can I find a good sacd player for 400-500?

I have decided that as much as I would like to get a Rotel cd player, I would rather have something that plays sacds as well. Dead or not, I have enough sacds to make it a worthy purchase. What can I get new in the 400-500 dollars range that compares to Rotel?
Thanks for all the help guys, I will figure out how to get this system together before too much longer.
Rob

 

The Sony DVP-S9000ES is a great player. This place https://ganymede.cybrzn.com/soundseller/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/277 still has some left. The machine has been out of production for a while. It was quite expensive, but this place seems to be blowing them out for almost nothing!!

 

This unit is quite 'modable' too with some excellent after-market hot rodding for it. That being said it wont play CDR with any reliability so if that is an issue you should pass on it. Great price though.

 

That website describes the unit this way, regarding 5.1 channels:

"Because there are no onboard 5.1-channel decoders for Dolby Digital or DTS, there are no 5.1-channel connections. But the player is, of course, fully compatible with both formats through its digital outputs. "

SO, is this stereo-only SACD? Or does it have i-link for surround connections?

 

It is stereo only as far as the analog outputs go. However, if you use it as a DVD player, it will send DTS and Dolby multichannel audio through SPDIF.

 

When you say Rotel, I assume you have been considering the RCD-1072. It's a great CD player and one I have been thinking of getting for my second system. Your best bet for a new SACD player in your price range is probably the Sony SCD-C2000ES changer. It's a great player for $400 retail (likely available for considerably less from J&R Music World or Oade Bros.), but it doesn't compete with the Rotel as a CD player. I have one and greatly enjoy it, but it does have its limitations.

My suggestion is that you get the Rotel for CD playback and then get the $150 Sony SCD-CE595 changer for SACDs. The 'CE595 is not as good as the 'C2000ES, but it comes quite close. It is very impressive for $150. Get it for spend a bit more the 'C2000ES. I know you are not looking to get two players, but doing so will serve you better in the long run than settling for one of the SACD changers for CD playback.

 

I agree it's a great player. The only thing I don't like about it is that it will not play anything I've burned on CD-R. If you buy one AND can find a brand of CD-R that it likes, PLEASE let me know.

 

If you buy a Sony, I heavily recommend buying an extended warranty for it. And, not being able to reliably play CD-Rs is a major drawback to me.

I'd buy this Yamaha sacd/dvd player myself (me no like universal players), and buy the Rotel CD-only player to go with it. The Yamaha also has a metal faceplate, at least the silver version I saw at Best Buy did.

 

Which player is it that won't play CD-Rs?

 

Any old Pioneer LD player with a digital output makes a great transport for CD-R's, btw...

It's my impression that some Sony SACD pickups don't like CD-R's. I know my SCD-XA777's doesn't. I got a CD-R, and didn't know it, from a www.cdbaby.com artist. The 777 mistracked on it. I promptly determined the disc was some sort of CD-R burn, I think. It so happens that I was attempting to play a CD-R when it's CD laser went south. I had to have it serviced for that.

Sony Service is poor in the east, don't let anyboy kid ya about that, that's my experience. I affectionatly call the service facility up in the Philly area the House of Horrors. I sent my 777 to the H of H twice. First time it came back with new optics but the digial out's for CD's wasn't working. At great expense, I shipped it back again. It came back promptly the second time and the digital's out were fixes but now the analog outputs didn't work on CD's.

At which point, I didn't want to send back to the H of H. I called my dealer, Oade Brothers, and the elder brother ended up working on it, for no charge, AND they paid the shipping back to me. I emailed the dude and asked him if he modd'ed my deck. He said not, but he nailed down some series of adjustments. I'm so sure it sounds better after dude worked on it than it did new. Moral of the story, IMO, the Sony ES warranty is over-rated here in the east. ES pieces are too good to be sent to the H of H, IMO. I've heard much better things about the west facility, which I think is in Orange County, Cali, I think...?

I have a Sony ES 555 MD deck that I'm paying somebody to fix rather than send it to the H of H. They killed Keith's there. He's been there and seen the carnage in person.

For stereo, I'd jump on the 9000ES and forget putting burned media in it. The DVD section is quite good. The progressive is stille above average and the interlaced superior, for sure, if one needed it.

If ya have to have M/C get the ES 2000 5-disc. It'll proably play burned stuff better than my 777. My SCD-775 changer handles CD-R's fine and I'm not afraid to put them in it since I only paid $100 for it. I think some Sony models that claim to play CD-R's have some problems with them, like mine, my 777 that is. The changers seem to do better with CD-R's. I don't routinely play them in my ES changer though. ...just worried...

