AVGuru,
Just to be sure I know which Sony you are praising (they have some similar model numbers, I assume you are talking about the SCD-XA9000ES that has a list price of $3000. Is that right? That one has a great review in Stereophile of 12/03, Atkinson I thinkk. I've since read some other reports which highly praise its SACD performance but are not so thrilled about it's Redbook performance. Can you add anything to your description of it; especially with respect to Redbook?
I'm also wondering if you've heard the Linn players, Unidisk 1.1 and/or 2.1. I heard the 2.1 head to head with the Marantz 9500 and your comments re. Marantz seem to be on target. However, The 2.1 is 3X the price. I liked the Marantz pretty well, but the Linn was lots more detailed. I'd love to hear the SA-11 up against the DV-9500 for comparison sake.
Frankly, I'm close to ordering the modded Maverick from Underwood, but, perhaps I should revisit the Sony. All this is making my head hurt...in a good way.
Just to be sure I know which Sony you are praising (they have some similar model numbers, I assume you are talking about the SCD-XA9000ES that has a list price of $3000. Is that right? That one has a great review in Stereophile of 12/03, Atkinson I thinkk. I've since read some other reports which highly praise its SACD performance but are not so thrilled about it's Redbook performance. Can you add anything to your description of it; especially with respect to Redbook?
I'm also wondering if you've heard the Linn players, Unidisk 1.1 and/or 2.1. I heard the 2.1 head to head with the Marantz 9500 and your comments re. Marantz seem to be on target. However, The 2.1 is 3X the price. I liked the Marantz pretty well, but the Linn was lots more detailed. I'd love to hear the SA-11 up against the DV-9500 for comparison sake.
Frankly, I'm close to ordering the modded Maverick from Underwood, but, perhaps I should revisit the Sony. All this is making my head hurt...in a good way.