Post by SnaggS May 10, 2012 (1 of 9)
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Are there any now days? or are DVD players the only option? I think dedicated players are important long term for those who like to keep their music separate from HT.
Daniel.
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Post by Claude May 10, 2012 (2 of 9)
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Not to my knowledge, if by entry level you mean below $500.
Sony stopped selling non-ES CD/SACD players several years ago, the last being
Sony SCD-CE595 disc changer ($150 list price)
Sony SCD-XB790 ($400)
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SnaggS said:
Are there any now days? or are DVD players the only option? I think dedicated players are important long term for those who like to keep their music separate from HT.
Daniel.
I would think sound and price would be the most important factors. Whether a player is dedicated or is a universal player should be unimportant. It does seem that universal players dominate the lower price points and that dedicated, mainly stereo only, players are considered "higher end".
But, one has to be careful. Price does not equal quality. Universal players can be priced low because they also participate in the huge home theater market. High volumes can translate to dramatically lower unit prices. More boutiquey, low volume "high end" audio only players may be disproportionately overpriced. This may be contrary to the notion that somehow audio only players have better stuff inside and that there is no waste on video functionality for the dollar. Sales volume differences and dealer markups can easily overcome that in terms of final pricing for the audio quality obtained.
My suggestion is just to listen if you can to what sounds best to you. Your ears and the rest of your system will not know or care that you are only using a universal player for audio playback and never touch the video capabilities.
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Post by tnili May 10, 2012 (4 of 9)
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Marantz SA 8004 at $999 is about as entry-level as you can get price wise. It has received some good reviews as well.
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Post by AmonRa May 10, 2012 (5 of 9)
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If you use HDMI to feed audio to a receiver, any player will do equally well. If you need more hi-fi, then one with DSD-HDMI.
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I always liked the Sony CE-595, as have many others. It's mostly unavailable new, but you can easily get one off eBay used for under $100. Analog outputs only for SACD (but it has 6CH analog outputs), but it was designed with SACD in mind and I always preferred the sound of it to an Oppo's PCM output over HDMI. The 5-disc carousel is also a nice touch.
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SnaggS said:
Are there any now days? or are DVD players the only option? I think dedicated players are important long term for those who like to keep their music separate from HT.
Daniel.
I agree with Claude on this one........there are still entry level Dedicated SACD players around but that entry price is not the same as cheap. Seems entry level is in the $1000+ price range these days, which to be fair is probably right when compared to the mega bucks high end versions at the other end of the price scale.
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I guess we have a rich crowd here....you guys aren't looking low enough.
Onkyo C-S5VL CD/SACD player
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=C-S5VL&class=Compact Disc&p=i
Street price in the US: $350.00 brand-new from authorized dealers. Don't know if this model is available to the OP.
Btw, OP didn't mention whether multi-channel playback was required. The Onkyo is a 2-channel only model.
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Post by SnaggS May 10, 2012 (9 of 9)
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Fitzcaraldo215 said:
I would think sound and price would be the most important factors. Whether a player is dedicated or is a universal player should be unimportant. It does seem that universal players dominate the lower price points and that dedicated, mainly stereo only, players are considered "higher end".
But, one has to be careful. Price does not equal quality. Universal players can be priced low because they also participate in the huge home theater market. High volumes can translate to dramatically lower unit prices. More boutiquey, low volume "high end" audio only players may be disproportionately overpriced. This may be contrary to the notion that somehow audio only players have better stuff inside and that there is no waste on video functionality for the dollar. Sales volume differences and dealer markups can easily overcome that in terms of final pricing for the audio quality obtained.
My suggestion is just to listen if you can to what sounds best to you. Your ears and the rest of your system will not know or care that you are only using a universal player for audio playback and never touch the video capabilities.
It's not the same from an ergonomics point of view. The straight CD/SACD players were very simply in appearance and button count. This is a gift for an older friend of mine. He won't have a computer or use email :)
Also, if you look at the XE-800, you got a bare-bones machine with a wonderful VC24 chipset for the same price.
Maybe I should track down one of these from the UK while stores still have a few old stock. Its a shame it was discontinued, as if I was starting again in HiFi, this is the kind of thing I'd want. People are obviously keeping their dedicated SACD players as there are barely any on ebay. None in Australia or UK, just a few in the US.
Daniel.
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