SACD finally taking-off? non-classical listeners

It occured to me that if some of the arguments used against SACD were used years ago, we would only have one band on our radio dial, AM.

I was thinking during dinner tonight (something I try to avoid at all cost) and it occurred to me that one of the great banters of the "down with SACD" group is that there is no software and it costs too much. If this is being stated by a pro digital person than they are missing the boat on getting great playback from there existing library through a SACD player. If the comment is coming from the pro vinyl than I find myself a bit confused. I was paging through a couple of catalogs, Music Direct and Acoustic Sound and found that the new vinyl re-mastered is approx.. $30-45. The new re-mastered cd is about $15.00 and the SACD is $17-25. So the argument must not be price in that vinyl is more and SACD is only 15-50% more. It comes down to available titles right? Well it seems as though a lot of the new released "re-mastered" older jazz is coming out in both SACD and vinyl so that must not be the issue. Of course there are titles coming out in SACD that have not yet made it to vinyl and as there are the other way. So as far as I can see it's just plain stubbornness and as Bishopwill states a blind love for one or the other. Do you think in 5 years the price of SACD or the price of vinyl will drop? Let's see, .01% of the population for vinyl and a potential 50% for SACD, hard to say where the new releases might come out. Oh and in response to all of you who pride yourself on finding the $1.00 album from 1972, I'm thrilled for you, I'll stick with the re-mastered version even if it is in digital.

I think we could all agree that some will insist on vinyl until the day they die, no matter how much new material becomes available. I believe some will stay with there 300b SET tube amps even when the NOS becomes $1000 per tube. That's what the Audiophile industry relies on, our stubbornness and willingness to buy the obscure.

Again, Jadem, well said! And Bomarc demonstrates the enlightened attitude that we all might well adopt: Listen to what you will, believe what you will, eschew dogmatic pronouncements about the superiority of one medium over another, have fun.

will

Since my name has been mentioned, here are a few issues that seem to have been overlooked.

Ultimately, this is about music, and with over 6,500 LP's in my personal library the cost to replace with SACD (even at $9.95) would exceed $70,000.00. This would be a larger investment than my analog playback system, and leaves no budget for upgrade of the digital hardware.

Lets assume I was willing to change formats, spend the money time and effort, the quality of reproduction would be less than I began with. LP is superior with the hardware currently available, and would require the release of a few hundred thousand SACD's in order for me to access the "culled" 6500 piece library. After more than 20 years, many of my LP titles are still unavailable on compact disc. I doubt any of these will ever be released on SACD.

For the record, I own a Sony 9000 ES SACD player and consider it a true bargain. It does a good job on redbook and much better on SACD. I enjoy its rugged construction, good looks and non fussy personality, not to mention the convenience of remote control. I buy CD of artists that do not release on LP and buy SACD's when possible, due to it's superior sound.

My Sony, even after adding Purist Dominus interconnect and power cable, Symposium Roller blocks, and isolation shelves still cost less than my analog or any previous high end digital systems.

That being said, there is a great deal of difference between acceptable, good, great, excellent, and unbelievable or unforgettable.

I realize it must be difficult for those who have not heard analog at it's ultimate to understand where our passion comes from. All of these discussions about quality are relative. Relative to the listener, the situation and the actual experience of the audiophile.

Limited experience combined with an unwavering defense of a one sided opinion is what angers me. Happily that there are only a couple of these posters that come to mind at Audiogon forums.

Unfortunately there is no way for a person who owns both formats and has tested at every price level to convince those who have not. I don't mind having a person tell me it does not matter to them. What disturbs me is the person who has not experienced both sides telling everyone that it should not matter to anyone.

I agree with Albert. Those of us who have extensive experience with high quality equipment in both formats are probably better prepared to speak to their relative merits. But see again my remarks about why people who have heavily invested in one format are unlikely to have much good to say about the other.

Just for the record, I haven't heard anyone say that "it should not matter to anyone." I have, rather, heard quite a few calls for tolerance interspersed with dogmatic pronouncements that one or the other format is superior.

will