Would you pay extra for an Audio Fidelity Surround SACD?

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Would you pay extra for an Audio Fidelity Surround SACD?


  • Total voters
    101
So why not a title SACD Stereo only with a price of $29.99 and the same title SACD Stereo and Surround (limited run to 1000 copies) at $39.99?

Audio Fidelity make money and...

The customer (stereo and surround) will be ................... Happy!!!!!!!

Regards,
 
So why not a title SACD Stereo only with a price of $29.99 and the same title with Stereo and Surround (limited run to 1000 copies) at $39.99?

Audio Fidelity make money and...

The customer (stereo and surround) will be ................... Happy!!!!!!!

Regards,

IF ONLY the Major Record Companies would get re~involved (like the recent Warner/Rhino Chicago Quadio boxset) with clearing out their vaults of ALL QUAD titles and even offer two~fers (like Dutton~Vocalion), we wouldn't be having this discussion.

They could do it for literal peanuts and charge sane prices and then ALL would be happy.

The very thought of all those intensely beautiful QUAD masters rotting in some subterranean vault makes my skin crawl!:chill
 
So why not a title SACD Stereo only with a price of $29.99 and the same title SACD Stereo and Surround (limited run to 1000 copies) at $39.99?

Audio Fidelity make money and...

The customer (stereo and surround) will be ................... Happy!!!!!!!

Regards,

That is called dual inventory, which is an accounting nightmare, and inventory complication.

And the question circling around the surround stratosphere is that the market for quad might not be 1000 units except for the superstar artists and very high profile titles.

And pressings get cheaper the higher number you do in initial run.

It is very late in the game, quad fans have died off, or some lost interest. There are some very passionate folks, members here that have dropped away and never post anymore. They don't even post when Pink Floyd, or Jethro Tull is announced coming in quad.

We are getting some very nice things lately. I think this is as good as it gets.
 
IHowever, I would happily pay the same amount, $29.99 for an SACD devoid of a Stereo option; Multichannel only .

I'm sorry, but that's a ridiculous suggestion. No label that issues SACDs will ever take a chance on an SACD release that is completely devoid of stereo.
Plus, isn't stereo a mandatory part of the SACD specification, with Multichannel being an additional option?
 
I'm sorry, but that's a ridiculous suggestion. No label that issues SACDs will ever take a chance on an SACD release that is completely devoid of stereo.
Plus, isn't stereo a mandatory part of the SACD specification, with Multichannel being an additional option?

There were a few hybrid multichannel-only SACDs, with the CD layer being the stereo layer, mostly in the classical realm. Agreed that it's a ridiculous idea, though.
 
I have voted...YES...

We Quad`y are going to pay more because we are only a niche market & will allways be, if FA can somehow sture the market in what there doing then other companies may jump in, in the future.. IF there is some MONEY to be made..????
 
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I voted yes. I have become a fetishist of surround audio on dts-cd, DVD-audio, sacd and blu-Ray audio. I visit this site at least once a day. I suspect that many here also visit several times per week. With that said.....of course I and many others here would pay more for more AF surround titles....WE ARE THE FANATICS.
 
I voted yes. I have become a fetishist of surround audio on dts-cd, DVD-audio, sacd and blu-Ray audio. I visit this site at least once a day. I suspect that many here also visit several times per week. With that said.....of course I and many others here would pay more for more AF surround titles....WE ARE THE FANATICS.

Love it! :D

That's the spirit! :upthumb

Unabashed Surround Music Fanatics of QQ, UNITE...!!!! :wave
 
I voted No. AF should switch to bda to increase their customer base. With that the cost decreases and so the price. Or they could increase their margin a bit and put that towards more releases.

I am a fan of Blu-ray Audio..

..but
it seems the Hi-Res/Audiophile industry and the core market for their product (I'm thinking of the bulk of the SHF members into these things maybe?) prefer the Hybrid SACD format (compatibility with redbook CD players in their cars etc., plus the all-important SACD Stereo.. and the bonus of Surround for all of us QQ lot!)...?
 
Yeah, I guess I should put an asterisk by my vote. Of course, if Blu-ray audio would take off and we get mega more releases..then that's the way to go. If getting these surround releases is just a flash in the pan anyway...and will go away....I would pay more right NOW just to ensure I get more of what I want. Certainly I would flat out refuse to spend $50 on something that is considered a sure poor seller...but would shell out $50 for a nice shiny Quad of Vol 4 by Sabbath. OK, I'd rather it were $39...since that sounds better than $50. :):)
 
I'll pay $40 or more for these Surround SACD albums if Audio Fidelity release them

AMERICA - Holiday
THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE - Love Will Keep Us Together
EAGLES - On the Border
EAGLES - One of These Nights
EARTH, WIND & FIRE - That's the Way of the World
BILLY JOEL - Piano Man
BILLY JOEL - Turnstiles
LOGGINS & MESSINA - Native Sons
BARRY MANILOW - II
BARRY MANILOW - This One's for You
BARRY MANILOW - Tryin' to Get the Feeling
RARE EARTH - Get Ready
SANTANA - (Any album)
SEALS & CROFTS - Diamond Girl
SEALS & CROFTS - Summer Breeze
BARBRA STREISAND - (Any Album)


Regards,
 
I am a fan of Blu-ray Audio..

