Philips SACD 1000 - The Inside Scoop

polkatese · February 2003

Guys,

I thought this is interesting and intriguing to see the inside, including DACs, of SACD-1000. Obviously, since I owned one, it's self serving, but I thought I'd shared with the rest of polksters.....

http://www.muw.edu/~staylor/sacd_1000.htm

cheers,

F1nut · February 2003

polkatese,

What did you think of the SACD 1000?

polkatese · February 2003

F1nut,
I thought it was the steal of the century, when I got it from Tweeter for $399, given the fact that it was designed and sold for the $2000 niche market. I had it for almost 3 months now, and it gets better everytime I play it. It slowly breaking in. I compared its redbook performance to my old Sony XA3ES, and it's clearly better than the Sony. The amount of "newly discovered" details and clarity on redbook is still amazed me. On SACD Multichannel, it really enhances the experience and enjoyment of listening to the source. For instance, I have Krall's The Look of Love on both formats, and the difference in the two is substantial, even on 2 channel mode. I haven't try the DVD video, since I don't really use it for video. The downside, flimsy drawer and a noisy transport. But, as you can see the link attached, it packs a full 6 channels discreet analog that more than justify the $399 price. Would I buy it if it's still $2000 machine? hell, no! at that price, there are quite a few other reference players. There are several mods out there that was supposed to take this player to the next level (modwright, etc.) and it intrigued me to say the least, on the possibilities. If it sounds this good out of the box, how much more improvement can it be? All in all, it's a great machine. Hope it helps...

ps: because of this player, I had much more appreciation of interconnects, specifically the signalcable I/C. Yes, I can tell the difference of a better clarity, bass punchyness, soundstage, much more defined mid and high, compared to the monster M550i. I just placed an order for the speaker cable from Frank, can't wait to experience even more out-of-body experience.....needless to say, I am sold on signalcable products (btw, powercord DO make a difference too)

PETERNG · February 2003

this is one "damm good" piece of equipment, one of the benchmark SACD player.

polkatese · February 2003

Peter,
hear, hear. Hope it lasts, since it has been discontinued.....the newer 963 is not even close in SACD performance compared to this one, so they said.

brettw22 · February 2003

Originally posted by polkatese
flimsy drawer and a noisy transport.

This is something that I've been meaning to ask......

What the hell is a transport? I've seen players that were named Transports......but not players..........anyone clarify?

jrausch · February 2003

The transport contains only the drive mechanism and laser pickup. They are then used in conjunction with a separate Digital to Analog converter. All of the money goes toward just this setup is to reduce jitter. This includes a precision motor to keep the speeds more consistant and heavy spindles to keep the disk from wobbling and a better laser pickup assembly for better accuracy. Does this make a difference? That depends on how clean the rest of your system is. In a pure class A system it makes a night and day difference. In a lesser system it may not even be noticeable. It may sound a little over the top, but it does make the music sound like music. Most people think their speakers sound bright or harsh because thats just how they are. 9 times out of ten its because their CD player is a jitter ridden POS. Just because its digital does not make it perfect. I wish I had a nice DAC and transport I could pass around to all of the Polk members to show them the difference, but once they hear it I would never see it again. When your looking for something that could really open up how your system sounds, this setup could be the big ticket.

F1nut · February 2003

I found this about the new one, doesn't look bad.

PHILIPS 963SA MULTI-CH SACD/DVD-VIDEO/CD PLAYER

Our Price: $499.99
Out of Stock
Quantity

To see a detailed picture of the back of the player click here

Purchase the Philips DVD963SA and automatically receive 10% off ALL future SACD purchases from Elusive Disc, Inc. until 12/31/2003!

Find out for yourself how great this player is at no risk with our 30-day satisfaction guarantee! Order one today online or call us at 800-782-3472 to speak with one of our equipment specialists. The new improved replacement for the highly acclaimed Philips SACD1000 player is here at 1/2 the price!

