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They have it, but don't really make it obvious on the showroom floor. It's crammed in the corner behind all the glamorous home theater crap. High end two-channel really sucks in my city.

There are a number of shops in the area of the Colorado front range and I see the range of standard format high-end pushed to some SACD and virtually no DVD-Audio represented—with exception of chain stores. So far, the high-end equipment doesn't seem to be at all interested in the SACD/DVD-Audio transistion. With the exception of Accuphase has anyone other than the big three of Japan (Sony,Philips & Pioneer) and their subsidaries, have any interest in changing to SACD or DVD-A? I haven't seen Linn, Naim, McIntosh, Myriad, etc, show any strides in that direction. That is why I am staying put with vinyl and standard CD.

The local high end joint, otherwise known as Best Buy, has an SACD display that doesn't even work! But they do sell both DVD-Audio discs and SACD in separate parts of the store.

They have the players but not the discs.

Tower Records in Atlanta, GA: The first and only place to carry DVD-A in the Atlanta area, as far as I know. It seems that they can't decide on where to position the merchandise. It started in the DVD-V section, but was finally relegated to its own little 3'square island at the end of one of the Pop/Rock shelves, across the aisle from the DVD-Vs. Ocaissionally, I'll find a classiscal issue located in the classical room, but it's always buried in the stacks, not positioned in its own kiosk.

They don't even have it. The brands they sell don't have a SACD or DVD-A player on the market, yet.

I think, that in all of Slovenia they don't have a single piece of equipment (no SACD, no DVD-Audio). It's a big pity.

I think I bought the only DVD-A player they've sold, and they don't have any SACD players at all. The DVD-A player was set up in the HT-only room; I had to ask them to move it to the stereo room so I could hear it on a stereo system. This is a major Mark Levison/Madrigal dealer, with MartinLogan, Aerial, and other high end gear, not some mid-fi shop.

I'm still trying to connect the words "high-end" and DVD-Audio. Maybe I missed something, but I think it's pretty bizarre that audiophiles are now considering the likes of Panasonic, Kenwood, Denon, Pioneer, and Toshiba high-end. Yeah sure, you early adapters can bask in the glories of high rez 96/24 on your 10 or 11 DVD-As, but what about your hundreds or thousands of CDs? At least on the SACD side there are a few true high end choices, but please, there might be a total of 100 people in the US who currently own a dCS, Accuphase, or Classé SACD machine. Everybody else is hunkering down with questionable players hooked up to their otherwise high end systems. Come on, let's at least wait for, gee, NAD, or Arcam, or Creek to enter the fray. Me, I'll jump on the bandwagon when I start to see a steady schedule of releases from the major labels (10 titles each a year doesn't count). When the names I associate with high end—Krell, Levinson, Linn, Spectral, Ayre, ARC, C-J, etc—I'll probably commit to the formats.

I've seen very few SACD titles in my favorite local music stores, and I saw some DVD-As (in the DVD video section) for the first time this weekend at a chain store. Until I feel particularly motivated to buy a new disc player and shell out an extra $10 for each new recording, why should I even pretend to care about the new formats at all?

Plain CDs in a DVD player are better sounding than in many CD players. Best Buy demos everything at once :)

What ever.

Most SACD players are Sony ES models, which my local "high-end" stores do not carry. When I mentioned SACD, they pooh-poohed the format and told me there are only 10 titles available (try 400+). They then suggested an x thousand dollar outboard DAC and upsampler. Since the Sony players have gotten such great reviews, I just bought one over the Internet without listening to the format. It is great! I have been very pleased with the Sony player and the format. Our local Meridian dealer is "still waiting" for DVD-A. Everytime I visit I ask and they still don't have a player, and they carry the full product line.

DVD-A takes a back seat (actually mezzanine, behind a pillar) to SACD at almost every high-end shop I've been in. The mid-fi chain stores are, as usual, clueless about both formats.

They're too busy trying to sell extremely expensive CD players and asserting that the new formats are no better and doomed to failure in the market.

It was there for a while—a couple of Sony players. I think they sold a few, but basically no titles are around to purchase. How can you sell expensive hardware, when you have to dog through who knows where, to find something to play on it, that you probably don't really want anyway? The whole thing is stupid beyond belief. How long has this gone on now? A few years? Who really cares about it? No hi-fi guys I know. Walk into your local CD store. See any of these discs? Until they take up 25% of the shelf space, it aint gonna happen.

Living on Long Island, I have yet to hear a DVD-Audio or SACD. My D/A convertor can do 24/96 but my Cal Icon can not play anything but 16/44. Next year, I will upgrade my transport will it incorporate either format I have not determined. My present selection Is the ML No. 37 but next spring is a long time from now. I do own some Chesky 24/96 CDs, purchased without knowing it. In the next few week I may try to hear them in all their glory at local shops.

SACD is carried by very few, and I have never seen a DVD-A setup.

Name another audio format where one has to use a video device in order to use the format. Plus, what about the people who use and love two channel sound?

Sadly both are completely ignored. They'll play you an LP though.

SACD and DVD. What are they?

MANY A/V STORES DON'T HAVE ANY SACD OR DVD-AUDIO.

They can't demo an SACD player (although they recommend them), and they have no recordings for sale, so no SACDs.

They have it, but they are not very enthusiastic, and I think for good reason. They are looking out for their customers. My impression was that they still considered them too young to use as viable options. They also pointed out to me that the wall of sound created in a live event is much closer to stereo playback than it is to surround. I see their point.

For the most part, audio shops in my area are doing okay for SACD, but not for DVD-Audio. That's fine by me because I own an SACD player. It's also well known locally that one of the premiere shops in the DC area (who shall remain nameless) will not push SACD or DVD-Audio because they believe their product lines to be superior in every way. Bull crap! If you can't count on your dealer, than who can you count on? SACD is great!

My local dealers are treating the new high-end audio formats with indifference. Units waste away on the shelves only to be sold later at deep discounts. One local high-end dealer WILL NOT carry any high end audio players until something becomes the accepted standard. I don't blame him.

Many of the sale clerks don't even know what SACD or DVD-A is!

Denver-area high-end dealers have most of the best stuff and generally know what they're doing. But are they about as rude as it comes, or what? I guess I just have to make sure I'm wearing my one and only Brooks Bros. suit when I go into their shops. Give me Recycled Audio in Boulder Colorado any day! Good "heads" when it comes to equipment and advice and they don't care if I'm wearing a Rolex! Of course, maybe I'm treated so well there since I've sent them about $100K of business, but it all started that first time when I came in, wearing worn bluejeans, looking for a CD player and they treated me as if I was the queen's long-lost son. Sales is about service, not knowledge! Hell, most of us know more than them from the git-go! We just want to be treated right and with respect.

The don't feature it and don't have a multichannel setup at any of the stores I go to.

Who needs SACD or DVD-A when one could be listening to vinyl?