Advice sought on SACD 5.1 system
Mon, Feb 7 2011, 11:13AM
I'd be grateful if someone could help me achieve affordable 5.1 playback.
I currently have a Sony SCDXE680 SACD player. It only outputs the SACD signal via analogue outputs. I've been listening to it as a stereo SACD player purely through headphones. I'd like to finally hear the 5.1 putput through speakers but I have to do this on a budget of well under £1000. I thought I could get a budget AV receiver for £200 and a Mordaunt alumni speaker package for £400.
The problem is it seems that most AV receivers do not have six analogue inputs. Were there ever many hi-fi amps that had 6 inputs for 5.1? What did Sony think the player would be used with, since it was released before the whole home cinema business took off? Should I be looking for amps and not AV receivers.
Are there newer SACD players with digital outputs instead?
I'm aware that the Cambridge Azur Blu-ray player at £400 can play SACDs and has HDMI connections - but that seems like an awful long way round to get what I'm after.
I should stress I'm after an audio set-up not a TV/DVD watching set-up.
Can anyone suggest a good way forward? Thanks
Tue, Feb 8 2011, 4:45PM
#2
RE: Advice sought on SACD 5.1 system
As John Duncan has said, there are a good many AV receivers that will accept 5.1 analog inputs but they tend to be higher price models. There are a few "preamp processors" and multichannel amps that accept 5.1 analog but they are generally even more expensive than the receivers.
Well yes, there are nowadays a few "universal" players that can deliver SACD digitally, however conduit is HDMI, (not coax or Toslink). Again, these are generally not cheap. There might be others but one that comes to mind is the OPPO BDP-93, see here.
Sat, Feb 12 2011, 11:03AM
#3
RE: Advice sought on SACD 5.1 system
Thanks to John and w d bailey for the posts.
I achieved my goal: Yamaha RXV667 receiver + Cambridge audio centre speaker + 4 Gale Gold bookshelf speakers (+ the Sony SACD player I've owned for about 8 years). With cables and connections I managed this for £750. I know this is budget hi-fi - but I am very impressed with the sound - the 5.1 is so immersive. Interesting to hear how different SACDs make different use of the rear speakers, verging from just ambience to individual instruments. And the Yamaha will also add reverb and send ordinary stereo CD to all the speakers which gives CDs a new dimension.
One small complication - advanced editing of the Yamaha's settings not possible unless connected to a TV or computer screen. At the moment this doesn't matter to me. If you get the speakers balancd automatically then everything else is plain sailing.
Posted this in case anyone else is thinking about this.
Tue, Jun 7 2011, 3:29PM
#4
RE: Advice sought on SACD 5.1 system
Could anyone recommend an affordable decent quality SACD player? It doesn't have to a gazillion disc capacity, just something plain, simple, with good sound.
Tue, Jun 7 2011, 8:23PM
#5
RE: Advice sought on SACD 5.1 system
Define 'affordable'? All Sony Bluray players will play SACD, but if you want top quality you might be better off with the aforementioned Cambridge Audio player (if you can find one).
Wed, Jun 8 2011, 10:13PM
#6
RE: Advice sought on SACD 5.1 system
By affordable I mean not over USD 500. That seems to be my budget.
Plenty of receivers have a 5.1 input, but they tend to start around the £400 mark. However, if you're only looking for music and are not worried about decoding the new movie formats, there are some tremendous bargains to be had on a well-known auction site. For example, my Yamaha DSP-AX620, which has a 5.1 input and is really rather musical, can be had for about £70, whilst the higher-up models in the Yamaha range from days gone by can be had for a couple of hundred.
Couple this with something like the Tannoy Mercury F3 package from Superfi for £400 (down from £1k) and you'd have a fabulous sounding system.