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EMC-1UP/Modwright Sony 999ES Dilemma

I'd like some feedback from you astute and reasonable Audiogoners. I'm presently using two CD players - an Electrocompaniet EMC-1UP (CD), and a Modwright Sony NS999ES (SACD/CD/DVD) with tube stage. I have to give up one of them and I'm torn betweeen the two. The EMC-1UP is a marginally better redbook player, but better nonetheless. It's able to more acurately distinguish instruments in complex passages, and it is just slightly sweeter than the Sony on redbook. Surprisingly to me, the EMC-1UP is quieter in the "blacks". When I say the EMC-1UP is marginally better, I mean only 5% better. The Modwright Sony is an amazing machine. It reaches deeper into the bass and comes very close to the Electrocompaniet in all regards (and here's the kicker...for a third of the price). The Sony does have the advantage of playing SACD. When comparing redbook DSOM vs. SACD DSOM, to my ears the SACD version is silkier with a softening of otherwise strident redbook highs (all without losing detail. So, guys and gals, which would you keep? Most of my clooection is redbook, but the sound difference between the two players on redbook is very small. I could take the dollars saved in keepinng the Sony and reinvest it to improve other areas of my system, e.g. replacing my Bryston BP-25 with something better. Input please...
tvad
ben_campbell
1,164 posts
 
Tvad-one thing that strikes me is that if you sell the EMC and upgrade other parts of your system then I think you are going to wonder what that 5% better Redbook performance would have sounded like in your new system.
Personally I think better is better but really you have to decide how important the SACD/DVD playback is to you.
I would also be careful if your comparison is reasonably recent and has not been arrived at over a good time living with both players-sometimes it takes a while in my experience to make a balanced judgement for a variety of reasons.
I have made similar comparisons in my system and find that you can change your opinion over time as the differences become more apparent.
tvad OP
9,467 posts
 
Thanks for the input. You're all on the mark with your observations. Careful listening over the past couple days has revealed to me that the EMC-1UP provides subtle details that the Sony misses: the sound of the pick on the strings during fast guitar strumming, the wood-on-metal attack of a drumstick on a ride cymbal. At this point, I'm not so sure I'd miss SACD.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,132 posts
 
I've never heard the Sony SACD, but the EMC-1UP with the SE power supply mod sure sounds great in my system. With very little software, I'd certainly hang onto the one that sounds better with redbook.
tvad OP
9,467 posts
 
Swampwalker, the EMC 1UP I purchased was advertised as the SE model, and I have no reason to doubt the seller, but how does one identify the unit as such? As a side note, I notice what seems to be a transformer hum from the player. Is this normal?
cyounkman
28 posts
 
I would always go with the better, even if it seems to be a small difference now. A number of players were seemingly 'almost as good' as the GamuT that I kept, but in digital, differences are always fairly small; and listening for differences rarely quantifies the pleasure you derive from a component during normal listening. Keep the player that makes you happier when listening to music.

And as pointed out above, making improvements later in the change will in fact have less impact when you have compromised the source, even to a small degree.
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