Request opinions on SACD/CD Players.

Can't comment on the sound of the Cambridge, but I just ordered the Lexicon RT-20 a current model being discontinued. Its MSRP was $4995 and dealer cost was around 3K, but you can get one new for $900-$1000. Excellent CD and SACD sound quality. This is a universal player so will play DVD as well, no blu ray though, check it out at the Lexicon website.

Musical Fidelity makes one of the best , which can be bought used on AG. Check the reviews.

As an owner of a C5xe I can cast my vote. I have had Marantz players but not the expensive ones. they sound good and I also own a Denon 5910ci and it uses the same burr brown chipset as the Ayre. But something else is going
on as the Ayre sounds better on every front.
Bias opinion of course.

Not quite so high end, I have a Sony SCD-CE775 modded by Matt Anker of Sacdmods and also an unmodded Sony C222ES. They are both 5-disc changers and do their jobs very admirably. The mods to the 775 make it a lot like the 222, which was part of the ES (higher-end) line. In fact, the modded 775 probably has more punch and better resolution of musical details. I owned the very inexpensive CE595 for a while, which was a step down from these but not bad at all considering its price tag.

I'd stay away from a Sony SCD-1 or the SCD-777ES as Sony's Service Center hasn't had any replacement parts for these for over 1 1/2 - 2 years. The units start having sled motor issues, and TOC locking issues. Great machines in their day as I've owned 2 Sony SCD-1's and 2 SCD-777ES's over the years while playing with SACD.

Having owned several SCAD/CD players, my take is:

While some SACDs are excellent recordings, most are not.
Whether you will get your money's worth, depends on how many recordings that you like are worthy.

Combo players do a poor job of CD playback, worse if they use DSD for CD playback! Get an inexpensive SACD payer, say an Oppo and a high quality CD player that will play the various formats you are interested- some will play DVD-A some won't.

While some SACDs are excellent recordings, most are not.
................

my experience is quite different, while some CDs are excellent recordings, most are not.

Thanks for your response.
It was my understanding that most combo players don't
convert PCM to DSD for CD playback, except for maybe the most expensive ones like DCS, which is way out of my budget. I also thought that the OPPO was a combo player?
Isn't it a curse that for recordings of ANY format, some
are excellent recordings, most are not? Still, these are excellent suggestions. I supose that the safest bet would
be to keep SACD and CD on separate players. There might be
the ultimate combo player out there, but the odds of me
picking the right one are not good. Still, there are alot of good sounding CD players and SACD players, odds of
picking a decent sounding pair might be a little bit better. Perhaps putting all of my eggs ( Formats ) in one
basket would be a bad idea. Thanks for the input.

Let me add two to your list. The Exemplar/Shanling SCD-3000 mod is outstanding and costs $6500 and the Lindemann 820S which includes a linestage is $20k. I cannot afford the Lindemann but have the Exemplar. It is superior to my Esoteric X-1 LE.

Another word on units with no replacement parts
marantz and lexicon lazor parts become a problem
to get,,

I have heard the players in question, and I'll raise you one....have a listen to the McIntosh MCD500 - then you'll forget the others, I kid you not!