I wish to add a SACD player to my Supernait 2,/Hicapdr, Focal Kanta 2, Atlas cables, Hugo2, hp800s. Having spent many Google hours checking what’s out there I came with a shot list, however these products are from Japan, so hope this doesn’t break forum rules, (anyway the Supernait 2 has a big part in this) and it appears on paper these players are outstanding products. Marantz SA10, Accuphase, Esoteric, and a Canadian offering Luxman, just wondering have any of forums members had any experience with one of these partnered with the SN2/ Hicap,
I have one of the original Sony SACD players, it’s the big 777ES model with the sliding top lid. Apparently Sony sold them for about half what it cost to develop them. However, SACD recordings are very much like HiRes downloads, some are good, loads are bad. Unfortunately, you are likely to find that just a good second hand Naim CD player, even playing standard CD’s, will be better. I know that’s not what you want to hear but it’s the truth. I’ve used the Sony as just a transport feeding an NDac using a 555Dr’d power supply and its very good but still not a match for my Naim CD555 player.
All I can say is that the Marantz SA-10 is the best CD player I have ever heard. As for SACD, it’s even better (I love SACD, but you need to be careful about the SACDs you buy).
It costs £6.5K, however, so you ought to audition it first. Certainly, if I had that sort of money, I’d buy one!
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I used my marantz sa8005 with my supernait 2 . beautiful build quality and impeccable reliablilty . i am not so sure about the sa10 , lot of money and i would need a lot of convincing that its worth it . one annoying thing is that sacd players cant be used to playback into a dac as it wont output the dsd layer . as i use a lovely valve dac thats a bit of a pain.
i also use an onkyo sacd player in main system mainly into a valve dac
Luxman are and always have been Japanese.
And I hear their players are very good. They all double as DACs with digital in.
Esoteric are said to work great with Naim amps. One dealer in Lobdon swears by Esoteric source into Naim amps.
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New cdp Exposure XM - Lee at Strictly Stereo sells these.
Then there’s the Jays Audio cd transport.
They are not sacd though.
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I’m skeptical about SACD spinners because it’s not at all clear whether they convert the DSD to PCM which is then passed to a sigmal-delta DAC chip. If they perform underhanded tricks like that, then they are merely acting as a means to decrypt the SACD disc.
The PS Audio ‘Direct Stream Memory’ player does convert DSD directly to analog without any intermediate jiggery-pokery, and is probably a far better buy than these Japanese rigs?
Roguishly…
I’ve never come across one that didn’t describe the conversion method for DSD. So I’d neither be suspicious or think it is underhanded.
Both methods have merit. DSD direct to DAC obviously avoids any intermediate lossy stage. But as DSP is easier to apply on PCM, conversion may gave markedly better results if the player relies on DSP tuned for the idiosyncrasies of the device.
Naim used DSD to PCM even for the products like the NDX that had Ti chips that supported native DSD. It was a design choice.
Well, every review I’ve managed to read regarding the Sa10 has been strongly recommend, I have not seen a harsh word against it, of course these kind of sacd players come at a premium cost. My brother works in Japan, he says that Accuphase are Hifi royalty there. Cheers.
Yes Zen, Luxman definitely Japanese, my mistake.
Zen, you wouldn’t by any chance know the name of that dealer?
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