... BUT ... I really have to say this ... I have been acused of being an audio snob in the past, and I suppose I could be a BIT guilty; but I really don't like the sound of those so-called "universal" players. I tried one of the Pioneer units, but it didn't seem to sound as good as either of the dedicated SACD players I own.
I bought an SDP-CE775 from some liquidation place on eBay with the intention of modifying it, and out of the box it was amazing. On its own it is just plain better than a universal player. I had been a bit annoyed that I did not wait when I bought one of the very first SD-9200 Toshiba DVD-Audio players, but now I know that it just makes sense to have one of each. Switching is a bit of a headache, but with 3 DBX 200s that is only a minor issue.
The main problem that I see with the "universal" players is that many of them convert DSD to PCM (to do it cheaply) and that just cannot be good for SACD playback. I am going to do a clock upgrade and a few other things that I found on the Internet to the 775, so I will keep you posted.
By the way, this is the VERY FIRST CD changer I have ever owned, so I am gradually changing my ways.
Cheers, Mike.
I bought an SDP-CE775 from some liquidation place on eBay with the intention of modifying it, and out of the box it was amazing. On its own it is just plain better than a universal player. I had been a bit annoyed that I did not wait when I bought one of the very first SD-9200 Toshiba DVD-Audio players, but now I know that it just makes sense to have one of each. Switching is a bit of a headache, but with 3 DBX 200s that is only a minor issue.
The main problem that I see with the "universal" players is that many of them convert DSD to PCM (to do it cheaply) and that just cannot be good for SACD playback. I am going to do a clock upgrade and a few other things that I found on the Internet to the 775, so I will keep you posted.
By the way, this is the VERY FIRST CD changer I have ever owned, so I am gradually changing my ways.
Cheers, Mike.