DVD A Sacd or Stay put for a while


Sorry if this issue has been beaten to death but... I have a Nakamichi MB-10 that I use as a transport (Digital out) to a MSB Link 3 with upsampling. Sound is good at least I am happy however I view the Nak as the weak component in my system. What I am wondering is if I would notice a difference with any of the new formats ie DVD-A or SACD. I hate to admit it but I like a cd changer for the convience any suggestions?

system is
B K Ref 20
Nak mb-10
MSB Link 3 with upsampling option
Mesa Boogie Baron
Sonus Faber Concertinos
Rel Storm
vongwinner
If you are rich with plenty of money to spend, go for it.
If not, please stay put and see..... The last thing you want in your system is a Sony! They simply don't make serious and quality audiophile grade product.
Go and get a quality, audiophile grade LP player with good arm/cartridge and play with it. You might like it so much that you simply forget all the digital things........
Will you notice a difference with the new formats? Absolutely, althought I'd seriously suggest you wait on the new formats for several reasons. First, the amount of software available, while growing, is extremely limited and the probability that the music you want to listen to is available on the new formats is remote at best. Second, while you wait for the software to catch up with the hardware the equipment prices will drop significantly and, just as importantly, the players themselves will improve substantially(I bet within a year Sony will have a $500 SACD player out that rivals or beats the SCD-1). There are already reports that companies will be releasing DVD-A players based on the next generation chip this spring. Point is, if you buy now it is very likely you'll end up with a very overpriced yet inferior-sounding unit that nobody will want to buy when you want to upgrade(I understand performance improvements and price reductions will be ongoing, but in these first and second generation machines the curve is just too steep for me). Next, do you really want two transports to handle SACD and DVD-A when universal players will be available in the near future? Last, at present there are no digital outs for the new formats so you'll never be able to upgrade the DAC performance of your player, and your MSB will likely be upgradeable to handle these formats--wouldn't you like to have that option? You could probably make good arguments regarding each of these points, but when you put them all together it's hard(at least for me) to justify taking the plunge at this point unless curiosity has gotten the best of you and/or you have money to burn.

In response to the point made above regarding formats, it is way too premature to proclaim SACD as the choice of audiophiles. People much smarter than us are still debating which format ultimately has the best sonic potential(see Stereophile article among others) and with the watermarking issue still unsolved DVD-A hasn't even really made an appearance yet, so head-to-head comparisons are scarce to non-existant. Further, the audiophile community is way, way too small to predict or affect who will eventually win the format wars(remember Beta vs. VHS?). Ultimately the general public will decide which format is best for them(for better or worse), and economies of scale will then dictate who survives and/or thrives. Personally I hope they both survive, which will ensure competition to produce the best possible audio and video software and cheaper prices that will, in turn, benefit us all.

Either way and for what it's worth, I'm waiting on the new formats until the important issues above have been addressed. Hope you find this somewhat helpful and best of luck.

Tim
My system was almost similiar to yours. I got rid of the SF Concertinos and replaced them with Dynaudio 1.1's. THis was a big difference. I then bought a Sony 775 SACD. A decent player at less than $325 with a 3 year warranty. The Sony made another difference. These were not $$$$ upgrades and made quite a difference. So, isn't that what adiophile is about. Try as much equipment as possible before you die and enjoy it and pass on the reviews to us other audioheads.
SACD players make great redbook CD players. DVD-A is crippled by the need to connect to a TV monitor before configuring for two channel playback. Many audiophiles are not interested in being required to add a monitor to their music systems. Additionally, SACD has a true two channel mix while DVD-A mixes surround to two channels on the fly.

In summary, it seems like current SACD players sound great(and are inexpensive) while DVD-A seems to be marketed only to those who wish to add surround sound music playback to their home theater systems.
Send your MSB Link DAC to Stan Warren for modification. For a couple hundred bucks the improvement over a stock unit is amazing. Then you can wait longer for the format war to shake out.

Stan can also modify a $90 Aiwa CD changer into a killer transport for about $130.