[jjfinley2001]

   I am in the middle of selling my Cal Labs IkonII cd player. What is the best SACD player for the money- Under $1000.

   Thank you~

[Noseyears]

If you can find a Sony SCD-XA5400ES on mint condition for around $1000 its a worth investment. Well regarded player in the audio community.

Marantz also make good SACD players, but they are pricey.

[wisnon]

Onkyo csv-5L

All discrete output stage...no opamps. 4 DSD filters, 5 PCM, including a minimum phase apodizing!

$350 on Amazon if still available. Great reviews too online.

[Brad]

Marantz has a model you should be able to find for $800-900
SA-8004 I think.

[tomytoons]

Find a used Marantz SA15 S2 Ltd.
That what I use and it's very good. I got it for $1k.

I had 2 CAL Icons MKII HDCD nice player always loved it.
Sold one and re-purchased it a while later.

[Ericus Rex]

Marantz has a model you should be able to find for $800-900
SA-8004 I think.

I have this player and I think it's fantastic!

[rollo]

  Marantz. IMO keep the Cal for Cd and try the Marantz for SACD. Do a direct comparison with CD then if the Cal is not preferred sell it. I think you'll keep it for CD only.


charles

[fiveoclockfriday]

I will add to the recommendations for the Marantz 8004. I have it, and it's really a great all around player. You can find them used for $600-700 if you look a bit and are patient. It also serves as a very good DAC with USB in (both A/B for a computer or an iPod) as well as optical/coax, so it's versatile too.

[geowak]

If you can find a Sony SCD-XA5400ES on mint condition for around $1000 its a worth investment. Well regarded player in the audio community.

Marantz also make good SACD players, but they are pricey.

I strongly agree with the Sony SCD-XA5400es. A very fine unit. I have the XA20es and it's the best CD player out of the ones I have owned by Rega, CA, Arcam and others. Btw I have a DV 6500 for SACDs, but would rather have a 5400.

[rtate]

I have a Denon DVD 5910CI that was their flagship player and is still very highly regarded today.
It is currently sitting in its original box waiting for a new home if your interested....
Check the reviews   

[Syrah]

I have a fully modded Modwright Sony 9100 that I could sell you too.  I've moved to a computer based system.  PM me if interested.

[usp1]

Another vote for the Marantz Sa-8004. I got mine used a few weeks ago for under 600 shipped.  The DAC in it is pretty good as well. It is limited to 44Khz sampling rate on the USB input but otherwise is very versatile. I have a Rega DAC, and I often find that I am perfectly content using the Marantz's internal dac. THe Rega is a little better but not by much.

[slbender]

While I wish I had a Sony SCD-XA5400ES, a Modwright Sony 9100, or the megabucks Modwright XA5400ES, all I've been able to afford are some used, middle to low-end of the line Sony SACD players, considering what the really good Dentists and Doctors cost as one approaches and goes into "old age".  So it seems unlikely I'll ever get a really high-end player.  What I've taken is steps to modding the low-end Sony, those that were costing well under $100. on ebay.  In the past, I've built SET Amps, and Upgrade kits for older Reel to Reels, and Rebuilds for older Vintage transistor Amps, which made these older sets meet or surpass the sound of new flashy and mega-buck amplifiers costing ten or twenty times as much as the old vintage equipment.

So I gotta say, my first attempt at a reworked SACD player, on just the 2 channel stereo outputs, went so well, even I was amazed at the improvement that a $45.00 per stereo channel (in parts cost) made.  Unfortunately, my second attempt to do additional further mods destroyed the cheap Sony unit, since that surface mount stuff was not meant to be fiddled with more than once.  Its just way too fragile!  So if anyone has a defunct Sony NS-90v that won't read CD's or SACD's anymore, I could sure use the output board to do some more improvement and experiments!

I was also given two Sony NS-500v's that I turned into one working unit, I might have to continue my experiments using that, even though it's a somewhat higher cost unit (I think it was around $300 when new).  Just last week, I picked up an NS-775v for just 10 bucks, it is also a low-end universal player, essentially it's the NS-90v but without HDMI capability.  Its output board is almost the same, simpler, but very close, so I may try upgrading that even cheaper and older Sony SACD Player unit.  The main problem in all of these is that half the circuitry uses SMT instead of thru-hole, and the SMT soldering is a pita!  Still, I have a feeling that for about $150. - $175. in parts and labor, I can mod a cheapie Sony to sounding identical to, or even to the point of surpassing a Sony SCD-XA5400ES, a Modwright Sony 9100, or maybe even a Modwright XA5400ES.

