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Just getting back into hifi after a long hiatus and am now looking for a sacd player. I have noticed that not all players have 5.1 output - what's the go with that? I had assumed that as most sacd's have both stereo and 5.1 capabilities the players would reflect this - but apparently not. So I've made an initial trawl of the net and have gotten a tad confused. Seems as though that true 5.1 sacd players in the $1K - $2k bracket are few and far between. Any suggestions for brands/models? Or should I go the Bluray player with the sacd compatibility (even though that's not what I really want)?
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Do you really mean 5.1 or just 5.0?
5.1 is a movie sound standard where the low bass is directed to it's own channel (0.1) with 10 dB level boost. The side channels have no bass. That has no place in high fidelity world.
5 channel (5.0) SACD outputs all carry the full frequency range, as it should be with music. If a subwoofer is needed, all decent units can do the filtering for you from all channels.
In the ideal world all 5 speakers would be full range or with their own subwoofers, of course. But the 5(outputs) to 1(sub) to 5 speakers works fine also with good (large) subwoofer.
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Post by hanser January 27, 2010 (3 of 32)
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I think he means that there are a lot of stereo only SACD players. Multichannel SACD is more often found in universal players like the Denon models (I have the 2910) or the new blu-ray universal players. I think there is a Sony multichannel SACD player which seems to be quite good.
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Post by Johnbs January 27, 2010 (4 of 32)
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Savage Karma said:
Just getting back into hifi after a long hiatus and am now looking for a sacd player. I have noticed that not all players have 5.1 output - what's the go with that? I had assumed that as most sacd's have both stereo and 5.1 capabilities the players would reflect this - but apparently not.
You may need to distinguish whether you require analog output or HDMI is sufficient (because your amplifier/receiver can decode DSD over HDMI).
For example, the 3 Oppo Bluray players are very similar for SACD audio if you choose HDMI output, but quite different for analog output.
John
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Which is best - analog or HDMI? My a/v receiver has both (it's a Marantz SR5004).
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Thanx for the clarification.
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Yes, that what I mean. Why mostly stereo though?
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Savage Karma said:
Just getting back into hifi after a long hiatus and am now looking for a sacd player. I have noticed that not all players have 5.1 output - what's the go with that? I had assumed that as most sacd's have both stereo and 5.1 capabilities the players would reflect this - but apparently not. So I've made an initial trawl of the net and have gotten a tad confused. Seems as though that true 5.1 sacd players in the $1K - $2k bracket are few and far between. Any suggestions for brands/models? Or should I go the Bluray player with the sacd compatibility (even though that's not what I really want)?
Best MCH SACD player is the Sony STR-XA5400ES an audiophile bargain.Best performance is with matching Sony DA6400ES receiver.
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Post by zeus January 27, 2010 (9 of 32)
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Savage Karma said:
Yes, that what I mean. Why mostly stereo though?
Because you can simply swap a CD player in your stereo system with an SA-CD player for (arguably) better sound. Most multichannel players go into HT systems, so the added video capability is attractive to many. I'm not sure of the ratio of stereo to multichannel players, but there are plenty of both to choose from ... though stereo-only predominates at the high end (due mainly to consumer demand).
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Savage Karma said:
Which is best - analog or HDMI? My a/v receiver has both (it's a Marantz SR5004).
The digital signal has to be DA converted somewhere. Impossible to say which does the conversion better, player (analog outs)or the reciver (fed digitally via HDMI).
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