Looking for advise on SACD players

[moochie]

Hi, my older Sony SCD- 777-ES has been having problems, Not reading TOC error. I am looking for another, any combo units SACD and DVD out there of good quality to look at ? Will the blueray players do both ?

Thanks,
Chuck

[JonMarsh]

The Sony BluRay player does SACD- I don't know how well. I still have an SCD-777ES which works well, but most of my SACD listening is done on a Marantz SA-11S now- the SCD777ES is in the bedroom.

Sounds like you need a new OPU unit. Shouldn't be too hard to get repaired at a Sony Service center; they may have to ship it to one of the national centers. Certainly no reason to toss an expensive player for lack of a working laser diode!

~JON

[moochie]

Jon,
I sent The Sony CD player for repair. A very fair flat rate at around $280.00 if nothing major is busted. But still looking for another? Also I went to a dealer showroom and the Sony Blue -Ray does not plat CD's, which is crazy, saw another player, forgot the name but it played CD's. The only difference, the Sony is 1080-P, I was told better picture.

Thanks,
Chuck

[JonMarsh]

Well, the better picture thing may not not be debatable- most panel TV's do a pretty good job deinterlacing 1080i/60 output to create 1080P/30, WHICH IS ALL THAT IS RECORDEED ON THE DISKS!! (except film source, which is 1024P/24) When you output 1080P 60 to a display, it's just frame doubling or doing 3:2 cadence.

DVD video players are rarely the best overall players sonically; it requires too many different clocks and switching between and PLL to pull in the clock. I think in the long run you'd be better off with an audio player selected for audio, and a video player selected for video quality and features. Otherwise, you're likly to wind up with too many compromises.

[mattburk]

jon tell us about that marantz sa11 compared to other sources you are familiar with.

[jayhawk75]

i just added sa11 to my system so far so good and havent started tinkering with filtering. first results. built like tank including remote. not too much of a delay reading disc 5-10 seconds. more bass, more volume at less compared to others ( more efficient?) hasnt failed to load any disc yet. more to come.

[pbarach]

Hi, my older Sony SCD- 777-ES has been having problems, Not reading TOC error. I am looking for another, any combo units SACD and DVD out there of good quality to look at ?

I use a Denon 3910 for SACD, DVD-A, and DVD-V, as well as regular CD's. I'm very happy with the audio quality. The player has built-in bass management, including crossover selection and time delays for multichannel use. The model is discontinued and has been replaced by the 3930, which offers no advantages in audio playback over the 3910. You can find the 3910 widely discounted by authorized online dealers, down to about $800, and for the same price at Costco. On SACD's the player will, if you choose, convert DSD to analog without first converting it to PCM, although you lose the bass management option if you set up the player to operate that way. You can definitely spend a lot more money for an SACD/DVD player, but IMO you are at the point of diminishing returns if you spend much more than the original list price of the 3910 (I think it was $1300 or $1500); at $800, it's a great value.

I have had zero problems reading any kind of disc I've used it for, including cd/sacd/dvd/dvd-a/mp3/cd-r/cd-rw/various rerewritable DVD's.

[Chris D]

Agreed, I really enjoy my 3910 and will be hanging on to it.

[Alaric]

I'm really pleased with my Marantz SA8260(now discontinued). It's replacement model is the SA8001 , which is 2 ch. only.(SA8260 has 5.1 capability) That seems to be the only difference other than a price drop.
In fact , my SACD/CD player is likely the best component in my modest system-except for the interconnects. (plug for Doug :T )

[Chris D]

A Dug Plug? (Doug Ploug?)