My concept would be great as this would allow someone to have a total SACD Player investment (player plus mods) of under $250. to get the overall performance of an SCD-XA5400ES.  Remember, the NS-90v / NS-775v / NS-500v all use same Sony Chips to convert the SACD signals, but output IC's that cost only 15 cents in quantity, and the associated input and output caps that only cost Sony 4 cents each.  Changing those original parts to $12.00 IC's, and $12.00 input and output caps, and some $6.00 bypass caps, is clearly going to result in being able to surpass the sonics of Sony's XA5400ES; which itself (BTW) happens to use a 60 cent output IC and some of the same 4 cent caps (but they are bypassed by some additional 5 cent caps).

Yes, I know there are major differences between the cheaper Sony's, and the XA5400ES in terms of: jitter, clocking and reclocking, as well as the stability of the transport, and the various isolated and regulated power supplies.  But when push comes to shove - that stuff is likely "All Chrome" with little difference in the resulting sound - once the digital stream gets into the DSP-like SACD decoding chips.  What that means is, that for all the extra engineering of: expensive better clocks, and reclocking, and extra heavy metal supports in the transport, and the separate regulated power supplies, and additional capacitance, and so on, those things have no effect on the resulting sound, while the final input and output stage caps, and IC gain stages do.  It's a nasty little secret that basically, Sony deliberately dumbs down the output stages on ALL of the cheaper sets (both to save money) and so they won't sound identical to the SCD-XA5400ES, which is also why the cheaper Sony's sound so totally pathetic on Redbook CD's!  But in truth, they can sound the same, or even superior to the SCD-XA5400ES.

So if someone can send me a good working board for the Sony NS-90v it will help me work on this concept over the summer, and it will be much appreciated.


-Steven L. Bender

[Photon46]

An excellent choice at your price point is the often overlooked Arcam CD37. I greatly preferred it to my Marantz Sa11S1. The review at Techradar is very accurate IMO. Reviewers do mention that its treble extension/detail is not among the very best, but it is still much better than the Marantz in that regard. What constitutes the correct presentation of treble detail is a very subjective judgement, so I take others opinions on this with a grain of salt.

www.techradar.com/us/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/cd-players-and-recorders/arcam-fmj-cd37-cd-sacd-player-395096/review

[jtsnead]

If you can stretch your budget get the Oppo BDP 105, you might find a dealer to give 10% off.

I have owned Marantz SA11S1 S2, NAD M5, and the Sony 5400 ES, the 105 is better than all of them

Also for less money the BDP 103 is supposed to sound almost as good, see link

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/cd-sacd-players-oppo-digital-bdp-103-region-zone-free-brand-new-in-box-2013-06-29-digital-10065

[North Star]

Actually the Oppo BDP-105 is $999 (refurb directly from Oppo). ...And that, is your best SACD player under a grand. ...I think.
...Beats all the other players mentioned here above. ...And it just happens that it costs less too.
Hey, sometimes the world we live in is worth it!

And if you're talking strictly SACD, and you're going to use the digital HDMI connection, then for $499 the Oppo BDP-103 is a good bet,
your best bet.
* Analog connection = Oppo 105. ...RCA unbalanced, or XLR balanced (stereo).

[koyaan]

I'd have to give my vote to the Oppo. I'm listening to my BDP83-SE at the moment and loving every note.

[Freo-1]

Another vote here for the Oppo BD 105.  Simply cannot go wrong with this unit.

[Ericus Rex]

I'd have to give my vote to the Oppo. I'm listening to my BDP83-SE at the moment and loving every note.

I sold my BDP-83SE in order to buy the above mentioned Marantz.  I haven't spent much time with the 105.  I'd imagine it's better than the 83.

[Sonny]

I have to vote for the Marantz...the sound is just more natural and real than the over detailed and light weight Oppo, and I've heard the 83, and 93, not the 105....