The sound quality of SACD section of this unit is fabulous! Deep defined bass, lots of air and transparency, rich and textured midrange, and a silky top end. The DVD963SA preserves the exquisite difference between a Stradivarius and a mere fiddle. It features the latest Faroudja video chipset and remote selectable CD up-sampling to reproduce the best possible picture and sound from your DVD movies and standard CD's also. If you have never experienced SACD sound or you are looking for an upgrade to your current SACD/DVD/CD player we can't recommend the DVD963SA highly enough. Below you will see a extensive list of features for the SACD, DVD and CD sections of this remarkable player.

"As good as the SACD1000 was the DVD963sa takes it to a whole new level and that's just the SACD section! The 963SA is also a great DVD-Video and standard CD player. So good in fact I bought one myself!" - Bob Bantz / President Elusive Disc, Inc.

Features:
Ultra Low Jitter Master Clock
24bit/192k CD upsampling on/off via remote control
Audio direct button to turn off all video circuitry for lowest noise possible
Dual Laser Pickup
Extra rigid chassis with double bottom plate
Fully separate analog and digital circuitry
Twelve discrete Class-A op-amps
Detachable IEC power cord
Fully Separate Analog and Digital Processors
Brand new Faroudja 108Mhz/13bit DCDi chip-set for video
Advanced bass management system
Full-function remote control
SACD/CD Text display
Optical and coaxial outputs for PCM, Dolby Digital, MPEG2 and DTS
5.1 analog outputs
2 channel stereo output
component video output
composite video outputs
S-Video outputs

This Store Powered by SiteLINK. © Dydacomp 1999.

polkatese · February 2003

Jrausch,
great explanations, I've seen some of those highly acclaimed transports, beautiful piece of equipments, don't have the stomach of the prices, though...

F1Nut,
you can get the 963 as low as $399 too, I am waiting to see if someone on hirez forum to take it apart just like the guy who did the 1000. Either way, I think Philips and Sony equipments have the upper hand on SACD hirez players....imo

PETERNG · February 2003

The SACD-1000 is a much-more quality built than the new one, for $399, it's a steal, hang on to it my friend...

polkatese · February 2003

Peter,
oh yeah, don't worry...it ain't gonna go anywhere...I love the machine, glad that you concur....

F1nut · February 2003

Polkatese,

Where did you hear that the 963 wasn't as good? What do you know about the Sony SCD-XA777ES? I'm in the market for one, but like my sig says, I like to plan.

F1

jrausch · February 2003

Polkatese,

The Sony XA777 is an excellent piece and is in an entirely different league than the Phillips. If youre looking to spend in the $3000 range then this is up there with the best. It has one of the smoothest transports I have ever seen you cant hear it open or close. The laser pickup is also very quiet and quick. Just hit any access keys and it moves instantly to that track without hesitation or noise. The only problem with this kind of quality is the rest of your system had better be on par with it or you will not be able to take advantage of just how good it sounds. You cant put a pair of $10,000 rims on a $2000 car, unless you live in the ghetto and your arms move around like you have M.S. If your in the market for an excellent player, the Pioneer 47A is such a great do everything player that it would be hard to pass up its price/performance/quality ratio. For a few hundred it will get you by until youre ready to plop down a few grand. Competition and quality on SACD players is going to heat up in the near future, so you may want to put your purchase on hold for a few. New higher performance DACs are just around the corner.

polkatese · February 2003

F1Nut,
Jrausch had answered your question on the XA777 and I fully agreed it is a reference player. He also made a point on the new crop of universal players in the making. I would have gone with the Elite 47Ai, had I not bump into the SACD-1000. XA777 in considered to be on par with the Sony SCD-1 (top of the line, reference unit, but doesn't do MCH).

As far as 963, there are tons of discussions on its merit on Hirez forum (audioasylum.com) that you can get a fair comparisons from those folks that have both. Caveat: a lot of those were their personal subjective opinions....

F1nut · February 2003

Thanks guys!

You've given me a better idea of what's what.

Philips SACD 1000 - The Inside Scoop

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