[Arny Krueger]

"Edmund" wrote in message


I find it very strange but I heard differences between
different SACD players. I would think that the specs of
SACD players are way above anything I could hear and
therefore I did expect to hear any differences at all.

Sighted, non level matched, non time synched evaluation, right?

If you listen to different music at different sound levels, it will of
course sound different. If it doesn't, something is sooo wrong. ;-)

99% of all audiophile so-called listening tests are done this way. They are
thus pretty much meaningless, if the area of discussion is technical
performance.

Now I am curious about others, does any of you have a
similar experience and what was the best player you have
heard?

All the good ones pretty much sound the same. SACD is an interesting
technical spec. Yes, there's more than enough bandwidth and dynamic range.
But the same is true of the original CD spec. I think that if you ever did a
listening test with truly matched levels and truly time-synchronized music,
you will probably have an epiphany. Add in good bias controls, and just
about everybody is totally lost when it comes to hearing differences among
even moderately good players.

IOW you are right. Paraphrasing what you wrote, you should think that the
specs of good SACD (and CD) players are way above anything anybody can hear.
Therefore nobody should expect to hear any differences at all. However, hope
springs eternal. Many have tried to disprove it, and everybody to date has
failed.