Search for the Right SACD Player… [Part 2]

【Still Torn Over Which SACD Player to Buy】
Part 1｜Part 2｜Part 3｜SONY｜Marantz｜Pioneer｜DENON｜Cambridge｜ONKYO

Now, when it comes to actually buying an SACD player today, surely the biggest problem is that the choice of available models is extremely limited? Unlike ordinary CD players, there are very few manufacturers making SACD players, and the vast majority of products come from Japan’s major consumer electronics and AV manufacturers — with almost nothing from the smaller, more enthusiast-oriented brands that produce gear with a higher degree of hobbyist appeal. And even where such products do exist, they are almost entirely confined to high-end models targeting the wealthy or a niche of serious enthusiasts, at price points far beyond what most ordinary people could ever reach.

Looking through the current SACD player landscape, almost every model from an overseas manufacturer comes in at over 500,000 yen, with a remarkable number of them exceeding 1,000,000 yen. On the other hand, when it comes to domestic brands whose products ordinary people can actually afford, I have to say there aren’t really any models I feel a particular urge to own right now… orz

Setting aside the question of price altogether, it seems as though the trend lately is heavily skewed towards the high-end — even mid-range and entry-level models tend to come in large chassis with grand, contemporary designs — and what I find so hard to come by domestically is something more like a miniature-garden sort of machine: slim and compact enough to work in a secondary system, with a certain understated, quiet refinement, a hint of traditional culture, the kind of thing that would sit unobtrusively in the corner of a study and feel entirely at home there… a chic, music-lover’s piece that makes the heart flutter. (…That sort of thing does apparently exist among overseas products, to some extent.) Below is a list of the main brands currently selling SACD-compatible players in Japan.

Domestic Manufacturers

・SONY
・ONKYO
・DENON
・MARANTZ
・PIONEER
・YAMAHA
・TEAC / ESOTERIC
・Accuphase
・LUXMAN

Overseas Manufacturers

・UK dCS
・Ireland LINN
・USA McIntosh
・USA Lexicon
・USA KRELL
・USA Ayre Acoustics
・Canada Classé
・Canada EMM Labs / Meitner
・Germany Accustic Arts
・Germany Lindemann
・Switzerland GOLDMUND
・Sweden BLADELIUS
・Denmark PRIMARE
・China SHANLING AUDIO
・China CAYIN

And so, while I deliberated comparing all sorts of options, the bare minimum responsibility? of being able to play SACDs was handed over to the PIONEER DV-585A, and in the meantime I carried on using the dedicated CD players of the main system and sub-system as they were, for playing Hybrid SACD discs as well…

《As of 2012, the PIONEER PD-10 was the most affordable dedicated CD/SACD player available. Should the PD-10, PD-30, and PD-70 all be discontinued, budget entry-level models would essentially disappear entirely…》

That said, there are a few models I find myself rather taken with. Among overseas products, there is Denmark’s PRIMARE DVD30 (the successor being the BD32 Mk2, a 3D Blu-ray compatible universal player), and Switzerland’s GOLDMUND SR CD3-G (which is, for Goldmund, actually quite affordable). Goldmund’s overseas website lists it as compatible with DVD and DVD-Audio as well, yet for some reason in Japan it is marketed solely as an SACD/CD player. One wonders whether there is some difference in specification. Incidentally, the local Swiss price is 5,200 Swiss francs (note added March 2008: that refers to the SR CD3 without the G suffix), so at the current domestic retail price, this might actually be something of a bargain?

Then there is SHANLING AUDIO from China — a manufacturer that also supplies OEM production to various Western brands — whose SCD-T200C features a top-loading mechanism that makes something of a ritual out of playing a CD, and a rather unusual design that could be a lot of fun.

Among domestic brands, there is the YAMAHA DV-S1500, which was introduced to me some time ago by CD92. It is a slim, region-free universal player whose styling sits comfortably alongside stylish European-designed components. The street price is just under 30,000 yen, and factory-refurbished units have been known to turn up for just over 20,000 yen — a remarkably low price. It was released quite a while back now, but it has had quite a long run and the product still pops up from time to time.