..but
it seems the Hi-Res/Audiophile industry and the core market for their product (I'm thinking of the bulk of the SHF members into these things maybe?) prefer the Hybrid SACD format (compatibility with redbook CD players in their cars etc., plus the all-important SACD Stereo.. and the bonus of Surround for all of us QQ lot!)...?
could be, I do not know. i do know there are some great cd/bda sets out their for equal or less money with a lot more content. But no sacd/dsd, so for a lot of audiophiles it does not count. Whatever, they are happy with their sacd, I am happy with pcm based audio. I do not see why we should be paying even more to Bronstein when he is only interested in such a small part of music lovers. His mistake, the world is wide open for bda and even more so for download flac.
 
I'll pay $40 or more for these Surround SACD albums if Audio Fidelity release them

AMERICA - Holiday
THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE - Love Will Keep Us Together
EAGLES - On the Border
EAGLES - One of These Nights
EARTH, WIND & FIRE - That's the Way of the World
BILLY JOEL - Piano Man
BILLY JOEL - Turnstiles
LOGGINS & MESSINA - Native Sons
BARRY MANILOW - II
BARRY MANILOW - This One's for You
BARRY MANILOW - Tryin' to Get the Feeling
RARE EARTH - Get Ready
SANTANA - (Any album)
SEALS & CROFTS - Diamond Girl
SEALS & CROFTS - Summer Breeze
BARBRA STREISAND - (Any Album)


Regards,

Me too :eek:

If I may, I'd add:

EARTH, WIND & FIRE: SPIRIT

:eek:
 
I'll pay $40 or more for these Surround SACD albums if Audio Fidelity release them

AMERICA - Holiday
THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE - Love Will Keep Us Together
EAGLES - On the Border
EAGLES - One of These Nights
EARTH, WIND & FIRE - That's the Way of the World
BILLY JOEL - Piano Man
BILLY JOEL - Turnstiles
LOGGINS & MESSINA - Native Sons
BARRY MANILOW - II
BARRY MANILOW - This One's for You
BARRY MANILOW - Tryin' to Get the Feeling
RARE EARTH - Get Ready
SANTANA - (Any album)
SEALS & CROFTS - Diamond Girl
SEALS & CROFTS - Summer Breeze
BARBRA STREISAND - (Any Album)


Regards,

There's at least a few realistic titles in that list, and those are "Holiday" by America and "Native Sons" by Loggins & Messina. (Boy, if AF end up releasing "Holiday" as a stereo-only SACD, that will really be the final straw as far as I'm concerned…)
The others are either tied up with licensing issues (Eagles, EWF, Billy Joel, Santana) or they may not be big enough titles for AF to make a decent profit on. (Though I would love some Seals & Crofts releases from AF.)

:)
 
I voted yes because I have been paying more, imho. $30 for a disc is very expensive if you ask me. Granted I typically get most of them for less. I even spend that on titles that aren't my cup of tea, just to support the releases. I don't want to show my displeasure of the the format by boycotting the releases, as I am thankful that there are new releases. Rather I think a poll like this or some type of positive feedback with the caveat of releasing more mainstream music would be more constructive.

I used to wish that someone like Taylor Swift would get on board with hi res and/or surround releases, but ultimately realized what a waste that would be. The younger generation doesn't care for quality as shown by the popularity of shitty headphones and playback devices, not home stereo or theater systems, and in mp3 formats. My kids love the surround music I occasionally play for them, and i have expanded their listening genres a bit in doing so, but it is not something that is of particular interest to them. Even my friends love it, but they would never invest what I have to hear it the same way. I have attempted to persuade them, and others, to get some new bda surround music and use their cheap home theater cube surround speakers just to hear the separation. Even that simple of a thing seems to be too much because the next feedback I get is that the releases are way too expensive. I can persuade and convince them with a lot of things, but can't rationalize or justify to them about having to pay 2 to 3 times as much for bda as the regular cd cost. No matter who the artist would be. That has been my typical brick wall so to speak. I have convinced by letting them hear my setup, talking about how great Hi Rez surround music is, but the price point ruins my whole sales pitch.

So my yes vote in reality has been overwhelmingly defeated by people not on this site that never bought anything in surround because they never will due to the price point of the media, much less a better home stereo setup. I know this may be a bit off point, but I thought about this after i voted and wanted to throw this variable in there as well. We here will typically see things differently because of a passion we have, and I wanted to share my experience with others concerning this. Honestly, i don'tknow if there is a price at which they would purchase surround music. And I am positive they can't or won't upgrade any equipment to make it sound even better. I posted a suggestion quite a while ago on SW's page here about advertising his music on Blu ray movie discs with the movie previews, thinking that he could have a screen with some info showing while one or more of his songs plays in surround, with his excellent separation and quality. I thought that would be a great way to expose potentially milions of people to surround music. Surely someone who heard it would be interested and join our ranks, but alas, it hasn't happened....yet. i still stand by that but obviously don't know the cost effectiveness or practicality of it.

Regardless, to me the bottom line is that there is a small market for surround music. Clearly the record companies and artists know we exist and that we already do spend more for the higher quality and surround releases. Some get it and appreciate us for trying to hear their music they way they want it to be heard and others are greedy or don't care. Either way, we are not enough to dictate much so we take what is delivered to us and like it, or not. Hopefully a poll like this will help show whomever reads it how we feel and why. Just my thoughts, all 100000000 words of it :confused:
 
Also, I completely agree with those who point out that there are lots of great DVD-A/V and Blu-Ray releases (like the ones from King Crimson, Yes, XTC, Gentle Giant, etc.) that are relatively inexpensive and offer a lot more content compared to these SACD releases from Audio Fidelity, but at the same time, I also agree that SACD is the format of choice for AF and similar reissue labels, so discussion of any other formats in a thread like this is definitely a more futile point.

Carry on! :)
 
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