this is the short version.

I purchased a Marantz SA8001 SACD player a couple of months ago Kept in the box unopened until I finished getting all the other parts put together. New pre/pro, amp, subs, speakers. All this for 5.1. Got home last night, couldnt wait to hook up the new cd player and finally hear what music in 5.1 surround would sound like. Got all the cables ready. Opened the box and...... :eek::eek::eek:

Not until that very moment did I realize the Marantz SA 8001 "SUPER AUDIO" CD Player is "STEREO ONLY"!!!!!!! .. what the hell is that about.

So this is a warning to other noobies, who are as ignorant as me and the dealer who sold it to me since it was them that recommended I connect the player via 5.1 analog. There are only 2 analog plugs, left and right.

NOT ALL SACD PLAYERS ARE CREATED EQUALLY

that's why it's always a good idea to read the specs. :)

It is probably too late to get the dealer to take it back even though the mistake was his in recommending an inappropriate player for you. I would still tell him of his error.

you can bet I will be talking to them tommorrow. They were pretty nice people. I dont think I would have any problem returning it. If they do have a problem, its going to be hard to explain why they would sell set of cables for 5.1 on a system that only needs 2.

slybasil,

I sure hope you can get your player issue sorted out with the dealer. :o

While you're at it, be aware that not all SACD recordings are multichannel, too...

- Steve O.

I wish I can afford a 2 channel stereo ***only*** SACD player

This is almost ALWAYS the case with dedicated CD/SACD players. Further, some of the best SACD recordings available are stereo only. If you need an SACD-compatible player that will do multi-channel, you're almost always looking at a universal disc player.

SACD players are also not all created equal from the standpoint of how the DSD signal from the disc is handled. Cheaper players that read SACD will actually convert the DSD stream to PCM before it's sent to the DACs (this process alone kills a lot of SACD's resolution; a freightening number of universal disc players work this way).

Proper SACD players have true 1-bit DSD chipsets that are dedicated to SACD playback. Almost every Marantz player capable of reading SACD that I've seen are so equipped. Perhaps your dealer will be nice and let you swap your player out with the Marantz DV7600. Just keep in mind that this will be a downgrade in the analog output stage as well as the power transformer (EI transformer instead of torroidal).

This is almost ALWAYS the case with dedicated CD/SACD players. Further, some of the best SACD recordings available are stereo only. If you need an SACD-compatible player that will do multi-channel, you're almost always looking at a universal disc player.

?

I checked Sony's website; they currently show three "dedicated" CD/SACD players ("dedicated" in the sense that they are audio-only, without DVD playback): SCD-CE595 for $150 MSRP, SCD-C2000ES/B for $400, and SCD-XA9000ES for $3000. Sony also currently shows five CD/SACD/DVD players. All eight of these Sony models offer both two-channel and multi-channel SACD playback.

Wow.....I wasn't aware that they still made a lot of those models. NAD's M5 also has multichannel playback. Not sure on the pricing, though.

What about the Marantz sa8260 http://www.accessories4less.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=MARSA8260 . I have been considering purchasing a Dedicated cd/sacd player and since 6 out of 7 of my sacds are multi-channel. I have been considering this player and/or the marantz sa8001 2 channel one since I honestly think i will be listening to standard cds more. I was also wondering what a 2 channel player would do to multi-channel recordings? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

I was also wondering what a 2 channel player would do to multi-channel recordings? Any suggestions would be appreciated
Ignores it. It will only play the 2 ch tracks or the CD tracks if that is present.

SACD players are also not all created equal from the standpoint of how the DSD signal from the disc is handled. Cheaper players that read SACD will actually convert the DSD stream to PCM before it's sent to the DACs (this process alone kills a lot of SACD's resolution; a freightening number of universal disc players work this way).

Proper SACD players have true 1-bit DSD chipsets that are dedicated to SACD playback. Almost every Marantz player capable of reading SACD that I've seen are so equipped. Perhaps your dealer will be nice and let you swap your player out with the Marantz DV7600. Just keep in mind that this will be a downgrade in the analog output stage as well as the power transformer (EI transformer instead of torroidal).

My SACD player is universal. It's an Onkyo DV-CP802 (on the low-end). Do you know if it converts the DSD stream to PCM or know where I can find out that info?

My SACD player is universal. It's an Onkyo DV-CP802 (on the low-end). Do you know if it converts the DSD stream to PCM or know where I can find out that info?

My current sacd player (sony dvp-cx777es silver). Converts my 2 channel rolling stones greatest hits dsd remastered disc into 2 channel pcm. The only way i can tell is my receiver picks the pcm signal up via optical. I was extremely disappointed when i seen this happen. :confused:

However all my multi-channel discs could not be sent through spdif and unfortunately i only got one 2 channel disc to see if it was just something my player does with 2 channel discs or not.

My current sacd player (sony dvp-cx777es silver). Converts my 2 channel rolling stones greatest hits dsd remastered disc into 2 channel pcm. The only way i can tell is my receiver picks the pcm signal up via optical. I was extremely disappointed when i seen this happen. :confused:

However all my multi-channel discs could not be sent through spdif and unfortunately i only got one 2 channel disc to see if it was just something my player does with 2 channel discs or not.

DSD never gets sent through SPDIF or coaxial, so what you're hearing is probably the CD layer, not SACD at all.

if you run the analog outs from the 777ES to the receiver, then you'll have a direct DSD to analog conversion (by the 777).