The key point is that while it carries the YAMAHA brand, its internals are in fact OEM-sourced from European Philips. That said, looking at CD92’s review, the sound character seems to be more Yamaha than Philips (note: I suspect this is down to some tweaking at the analogue stage) — which is, personally, a touch ambiguous for me. If it had that warm, sensuous, full-on European Philips tone, I would probably be saying “never mind the sound quality, I’m buying it!” — but Yamaha’s sound is more restrained and refined, more quietly composed, and it is that quality which gives me pause. Although, if I stumbled across a second-hand one for 20,000 yen, I would snap it up on the spot… Still, reading through the Kakaku.com forums, there are reports of noise and loud mechanical drive sounds, which suggests it may have some shortcomings as a dedicated Hi-Fi player…

Next, the PIONEER PD-D9 or PD-D6. At this accessible price point, these are developed not as universal players or multi-channel machines, but as dedicated SACD/CD players focused purely on two-channel playback. Being entry-level, yet free from any extraneous features, the cost can be concentrated entirely on the circuitry and sound tuning for pure Hi-Fi — and that is the point. The physical unit, though, is a standard component size at 420mm wide and 100mm tall, which may feel surprisingly large in person. I had initially assumed from photographs that it would be more compact, but seeing the actual unit, it was bigger than expected. The design is also a little unconventional, but the sense of quality is excellent. Legato Link Conversion might sound like a gimmick, but I find it personally quite appealing — and if the machine still carries those qualities found in Pioneer’s classic turntable-style CD players and high-end LD players of old, that distinctly Japanese, measured elegance and warmth, the clean and fluid tonal character, and Legato Link’s charming expressiveness in the upper registers, then this could be a rather attractive model indeed. The caveat, however, is that this is essentially what used to be considered an entry-level, budget-range product, and how much one can accept the quality limitations that come with that price point may be what ultimately determines the decision.

It comes as something of a surprise — to put it dramatically — that Denon, a brand best known among Japan’s more obsessive Hi-Fi enthusiasts for heavyweight chassis and a powerful, muscular mid-to-low-end sound, should release something this stylish and clearly aimed at the music lover. Looking at it, the LP-jacket proportions, the slim tray, the square and compact form — it feels as though it may have been consciously influenced by LINN‘s design language of a decade or so ago. The design alone is enormously appealing, and the price is reasonable on top of that. It has apparently sold very well — paired with the integrated amplifier PMA-CX3 and speakers SC-CX101M/SC-CX303 released at the same time, you can audition the system in quite a number of places — so there is little need to go into great detail here, but for anyone who responds to this design concept and has no particular objection to Denon’s sound, this is a very recommendable SACD player. However, for those who prioritise value for money in a main system, along with spatial information, tonal depth, and projection, there is certainly an advantage to a full-size component model such as the DCD-1500RE, even within the Denon SACD range…

Finally, Sony’s PlayStation 3 (early model). Having left gaming behind some time ago, I don’t particularly feel the urge to have a PS3 as a games console at this point — but in fact, its sound quality as an SACD player has attracted considerable attention in various quarters. That said, this is really a sound quality evaluation from the perspective of appreciating the technical approach — as reviewed here as well — and when judged from a pure Hi-Fi standpoint in terms of music reproduction quality, comparing it against a well-built dedicated Hi-Fi SACD player such as the SCD-XA1200ES, it clearly falls short… though perhaps saying so would get me roundly attacked? That said, its DSD encoding performance is apparently excellent, and I do hope that technology finds its way back into properly voiced Hi-Fi machines, whether from Sony or other manufacturers.

The SCD-XA5400ES, released in 2008 as the successor to the SCD-1200ES, had not been followed by any improved new model from Sony as of 2015.

Having auditioned the SCD-XA1200ES, I would say that Sony’s sound tuning across its successive generations of SACD players carries a certain pride befitting the company that created the SACD format — and personally, I have always felt that Sony’s approach to sound is inherently well-suited to SACD. Whether it offers a high degree of musicality in terms of how it feels to the ear is another question — well, hmm — but in terms of digital audio freshness and the honest, unmanipulated extraction of SACD’s inherent sonic qualities, Sony machines do have a clear edge. And this, I think, applies even to the PS3, which was surely never intended as a serious Hi-Fi component. With other manufacturers’ SACD players, there is often a tendency to apply a fairly distinctive house character, which can make them sound more musically engaging, while at the same time — to the ear, at least — seemingly suppressing some of the information density and top-to-bottom extension relative to the price. Whether that is preferable is a matter of debate, but during my listening sessions I found myself genuinely torn between Sony’s sonic accuracy and the musical expressiveness of other manufacturers’ machines. The type and quality of the recording inevitably changes which player feels like the right match, and that is the difficulty…

So, having written all of this, if you were to ask what I, the author of this site, am actually going to buy — the honest answer is that I still haven’t arrived at a conclusion. If budget were no object, I rather fancy getting hold of the Goldmund SR CD3-G; but as someone who enjoys compact, affordable Hi-Fi on a small scale, part of me wants to wait a little longer and see how things develop. And so, intending to keep listening here and there while turning things over in my mind, what I have done this time is simply set out the models I am currently deliberating over — nothing more than that.

【Still Torn Over Which SACD Player to Buy】
Part 1｜Part 2｜Part 3｜SONY｜Marantz｜Pioneer｜DENON｜Cambridge｜ONKYO