Good cheap SACD/CD player

bansheesho

oops double post

cnh

A Denon 2900 for 100 (probably heavier and better built than the 2910)? Sure, that's a great price. You may, though, eventually have to replace the laser? They don't last "forever"!

cnh

dekuda

bansheeho,
If you are interested I have a mint condition Sony NC685V with remote and manual that plays sacd's.I believe I purchased it from Vanns in 2004 and it has been in storage 4 years.I am using a Rotel and got rid of the few sacd cd's I had because I had trouble finding more and I just did not have room for two players. My first sacd was Floyds dard side of the moon and wow. You could here the differant instruments in each channel and the detail. Listening to floyd it was so nice I fell asleep untill all the clocks woke me up ( You know what song) I can let you have it for $50.00 plus shipping if interested.Like I said,it was wonderful playing cd's and scad's. Have coax/toslink digital out., 5.1 analog out. and numerous other outputs. For less than that I will just keep it.

mfg

If you could get a hold of a used Denon 2900, I expect you'd be impressed with the sound as well as with the input, output & configuration options. Disc load time is a bit long, but when you think about it, a few seconds to wait while your favorite band sets itself up to perform in your living room, it's actually pretty amazing.

tonyb

bansheesho wrote: »

Can someone give me a technical rundown on why more expensive sacd players sound better than inexpensive ones? What components inside make the difference?

The same reason why a Mercedes is better than a Ford......quality of parts used, design. Same as anything else, you get what you pay for. Thats not to say that there are great budget pieces of gear out there.

SACD while being a great format for music is somewhat dead and recordings limited. If I were you, I'd start looking at a Squeezebox or Sonos unit and start playing lossless files. More options, better flexability, a more enjoyable experience in my opinion. Just a suggestion is all. The Marantz mentioned is about as good as it gets in the sub 400 buck catagory. A few more bucks and the OPPO should be on your list. Good luck to you.

HHStuart

tonyb wrote: »

...

SACD while being a great format for music is somewhat dead and recordings limited. If I were you, I'd start looking at a Squeezebox or Sonos unit and start playing lossless files. More options, better flexability, a more enjoyable experience in my opinion. Just a suggestion is all. The Marantz mentioned is about as good as it gets in the sub 400 buck catagory. A few more bucks and the OPPO should be on your list. Good luck to you.

Although SACD's are not being produced as actively as other media, there are still thousands out there and some are being newly produced. The majority of them are classical or jazz, however. With an HT system, you might enjoy the multichannel aspect of SACD's. Many of them are multi channel and, personally, I do enjoy that aspect of it. You can get a SACD / Blu Ray player for less than $200 which also plays regular CD's and DVD's. You could check it out and make your own decision.

tonyb

HHStuart wrote: »

The majority of them are classical or jazz, however. .

Kinda says it all right there.

I'm a big fan of SACD, also vinyl, but once you have your whole music library at your fingertips, you'll forget about getting up to change cd's or cleaning records. You'll forget about needles, phono pre amps, stacks of cd cases, crates of records. You'll also forget about drunk guests scratching your records, putting cd's in the wrong cases. You may actually forget about buying another cd if you subscribe to a music service for 10 bucks a month. Plus with these slick devices, you get radio from practically anywhere on the planet. All for the same cost as a single SACD player, even cheaper in some cases. With hi-rez files available these days, it's another nail in the coffin of SACD.

Just offering suggestions is all, if the OP wants to stick with SACD by all means seek it out on the cheap to get your feet wet. Also look at a pioneer, the older 59avi is a bargain on the used market.

kappclark

teekay0007 wrote: »

bansheesho, I was in the exact same spot a few years ago that you are in now in regard to SACD players. I was looking for an inexpensive one to test the waters. I looked around at some in my price range and did a lot of reading (mostly of owners' reviews) online and finally picked up a Sony SCD-CE595.

I did the same thing, and am delighted with the 595 SACD..I think I paid under $100 on ebay and am delighted...I don't use the mulit-disc feature much, but the sound is alot better than what I had before...I may trade up to the Marantz.

cnh

tonyb wrote: »

Kinda says it all right there.

I'm a big fan of SACD, also vinyl, but once you have your whole music library at your fingertips, you'll forget about getting up to change cd's or cleaning records. You'll forget about needles, phono pre amps, stacks of cd cases, crates of records. You'll also forget about drunk guests scratching your records, putting cd's in the wrong cases. You may actually forget about buying another cd if you subscribe to a music service for 10 bucks a month. Plus with these slick devices, you get radio from practically anywhere on the planet. All for the same cost as a single SACD player, even cheaper in some cases. With hi-rez files available these days, it's another nail in the coffin of SACD.

Just offering suggestions is all, if the OP wants to stick with SACD by all means seek it out on the cheap to get your feet wet. Also look at a pioneer, the older 59avi is a bargain on the used market.

Certainly a good suggestion. But not for me because I'd be forgetting "all" the things that create the atmosphere in my home office. Walls lined with books, hundreds of CDs, some LPs, cassettes, VHS tapes, DVDs and Blu-rays, even a few HD-DVDs. Surrounded by what often inspires me. I can't imagine looking at a Sonos or Squeezebox in the same way. Some sterile device I can hold in my hand with no character or "history".

It would be like putting everything I've ever published on a flash drive, putting it in my pocket and taking it out from time to time to admire the fact that somewhere in there is everything I've ever thought, struggled with, wrote. lol

How can that possibly ever compare with holding the actual book in my hand, or the manuscript? It can't!

Of course it's fabulously convenient if one's relationship to music is I'd like to hear this song by this artist "now"! But too much instant gratification can **** the imagination and creativity.

cnh