SACD player upgrade below $1,500

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by deniss, Jun 12, 2018.

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  1. joelee

    joelee Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Houston
    Arcam CDS27
    CDS27 - CD Player - Arcam

    For $1100 a sound that as close to true analogue as most $5000 players

    Plays CD/SACD

    I own the Arcam CD37 which is the older CD/SACD player, had it for 12 years, it's cost me $1750 and worth every cent.

    I would not get a Universal Player, I have an OPPO 83SE, the Arcam blows it out of the water for Redbook/SACD playback.
     
    krlpuretone, F1nut, deniss and 3 others like this.
  2. deniss

    deniss Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Princeton, NJ, USA
    Good point.

    If the specs are worth anything... Yamaha Aventage BD-A1060 uses Texas Instruments PCM1795 192kHz/32 bit DAC. My current Yahama uses a 192/24 DAC, which I recall is also Burr Brown/TI. There are new features on the Aventage such as WiFi, USB, ability to play FLAC files, fully balanced outputs from the DAC, but not all of them matter for audio quality. My current unit lists SNR=115 and dynamic range=105db. Aventage lists SNR=115 and dynamic range=110 db for BluRay/DVD and 100 for CD. It also has the PureDirect and CD-only modes to turn off any unneeded circuitry.

    That said, you could be right -- given the amount of features packed into this unit, transport and DAC may not be too far from my original unit. That's a concern.

    My AV dealer can get most any Marantz, Denon, Cambridge Audio, McIntosh, PeachTree, Pioneer/Elite, Rotel, PrimaLuna, and others. He used to sell (and highly recommend) the Oppo players. He pointed out a Sony ES universal player, which he had on display, but said it's a bit flimsy and not really high-end.

    He pointed out Denon DCD-1600NE, which retails around $1,100. It's an SACD player. Has limited outputs/inputs, but that's less important to me, as long as its musical reproduction is refined and pleasing. There are no real reviews for it in the US, but in Europe it seems to do well, especially German folks seem to really like it.

    Likely, Denon and Marantz SA8005 should be more or less sister units. Maybe Marantz is considered a bit more upmarket. Many refer to the Denon sound signature very favorably.

    Thanks for that suggestion. How do you end up purchasing Arcam in the US? Do they have a dealer network here?
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
  3. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Man that's a beauty! If confirmed it could handle pre-emph discs (subq) I'd consider this.
     
    JayNYC and George P like this.
  4. joelee

    joelee Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Houston
    Do any stand-alone players handle pre-emph discs??

    If you have a local dealer that sells Arcam see if you can loan this player.
     
    c-eling likes this.
  5. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I notice that Magnolia sells Arcam, though I am not sure if they sell the model you mentioned. I haven't looked that far into it yet. If they did sell the Arcam you mentioned, the ones near me let you try out new stuff for (I think) 30 days and then return.
     
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  6. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Toughie in Michigan I think. I'd have to do some traveling...
    Oppo's, Marantz table of contents,Onkyo 7030 with the Wolfson DAC, both- trick is the sub tag location. Frustrating...
     
  7. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    This thread reminds me of the easiest way to get a piece of gear that suits your needs.

    Change your "needs".
     
    Linger63 and joelee like this.
  8. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Unfortunately some of my favorite mastering's carry PE.
     
  9. deniss

    deniss Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Princeton, NJ, USA
    I wonder how Arcam CDS27 would fare against the Denon DCD-1600NE. Any thoughts on that? It seems surprising that Arcam can also offer streaming and USB capability at the same price point as the Denon.

    Question: Let's say both players have the same DAC chip. Doesn't mean they will perform the same, though, does it? For example, both Denon DCD-1600NE SACD/CD player and the Yamaha Aventage universal player I mentioned above have the same DAC chip: Burr Brown/TI PCM1795.
     
