Vote

SACD CD done right. They should have had this level of performance the first time around. I have thousands of records, and a few CD's. Because the CD's just don't sound as good. TYhe SACD's do.

PS Power Plant & 2 Ch. SACD

Too much wiz-bang let's-push-the-envelope-of-technology, hype out there right now. How about some of this energy going into making some solid recordings? What good is high-resolution play back in either DVD-A or SACD when mostly all you have to play it on it is the poorly mixed tripe produced by most major recording labels? Crystal clear mediocrity has not much of an appeal to me.

Sony DVP-S9000ES

dCS Verdi SACD/CD transport WITH digital output for outboard D/A converter.

Upsampling/oversampling Red Book CDs. Sam is right!

Theta Digital Generation VIII DAC!

Digital room correction units, such as the TacT and Sigtech.

Wilson-Benesch Bishops.

Do I look like a reviewer? I haven't got half the time required to make a rational selection.

Yamaha CRW3200EVK CDRW. This CD writer has Audio Master Quality Recording technology.

A good CD player.

24/96 stereo—it's the only format compatible with all DVD players and some high end D/A conveters. SACD & DVD-A do not appear to be selling in sufficient numbers to remain economically viable. The average CD buyer doesn't want to pay $25/disc. This restricts the market to the audiophiles, who have found difficulty in integrating the SACD and DVD-A formats into their systems. This is why I find the 24/96 format appealing*#151;all it takes is a digital cable to connect my DVD player to a D/A converter.

Pioneer's DV-AX10. A true piece of engineering with beauty to boot.

SACD, until it went multichannel.

Digital active crossovers with digital-domain eq and driver delay/phase. (this would include automated units like the Tact TCS or RCS, and the perpetual P1A as a subset). Mind-boggling control, and the potential, finally, for truly smooth in-room frequency and phase response—a holy grail.

Digital amplification. Just purchased a pair Bel Canto EVo 200.0s which replaced my beloved Chord. Comparing these two against each other I would have to say there was no contest. The EVo's win, but will I sell the Chord, it makes a great second system.

SACD players, not necessarily multichannel.

CD players with upsamplers. Not all are good but this is a good tedency. Once you hear a good CD upsampled with good equipment there is no turning back. This is the last resource of the CD to fight SACD (there are NO high end DVD-A players). I also like SACD and I have some but most (99%) of my favourite music is on CDs and I have 1000+ of them.

SACD players from Sony ES. Not only do you get great CD playback, SACDs will knock you out of your chair. One listen to Keb Mo's The Door and you'll be hooked.

TACT DIGITAL EQUALIZER

A2D T+A Solitaire Loudspeakers.

Avantgarde Uno speakers.

That's simple, two-channel stereo featuring a vinyl analog front-end and vacuum tubes. Heavenly. Not only hot, it continues to sizzle!

Cardas Signature RCA Caps. They do not seem to interfere with the music at all, at least I haven't been able to detect any audible differences. They simply make everything feel better.

PLEASE leave multichannel to the movie lovers and just give the music lovers great two-channel. Our rooms are tweeked to High-Heaven and sound great as they are. I feel too many computer geeks are trying to cross the waters into high-end audio and they just don't get it. IT'S THE MUSIC not the technology!

dvd-audio

The Manley Steelhead gave me an eargasm!! I want one. Now, as for the wife. . . .

There are two product that I would like to purchase this year. Both have been on the market for over five years. That will complete the electronic upgrade I began over three years ago. Next I have to start looking at speakers. During this upgrade process I have looked at new technologies but was not impressed enough to change my selections. I just read the article by three New York retailers and it confirmed my current ideal that two channel audio will be the state of the art for the next several years maybe longer.

The TacT RCS increases in interest as my hearing acuity decreases. It seems like a technology that in addition to correcting room effects, it could also correct for some hearing loss in the HF range.