sacd player converts even redbook cd's into DSD instead on PCM decoding. But others answered my question by saying this ain't so. Others say that sacd upconverts the signal from 16 bit to 24 bit. This could be the reason, but I couldn't find anything in the owner's manual to confirm this. But the other possibilty is the gain on the output signal is much louder on the sacd than the Panasonic and just seems better because of the loudness difference. The latter is maybe the case, because I adjusted my output levels on my computer soundcard and I acheived almost identical results to my Yamaha processing, but then I was using the sacd for both sources so this didn't really answer the question but proved to me that higher output levels will be perceived as being better.
Just the other day I was playing an sacd disc through my vcr input on reciever. Then I spun a cd and I forgot to switch it back to dvd input for digital input instead of analog. Well the music from the cd sounded flat. Then I realized my mistake and switched the input from analog to digital, the cd came to life, what a difference. Further proof that digital is superior to analog.
So there you have it, get yourself an universal sacd player, even if you don't use it for sacds, you will have a good digital source. And it doesn't have to be Sony since others have experience reliabitity issues with them. But Sony did invent sacds so maybe they know a thing or two.

[Chas Underhay]

I have a Denon 1315R integrated amplifier and a pair of Canton RCL speakers and I´m interested in all kinds of a two channel classical music. I just have a few CDs but nothing else and I´m looking for a cd player for my system.

I almost don´t know anything about the differences between various media like vinyl, CDs, SACD, DVD-audio etc, so I´m asking what is the best route to go in order to get the max quality for my budget, which is around 300 euros for the player.

I have been reading that SACD players are even better for ordinay CDs, let alone the SACDs, than normal cd player in the same price range. Therefore, I´m asking if that is the way to go or is something else better?

Unfortunately, I don´t know anything about the specs of my amplifier. I hope it has analog inputs as well as digital, so I could use the DAC conversion in the SACD player instead of the DAC converter in the amp. I see on the back of my amp that there are following connectors: Inputs: CD, TUNER, AUX. Then there are DAT/TAPE (PB and Rec)

All advice is really appreciated!


Willy

Hi Willy

Unless you already have a multichannel set up AND a substancial collection of SACD discs, you would do well to carry out the following:-

1. Read all of the thread entitled something like SACD/DVDA... or just stay with 2 channel stereo.
2. Don't ever think about SACD again.

I'm not aware of any budget SACD player that plays CDs better that an equivalently priced CD only player.

If you are into classical, have a look around a few collector's record shops, around my way there is a stack of classical LPs mostly dirt cheap (£1.00 each to £3.00 for boxed sets) A record player may be worth considering at some time in the future just to be able to take advantage of the cheap and plentiful supply.

Best of luck