  10. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Best solution would be to try to get both players from a local dealer and do an in home comparison. I have no experience with either player but between the two I would choose the Arcam.
     
    deniss likes this.
  11. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Ok, good to know the SA8005 is truly discontinued. In that case, save your pennies....work something out with your dealer for the SA-14S1 since music is your primary interest. It's way better than anything else mentioned here.
     
  12. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Is the Denon DCD-1600NE marketed in the U.S.? The picture on amazon.com shows 100 V on the back panel, not 110 V. Also, supporting pictures have Japanese text.
     
  13. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    I think Music Direct sells it.
     
  14. joelee

    joelee Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Houston
    ditto
     
  15. deniss

    deniss Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Princeton, NJ, USA
    Yes, the Denon DCD-1600NE is sold in the US. It doesn't appear on the Denon USA website, as my AV dealer pointed out, but it is available. It's sold by MusicDirect as well as B&H Photo Video. It seems to be a fairly new release. No reviews on this machine in the US that I could find.
     
  16. tronds

    tronds Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norway
    If I were you, I'd consider a player with the option to rip the SACD's as well. This pretty drastically limits the selection of players, but having a backup can be really worth it.
     
  17. I have both the Oppo 83 and the Oppo 205, they've come a long way in sound quality since that first generation of players. Now how the 203 would stack up against the Arcam I have no idea, but I'd guess it would be a tighter race.
     
    Linger63 likes this.
  18. deniss

    deniss Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Princeton, NJ, USA
    Sorry for my ignorance on this -- what is the option to rip SACDs? Do you have an example of one such player?
     
  19. tronds

    tronds Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norway
    In addition to an early PS3, SACD players that have the Mediatek chips MT8580 (like Oppo 103/105, Cambridge Audio 752bd/cxu, Pioneer bdp-lx58/88) or MT8560 (like Pioneer BDP-160, 170 and BDP-80FD) can be made to rip SACD's as shown in this guide. I personally have the 752BD, which works excellent.
     
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  20. joelee

    joelee Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Houston
    Run my OPPO through a Arcam DAC, stand-alone CD37 still beats it though.
    The DAC is wonderful though for Blu-Rays and DVD-audio discs.
     
  21. ALAN SICHERMAN

    ALAN SICHERMAN Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    My advice is do not buy a used player.
     
    soundboy likes this.
  22. bean_counter

    bean_counter Well-Known Member

    I bought the Pioneer; works great. Kind of flimsy build (and I didn't even bother to listen to it) but for the limited use for ripping, it's fine.

    Ripped all of my SACDs (and CDs) and play off of an old surplus PC using JRiver, through a TEAC UD-503 DAC.

    The TEAC for around $1k likely sounds better than any unit in this thread except the SA14-S1. And there's no transport to take a dump someday.
     
    tronds likes this.
  23. I'd call Oppo and see if they can get you an Oppo UDP-203 or 205. I bought a 203 from them 3 weeks ago. You've got to call them directly and talk to a real person.
     
    SOONERFAN likes this.
  24. deniss

    deniss Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Princeton, NJ, USA
    Let's summarize where we stand.

    Current options for new SACD/CD players (not universal players) under $1,500:

    Arcam CDS27, ~ $1,000
    Denon DCD-1600NE, ~ $1,100
    Yamaha CD-S1000, ~$1,200 (see feedback above on questionable reliability)

    Out of budget: Marantz S14S1, ~$2,500
    Discontinued: Marantz SA8005


    I will not name the universal players here because this wasn't really the emphasis of my thread, but there is a possibility of getting some last Oppo 203/205 out there, Yamaha Aventage BD-A1060 looks decent also for Audio, and maybe some other universals out there.

    As many have mentioned, there are used options, but I am not interested in those with disc players.
     
    George P likes this.
  25. scobb

    scobb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Way better than the Yamaha CD-s2100? That is quite a claim!

    The arcam model mentioned earlier in the thread has been replaced with a new model. Not sure if there are reviews in yet for the new player?

    CDS50 - CD Player - Arcam
     
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