Current-model SACD player recommendations?

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Jim the Oldbie

My right elbow hurts.
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Howdy boys & girls. I hope this is the right place to ask this one.

I haven't had an SACD-capable player since my older, lower-end Oppo died a few years ago. I only own one title at the moment (Jeff Beck: Blow By Blow), but I've started thinking about adding to the collection. For some reason I've been assuming that the only SACD players left out there are the nice new (but kinda pricey) Oppos, but tonight I see the Sony BDP-S6500 which is more my speed, budget-wise. All I need is something that will output stereo & multichannel SACD audio as LPCM over HDMI. (My downstream equipment doesn't decode DSD.) A couple of questions, por favor:

1. Any of you have experience with the Sony BDP-S6500? Does it indeed actually play SACD, and not just the CDDA layer?

2. Are there any other current players in this price range (i.e. cheap) to recommend?

Thanks for your time.

-- Jim
 
1 No idea
2 My friend uses a Sony BDP 170, in Sweden actually cheaper than s6500, and that one seems to play SACD (both layers)
 
1 No idea
2 My friend uses a Sony BDP 170, in Sweden actually cheaper than s6500, and that one seems to play SACD (both layers)

Thank you Mr. Ninecats. (That is a lot of cats by the way.) Meanwhile, I found a good deal on an open-box s6500, should be here soon. I'll report back here with a report as soon as I have something to report about.

-- Jim
 
...The SACD logo is on the cover, so that means it plays SACD.

Thanks. I read somewhere that the "flagship" S6500 is the only model in this series that still plays SACD. I'd skimmed the manual but missed that little logo, which is conspicuously absent from the manuals for the lower models. The other ones do mention SACD in their supported formats lists, but it's followed by "(CD layer only)". :rolleyes:

-- Jim
 
I can personally recommend the Pioneer BDP450. It's a universal player that handles pretty much any 3 or 5" shiny disc, from CD to Blu Ray, SACD to DVD-A, DVD-V, and so on. It can typically be picked up for £160-ish and can output LPCM over HDMI. This would be my personal recommendation for all round 5.1 playback across all known disc based (and some file based, i.e. FLAC) formats.

http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/62/84/222/BDP-450-K/page.html

If you're just looking for a stereo CD/SACD player, I am told both the Pioneer PD-10 and Denon DCD520AE are both entirely capable decks, and priced similarly or better than the BDP.

http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/42/225/225/PD-10-K/page.html

http://www.denon.at/uk/Product/Page...ponents&SubId=SACDCDPlayer&ProductId=DCD520AE

Howdy boys & girls. I hope this is the right place to ask this one.

I haven't had an SACD-capable player since my older, lower-end Oppo died a few years ago. I only own one title at the moment (Jeff Beck: Blow By Blow), but I've started thinking about adding to the collection. For some reason I've been assuming that the only SACD players left out there are the nice new (but kinda pricey) Oppos, but tonight I see the Sony BDP-S6500 which is more my speed, budget-wise. All I need is something that will output stereo & multichannel SACD audio as LPCM over HDMI. (My downstream equipment doesn't decode DSD.) A couple of questions, por favor:

1. Any of you have experience with the Sony BDP-S6500? Does it indeed actually play SACD, and not just the CDDA layer?

2. Are there any other current players in this price range (i.e. cheap) to recommend?

Thanks for your time.

-- Jim
 
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I'll report back here with a report as soon as I have something to report about.

OK, for what it's worth, I've finally used this thing with a multi-channel SACD, and the Sony BDP-S6500 does the job. A few thoughts:

When it first arrived, I had to take a moment to quietly marvel at the bold, unblushing cheapness of this thing. I guess I haven't bought a disc player of any kind in quite awhile, but man - I wanted cheap, and that's sure as hell what I got! (y) It's no bigger than a hardcover novel, weighs about as much as a Victoria's Secret box, and there are exactly two buttons (open/close and on/off), one tiny power indicator LED, and that is it for user interaction on the front panel. Everything else uses the remote and an on-screen display, which means that you're pretty much always gonna need the TV turned on to communicate with this thing. To be fair, I don't know if "headless" operation is doable with the big Oppos either (although I'm guessing it is :)), but it definitely ain't happening with this little guy. Thankfully, the 'now playing' TV display is inoffensive, with a dark background and muted monochrome graphics.

Anyway - all I wanted was something to play SACDs, since my HTPC does a good job with everything else; and the little Sony does the trick. No problem converting either stereo or multichannel DSD to LPCM at the HDMI out, which is what I needed. Personally, I will lose not a minute of sleep over the loss of the native DSD stream, although it will supposedly output that as well if desired - I just don't have any way to test it.

I haven't tried watching any movies or messing with any of the numerous TV streaming options (Netflix etc.) built into this thing (I decided long ago not to let any of these little black boxes anywhere near my home network, much less the internet), so can't comment on any of that stuff. I'm sure it's fine. :)

Bottom line: If you have an HTPC that is not an old Playstation, and you're looking for a cheap (key word: cheap) way to get the bits off of some of those great SACD titles out there, this may be what you're looking for.

-- Jim (now playing: Jeff Beck, Blow by Blow, Epic # ES 33409 stereo SACD, far & away the best, most natural-sounding version I've heard in any format)
 
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I never knew Sony did a 2-channel version of Blow By Blow.

The version that includes the quad mix is ES 85440
 
I never knew Sony did a 2-channel version of Blow By Blow.

The version that includes the quad mix is ES 85440

The Single Layer Stereo SACD of Blow by Blow was released as part of the early Sony Music SACD releases - before Multichannel SACD was finished.
Sony Music re-issued several of those early SACD titles in Multichannel + Stereo SACD later on.
 
I can personally recommend the Pioneer BDP450. It's a universal player that handles pretty much any 3 or 5" shiny disc, from CD to Blu Ray, SACD to DVD-A, DVD-V, and so on. It can typically be picked up for £160-ish and can output LPCM over HDMI. This would be my personal recommendation for all round 5.1 playback across all known disc based (and some file based, i.e. FLAC) formats.

http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/62/84/222/BDP-450-K/page.html...

In addition, Pio 450 with specific custom firmwares supports BD/DVD/SACD iso playback through USB / network (SMB/NFS).
 
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