SACD Owners Rejoice

About a year and a half ago I started this thread (SACD Owners Beware ) about concerns that I had read about (in HiFi+ and HFN&RR) that SACD owners may have few or no choices to play their SACD's when their current players wore out. This was due to the fact that a Sony chip crucial to certain SACD transports (in particular the highly regarded Esoteric transport mechanisms) was not longer going to be made. Hi-end manufacturer dCS had just announced that its new single box player would not play SACD's due to the Sony chip no longer being available.

What a difference 17 months makes. In the last week I have read about two new single box SACD players where the companies (Marantz and T+A) have announced that these players will use their own newly in house developed SACD transports. Late last year PS Audio announced its own SACD transport (based on the Oppo transport) that sends the actual DSD date stream to its own highly acclaimed Direct Stream DAC. I am happy to say that this PS Audio duo now serves as my own reference quality digital front end. All three of these players also use custom in house developed DAC's that decode the DSD data stream as a true PDM (pulse density modulation) data stream using true one-bite decoding techniques. Below are links to these three SACD players:

Marantz US | SA-10

MP 3100 HV Multi Source Player

DirectStream Memory Player | PS Audio

DirectStream DAC | PS Audio

While all three of these players are flagship products for their respect manufactures and are not inexpensive there are many less costly SACD players being made today. To mention just two, I know that Marantz makes less expensive SACD players and Oppo still makes an SACD player that sells for about $500.

Today for anyone interested getting into SACD's I would "say come on in - the water is fine".

 

Marantz SA- IO player is far too expensive and a waste of space & time as it is Stereo only and SACD sounds best mch. I bought the previous Marantz SA7-S1 and sold it after a 700 hour burn in.The forthcoming Sony UBP-X8OO looks very good & excellent value

 

Well, thanks for the update.

I can now cross this off the list of "things I cannot control but I worry about them anyway"...

 

Clearly you are looking for entry level players and that is great. FWIW, I am not a fan of mch and have enjoyed two channel SACD for 15 years now. but that doesn't mean that those who like mch should not have it.

 

The Sony doesn't have analog outs though. Not really designed for folks wanting top-notch audio.

 

The SACD by OPPO selling for about 500. is in my home. beautiful machine.....Absolutely swear by it.....

 

I was considering getting this as replacement for my failing Oppo, but can't since I need the analog outs because my receiver is old

 

For how inexpensive it is, I consider it a bargain. It gets the job done quite nicely.

 

I have the 103. Love it. I was planning on getting the 205 but the lack of HDCD is huge problem. Hoping they add it eventually.

 

Heck, even McIntosh has some skin in the game now with a couple SACD players in the lineup.

 

I bought a 103 and returned for a refund, it has poor sound & video compared to Sony's cheaper players'

 

Get a new receiver ,

 

I think Oppo may not be making the 105 or 103 anymore. Also, their website lists very few products. I'm wondering what is going on with them.

 

I had cheap Sony SACD player for years. The Oppo was a massive upgrade.

 

I have the Sony combo STR-DA5400ES (Uk version) & Sony XA5400ES SACD player, HDMI connected , nothing I have auditioned including dCs beats it for mch SACD. For BD I use the Sony 1000Es far superior to overated overpriced Oppo 103,105

 

Oppo is/was busy rolling out new products. The Sonica DAC, UDP 203 and the soon to be released UDP 205 are all new. Plus headphones, how many products do you need from Oppo?

 

The OPPO BDP 103 is not over priced. It's all relative I guess. I gladly shelled out the funds for the 103....it snuggled right into the 8 speaker surround system...great machine. I don't use it for Blu Ray though...I have a separate blu ray unit. I only use it for SACD's and reg cd's.

 

Just got a demo 103 w/full mfg warranty just in case my Yami 961 bites the dust. The 5 disc carousel is a bit sticky but still enjoy the unit w/HDMI & analog outs. With my ancient ears cannot really hear a difference, and that is fine. ​

 

I need some help here. I use a transport/DAC arrangement to play discs, and the analog outs from my DAC feed my preamp. How does this work?

 

I see.

 

With the Sony player?

 

as stated, the 103 is not over priced...you get what you pay for. I wont go cheap on the SACD player...

 

Nothing in the 500 dollar range compares.

 

No one has mentioned the Sony UHP-H1. A very nice unit for around $300. I call it the poor man's OPPO.
Plays SACD, CD, CD-R, Blu-Ray (w/4k upsampling), DVD, DVD-A, and WiFi internet streaming.
Internal 24/192 DAC, dual HDMI, coax, optical, and analog stereo outputs. Hifi direct audio switch to bypass the video section, etc.