SACD/CD Changer

Dan Driscoll · « **on:** 4 Oct 2005, 05:46 pm »

My old Carver SD/A-360 CD changer is getting pretty long in the tooth, and I'd like to add SACD capability. Budget has a hard limit of $300, so I'm looking primarily at used changers. SACD is a must, a universal DVD changer is also an option, although my Panny RP-91 can continue to handle DVD-Audio duty, if necessary. This player is intended for audio use only, if it can beat the RP-91 on the video side that would be OK, but isn't a major concern.

My musical tastes run primarily to classic rock (Elton John, Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick, etc.), some jazz/soul (Sade, Sam McClain) and some hard rock and metal (Goo Goo Dolls, Queensryche). The preamp is a Rotel RC-1070, the power amp is a Sherbourn 5/1500A and the speakers are Vandersteen Model 2C's. Here are a few players I'm looking at:

Yamaha DVD-C750 - (new, $300, universal) well reviewed sound quality, particularly for redbook playback, but hammered for slow disk changes, funky logic, defaulting to DPL, no 2:3 video pulldown.

Onkyo DV-CP802 - (used $250, universal) Good audio reviews, hammered for bad shuffle, random play (non-foctor to me), funky logic, poor video.

Sony SCD-2000es - (used $230, CD & SACD only) I haven't been able to find much in the way of reviews for this player.

Sony SCD-222es - (used $230, CD & SACD only) Reviews say good SACD performance, redbook not quite as good, thin sound, noisy changer mechanism.

Sony SCD-333es - (used $300, CD & SACD only) I could only find a few user reviews, but all were very positive WRT sound quality and build quality. Cons were slow disk reads, ocassionaly hangs when reading TOC, requiring a power cycle. FYI, this is a 2 channel player only, no multi-channel outputs. However, if this player is appreciably better than any others in its price range, for both redbook and SACD, I have no problem doing without MC capability. Stereo performance is much more important to me.

Comments on these or other players would be appreciated. And yes, I am aware that single disk players are generally considered to have better sound quality. But in in my price range and given the constraints of the rest of my system, I don't believe there would be an appreciable difference. Being able to put 5 or 6 disks in and listen for an extended period, without having to get up and change a disk, has an appeal, especially since I generally only listen to 2-3 songs per album. TIA

soundboy · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Oct 2005, 06:48 pm »

Check with Oades Brothers for the price of a new Sony C2000ES. Here's a thread on the C2000ES

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=39502&highlight=c2000es

Dan Driscoll · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 Oct 2005, 09:51 pm »

Thanks for the link. There's some good info on the 2000 there, as well as head to head comparisons to several other players I'm looking at, including the 333.

jgubman · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Oct 2005, 12:46 am »

Never did any head-to-heads, but anecdotally, I like my sony scd-2000es.

You're a member of BAAS, right? Maybe I can bring my player to an upcoming event if you'd like a listen.

Dan Driscoll · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Oct 2005, 02:04 am »

Quote from: jgubman

Never did any head-to-heads, but anecdotally, I like my sony scd-2000es.

You're a member of BAAS, right? Maybe I can bring my player to an upcoming event if you'd like a listen.

Thanks for the input.

I know several people in BAAS and have been to a couple of events over the past 5 years, but I'm not a member myself.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Oct 2005, 02:35 am »

Hey Dan,

I had the SCD-222es for a little while...AND it had the $386.00 SACDMODS mod (and IEC added), to boot.

The changer was noisy (mostly on random access the noisiest). SACD sounded better than CD, to be sure, but neither approached the sound quality of my modded, single play, front end. I was asking too much of it, I think, for the $450.00+ I paid for it used (1/10 the cost fo my current front end).

It was pretty fantastic having 5 discs in the machine all day (I work from home office)...I really wanted to luv' it, but I ended up selling it 'cause it just fell short of what I had grown accustomed to.

I thought the build quality was nice, subjectively speaking.

If you have an extra input running to your preamp (receiver, etc), you may be better off having two separate CD and/or CD/SACD players...I'm not sure you can get an all-in-one changer to very high standards of fidelity. Then again, maybe only SACDMODS couldn't get the 222es to it

Dan Driscoll · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Oct 2005, 03:29 pm »

TCG, thanks for the comments on the 222.

From what I've been able to learn, the SCD-C222es is probably the weakest of the bunch WRT audio quality. Not to say it's bad, just that the others are better. The Yamaha has so many user interface and firmware issues that I just don't think it's worth dealing with. And apparently there is a serious static issue WRT the SCD-C333es when playing multi-channel SACDs, so it's out, also.

I've pretty much narrowed my choices down to the Sony SCD-C2000es and the Onkyo DV-C802. Right now I'm leaning towards the 2000es, Oade Bros. has it for a great price (thanks, soundboy) and it would be brand new, with a warranty. But I'd like to hear from anyone who has experience with the 802, before I pull the trigger.

Dan Driscoll · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Oct 2005, 01:27 am »

Anyone have or care to comment the Onkyo DV-C802? TIA

pennylane · « **Reply #8 on:** 28 Oct 2005, 06:13 pm »

Dan Driscoll,
I'm in the market for a CD player as well. What did you end up doing?

Dan Driscoll · « **Reply #9 on:** 29 Oct 2005, 04:17 pm »

Quote from: pennylane

Dan Driscoll,
I'm in the market for a CD player as well. What did you end up doing?

I was planning on getting the Sony SCD-C2000ES. Unfortunately, I've got some problems with my truck right now and that has to be addressed before I can spend anything on a new player. Maybe I'll be able to get it around Xmas.