Vote

I bought a DVD player when they dropped below $200. My bottom-rung Samsung is good enough for home theater. I'll buy a better DVD player when audio becomes the main motivation. Hopefully, until then, I'll be able to play any DVD-A discs in 24/96 stereo or Dolby Digital mode.

I could use a new CD player, the weakest link in my system. Though I do think I'll wait to see players that will play all formats.

The majority of people buy mid or budget cd players, they do not care about sacd or dvda

I'll even wait for RGB outputs on DVD with SACD stereo outputs/inputs,and a HDTV program timer. Then what could be next?

If there were a player that covered all formats, I would buy today. I don't want to buy one format and have another format become dominant or exclusive in the marketplace.

I've waited for the past several years—actually, since hearing an SACD demo at the L.A. show in '98. But I have lost patience, and my current machine is getting way too old to wait any longer. I've decided to get a nice CD player and skip the SACD and DVD-Audio formats entirely. I don't think they will ever have a big enough audience to warrant large numbers of software.

Most of my CD collection sounds quite good now, so I'll wait until the format war is over. What ever format finally wins, the new model better be able to play my existing CDs or there won't be any purchase from me for some time.

I am not sure if SACD can survive with two-channel format. I am not sure how DVD-A is going to transfer older two-channel recordings to new six-channel format. So I will wait until dust settles down. I am not going to listen to some artificial crap on a multichannel format unless it is a brand-new recording recorded with additional channels.

It will take decades for everything I currently own to get reissued on SACD, and DVD-Audio strikes me as just quadraphonic all over again.

I'm going ahead with the Perpetual Technologies CD upgrade, because most of my digital music will be CD for years to come. I'm also upgrading my phono cartridge.

I'm hoping and praying that the higher-end manufactures AND the nature of the new standards will allow for upgrades to existing systems . . . such are the promises of the likes of Wadia.

...and until the prices come down to below 2K.

If companies employed better engineering on their CDs, such as Mapleshade records, the need for SACD and DVD-Audio and the irritation of yet another new format would not be necessary.

The industry has is head stuck up it's ***. No one cares anymore

SACD players at affordable prices ($1000- 2000) range will then motovate me.

If my CD player goes bad, then I'll buy a DVD player. It's good to see that they are now selling for less than $200. However, I'd much prefer DVD-Audio, Video, and CD in a Universal player. I understand that Technics brought one to market before the current problems with copyright concerns delayed the further marketing of DVD Audio.

I agree with Emil Hardesty's Soapbox commentary (run last week). I have heard Sony's SACD and was very impressed. But I will not invest in one of their players until there is a far wider selection of music to choose from.

Would be foolish to buy a CD player/transport now, until the SACD vs. DVD-A issue is settled.

Yes, I'm waiting to buy a DVD player until the universal players come out and I can drop down to one device for all my music, as well as video.

It's sad, but how can we be in this (VHS vs. BETA) situation again? I find it frustrating that the "powers that be" can't decide on one superior format for the Digital Future. Can't they realize that, in the long run, one "super format" would help propel better digital forward? No one disputes the need for a better digital sound. At the very least, I'll be waiting until a universal player comes out. Wouldn't it be great if one player did SACD, CD, DVD-A, and did a fabulous job of playing movies too? Now THAT would be worth some big bucks.

Already bought a new redbook CD player (Arcam 9) a few months ago. Even if one of the new formats dominates, it will be a few years before there is enough interesting software to compell me to buy a player.

Six months ago I have bought the Sony SACD 777ES player without any hesitation. Why should I wait? For me, SACD is the superior format. By the way: also as a "Red Book" CD player playing conventional CDs, the Sony SCD-777 is superior. (Other components I use: Bryston 4B-ST/BP25, B&W Nautilus 802s, Nordost Red Dawns.) DVD-A is also a surround format. I don't believe in multichannel. True audiophile systems are 2-channel stereo, and will be 2-channel forever.

This is a wicked topic. For one thing, I have no intention of ever replacing my growing CD collection with a new format. I don't give a damn about all the new formats' claims; I did this once when going from vinyl to CD. In that move, the advantage of the CD format was very obvious to anyone who cared to look at it openmindedly. That, in my opinion, explains the format's success. But these new formats are not going enjoy such an obvious improvement, at least in the eyes and ears of the vast majority. So having made that statement, I can say that the only use for the new formats will be on new material only, and only if the improvement is very noticeable. If not, the CD version will be my choice. Any new machine purchase that includes the new format will have to be back-compatible with CDs, but I won't wait for the new format and machines if I find the right machine that is CD only.

Greed, greed, greed. That's all that is perpetuated by the recording industry. It doesn't matter whether its audio or video. The need for greed rules! For once,they should try quality, quality quality.

I really don't care and have zero interest in video.

I have an insurance laim pending and do not know what to do!

I'm waiting for quality DVD players to be available at reasonable prices, and for the bugs to be worked out. I think that DVD-Audio will be the clear winner, as DVD players for video are already so prevalent in consumer A/V systems.

I bought a cheap dvd video player and will buy a dvd-audio/SACD player when they come out and move down the price curve a bit. Besides, it will take quite a while to have any worthwhile software.

I was thinking about waiting, but honestly, who knows when the new standard will come out? Besides, I have lots of CDs I can still enjoy until the new standard came out, so I went ahead and bought a fairly expensive CD player.

Just like the Betamax vs. VHS. The same companies too. Let's hope Sony learned its lesson.