 

Just so ya know, I've got the Sony DVP-NS900V. It has 5.1 analog outs for surroundin' SACD's. It plays CD-R's, VCD's and SVCD's that I've burned on CD-R, DVD+R, DVD-R. Sounds great, solid build. Doesn't play MP3's, which is a non-issue for me, but might be for you. Their newest version of this player is the SONY DVP-NS999ES, and it does add MP3 capabilities. Do a quick search on the site Joe listed for the 2 channel SACD player. The 999 is outside of your price range, but I got my 900 for a good deal off the suggested retail. If you can still find it, it'll probably be even less, or you can probably score a good deal on the newer model.

 

The DVP-9000ES won't play CD-R's but it will play CD-RW's. So, you do have an option.

Units being sold through dealers should come with a 5yr factory warranty, even if it's a blow-out price. I think the SACD playback on this unit is excellent stock, but redbook playback is so-so at best, IMHO. If you're thinking about uprgrades down the line, this player sounds great with tube mods, both SACD and redbook (discussed recently on other threads).

Cheers,
Mike

 

You may want to look for a used Sony 222ES. It's one of the early generation Sony SACD players (it's a carousel) and they are popular for mods. I've seen them on Audiogon for around $300, which is a decent price. I had mine modded by Matt Anker at sacdmods.com and have been very pleased with the sound.

And mine plays CD-R's just fine.

Chris

 

I once tried a CD-R on my '777ES, and it could not track it. It skipped all over the place, much like what Rachael described. Now that was nearly five years ago on a TDK 74-minutes CD-R, but I haven't had the nerve to try it again. By contrast, all my other SACD players (SCD-C333ES, two 'C555ES changers, and the 'C2000ES) have handled all CD-Rs I've tried flawlessly.

 

Keith, once my optics got out of whack, most CD's would cycle atleast 45 seconds, or maybe indefinitely, before they would maybe start playback. Sometimes I'd have to cut the power to stop the deck from cycling, apparently looking for the CD's go-code, apparently. Discs that played usually couldn't be track skipped because the laser would get lost on a jump. They'd usually play straight-through, but occasionally not. SACD playback was never affected, never a problem there. Although, sometimes hybrids took a bit longer to read the TOC, seemingly, maybe an extra 15-20 seconds, sometimes, not always.

I'm thinking that the 777's and most likely the 9000 too have tighter adjustments, or alignments on the optics than other models. If a CD-R or even CD is a little out'a spec it drives the laser batty and off line trying to read it. I'm thinking a voodoo CD layer like on a Dual-y Disc might be instant terror too...? Never, no F'in way! Not in my deck!

The CD-(R) from CD Baby that offended my 777 scared me that I'd need a new repair. It was some Brazilian jazz group. Good music, crap disc, IMO. I told 'em so when they e-mailed me for feedback.

 

Keith - you're talking about your SCD-777ES and Rachael you're talking about you SCD-XA777ES, right?

I've never had any trouble playing CD-Rs on my SCD-1. Of course, the SCD-1 has the same transport as the SCD-777ES but not the SCD-XA777ES.

I started off with 74 min "Studio" TDKs in the early days but have thrown all sorts (literally hundreds) of 74 & 80 min CD-Rs in it with no hint of trouble.

As far as I remember neither the SCD-777ES or the SCD-1 were ever advertised as being CD-R/RW compatible - not sure about the XA777ES.

 

how does everyone feel about the 2910. I am thinking of getting one of those as my next major purchase (because of the HDCD encoding among other things).

it's about $600 but I keep thinking about spending it.

what is everyone's opinion?

 

Don't give up on that Rotel dream - I got an all-but-new Rotel 1072 at Audiogon for $500.

On the SACD tip, I've been very happy with my Philips DVD963SA. DVD video performance is excellent, the upsampled Red Book sound is smooth as silk, and SACD performance is solid. I believe you can get these new for well under $500 - they go used on Audiogon for under $300 on a regular basis.

Only drawbacks are it's really finicky about DVDs, doesn't like scratched discs at all (it only played about 50% of the discs I rented before I stopped renting), and it tends to infuse CDR playback with digi-pops for no apparent reason.

 

Pioneer does nice stuff in your range of price.

 

I often play CDRs made from an Alessis recording deck on my SCD-777ES with no trouble at all. Dozens of CDs have played fine for me for 5 years+...

 

I think the guy was looking at four to five HUNDRED dollars not four to five THOUSAND dollars...

 

Hi,

The best SACD player for $500 will be a used one!

Take care,
Jeffrey

 

I think KeithH may have the right idea. I really want that Rotel cd player. I had no idea I could get a decent sacd changer for 150.

 

Hi,

Neither did I.

Take care,
Jeffrey

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-f7cIhsd7iqm/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=53100&I=158SCDC595