SACD and 5.1 future, with Marantz and Oppo opting out?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by signothetimes53, Apr 8, 2018.

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  1. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    As far as I know Marantz just released the new SA-10 SACD player which I think costs around 5 or 6 grand. It seems that there are still quite a few SACD players available, just no affordable ones like the $1200 Marantz. I'm not sure if Yamaha still makes the CD-S1000 at $1300. I better start saving now for when my 3 year old Marantz SA-8005 kicks the bucket. It seems the only remotely affordable options for me will be the Marantz SA-14 at $2500 or the aforementioned Yamaha at $3000. But like you said maybe they will pull the plugs on these models too!
     
  2. scobb

    scobb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    They may have already done so? They have discontinued their Blu Ray player and their CD/SACD players are a couple of years old now.
     
  3. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    I take as a small consolation that all of my SACDs are hybrids. Unfortunately it looks like I may eventually be back to a Redbook only player.
     
  4. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I only have 2 single-layer SACD's and the rest of them are hybrid ...
     
  5. scobb

    scobb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    For stereo SACD there is still a future, in the short term at least, as Pioneer and Marantz just released new models. For multi channel it will require a "nearly universal" player (from Sony/Arcam or whoever) + a DSD HDMI compatible AVR
     
  6. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    It is not even clear if the Pioneer SACD player is even being sold in the US ...

    Indeed, multi-channel SACD player has a bleak future.
     
  7. Guildx500

    Guildx500 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Perhaps stand alone MC SACD players are going to be a thing of the past. But it seems like MC SACD decoding via HDMI is a still a common feature in home theater receivers so I think demand for discs will continue for some time.
     
    scobb likes this.
  8. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    Problems with the lasers no longer reading SACDs has been a hallmark flaw of many of the best Marantz and Sony SACD player models unfortunately. It's the reason why I decided to never to buy another Marantz or Sony SACD player years ago, but instead decided to just use a very reliable Oppo as my SACD transport into my DSD capable DAC. Had I not had such bad experiences with SACD laser failures inside of both of these manufacturer's SACD players, I might never have purchased my PS Audio Direct Stream DAC.

    Oppos have been incredibly reliable by comparison. By using an Oppo with an amazing DAC I believe that I have achieved the best of both worlds (reliability and some of the very best sound possible).
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2018
    RiRiIII and Rose River Bear like this.
  9. simon-wagstaff

    simon-wagstaff Forum Resident

    Blu-ray is the real loser here. Nobody cares about movie qualiity. Even on a 70 inch tv streamed movies look OK and the sound is "good"
     
  10. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    Get a decent AVR or A/V processor with HDMI. You don't need OPPO to enjoy your 5.1 or SACD, just a player that can bitstream DVD-A/SACD. Granted, OPPO does that very well. But nothing is stopping Sony/Panasonic/et al from providing the same, via HDMI.
     
  11. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    I would say that spinning digital media is the loser, not just bluray. The trend clearly indicates that all physical digital media is on borrowed time now... The only spinning media bucking the trend has been vinyl.
     
    dennis the menace, MackKnife and art like this.
  12. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    The SACD laser pickups used by both Sony and Marantz were probably made by the same company and it may even be another Sony division ...
     
  13. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    Cambridge released their 4k player recently without DACs, relying on the above processing in the AVR to handle audio conversion. Denon predated this some time ago with their Blu-ray player which was also transport only.
     
    stereoptic likes this.
  14. aakko

    aakko Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    This is OT but I don't know what you guys are on about.

    This is a fantastic time to be alive if you are a movie collector. There is an incredible amount quality blu-ray releases of classic movies from studios like Criterion, Arrow, Master's of Cinema, Warner Archive Collection etc. and more releases are coming all the time.
     
    Kristofa likes this.
  15. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member Thread Starter

    I'd like to be a fly on the wall inside the management meetings at Criterion as they plan their company's future.

    I would guess they would not be using words like "a fantastic time to be alive" to describe their business model as it has been conducted in recent years, particularly in light of the news from Oppo. I hope I'm wrong....
     
    MackKnife likes this.
  16. Wolfspaw

    Wolfspaw Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I would also add Indicator (run by former Sony Pictures employees) and Scream/Shout Factory and some smaller genre labels. Kino should probably be included as well.

    Warner Bros is probably the best major studio for releasing their catalog titles but these smaller studios are releasing some gems and films most of the majors can’t or won’t release

    Arrow releases can be region B discs but if your region free it’s not a problem

    Just because Oppo threw in the towel, doesn’t mean the industry is dead or lead to a scenario that the sky is falling. DVD and Blu are making money and who would have guessed that vinyl would not be extinct in 2020.
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2018
  17. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    Why Oppo was the last option standing at least for DVDA and Blue Ray audio. There are only a few expensive Dacs outside inferior sounding AV products that support hdmi. This is probably down to the cost of a licence for use of the technology.
     
  18. Wolfspaw

    Wolfspaw Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I don’t think it’s reported enough but Sony’s higher priced Blu Ray players have Sacd support and have been this way for years
     
    PhantomStranger likes this.
  19. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    Plenty of Blu-ray players out there from any number of manufacturers. The niche manufacturers saw their niche market reducing. That's how it is and people are generally moving to streaming models as internet speeds and packages improve and technology embeds within TVs and other smart systems.
     
  20. Wolfspaw

    Wolfspaw Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    They have been releasing products since Laserdisc and I recall them doing something in streaming and videophiles tend to love them, I think they will be fine
     
  21. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    AV amps often work well I think. I had mine for a few years (Onkyo TX-NR818) and it was a terrific performer. Couldn't complain about the musical performance at all. Handled DSD and came with a bunch of features integrated amps at the time simply didn't offer. It also gave me access to other HD audio formats I'd been keen to hear.

    DVD-A I get as an issue with licencing, but any Blu-ray player just about will handle Blu-ray Audio I'd have thought?
     
  22. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    Yes
     
    Brother_Rael likes this.
  23. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    I'm talking relative here. If you have great hi-fi amps especially pre -power you are compromisong for 2 channel use. I'm talking Hdmi licence here for reproducing SACD and other hi-res formats. I think you need £50K which is peanuts to multinationals but maybe precludes small manufacturers including it in DSD enables DACs.
     
  24. art

    art Senior Member

    Location:
    520
    Yamaha one I bought manufactured August 2017.
     
  25. scobb

    scobb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Facebook - Blu-ray Players - Yamaha - Australia

    It should also be noted that the link to the Blu ray Player section has been completely removed from the main Yamaha Hi Fi home menu (Australia). This may give an indication of their future involvement in making players?
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2018
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