Philips SACD1000 SACD/DVD-Video player John Marks Followup

John Marks wrote about the SACD1000 in November 2002 (Vol.25 No.11):

Philips was kind enough to send me a review sample of their SACD1000 multichannel SACD/DVD player, which Chip Stern and Kalman Rubinson reviewed last year. Then, that player cost $2000. At Home Entertainment 2002 in May, Philips representatives informed me that they had lowered its list price to $1000.

Compared with the Marantz SA-8260, the Philips SACD1000 had a slight advantage in articulation and dynamic detail, while the Marantz enjoyed a somewhat greater advantage in musical continuity and richness. Audition both if you can. The Marantz is slightly cleaner-looking and more intuitive to use, and includes a headphone jack, but the Philips has impressive video capabilities. For audio-only use, I call it the Marantz by a nose—despite the fact that you can reset the Philips player's SACD play-mode default from multichannel to stereo, but apparently can't do so on the Marantz. Grrrrr. But the Philips is undeniably a screaming bargain.—John Marks