I finally made my jump to SACDs to play on my 2-Channel audio only system using my Denon player through my tube amp to my AX2s/Velo speakers.
Generally I am very pleased with their sound & I believe from what I've heard, SACDs are a step up from CDs. Whether it is due to their higher sampling rate & DSD or just more care is taken in recording & mixing the material, I don't know. Perhaps it is a bit of both.
So far I have 5 SACDs with a couple more coming in the mail:
- Tito Puente 'Goza Mi Timbal' - Great Latin music with wonderful mids & highs featuring great rhythms; however, the bass is a bit recessed;
- The Allman Brothers 'Eat a Peach' - Excellent recording of live concerts. Incredibly smooth sound considering that it is live;
- Albert King 'I'll Play the Blues for You' - Great blues material from 1972 that exhibits wonderful sound. Quite amazing considering the age of the original recording;
- Spyro Gyra 'Wrapped in a Dream' - Really nice fusion that is easy to listen to. Great full sound; and
- John Hammond 'Rough & Tough' - 15 tracks of solo acoustic blues featuring some nice resonator guitar throughout. Well recorded but I found that the harmonica was often shrill.
All are recommended IMHO.
It is interesting to see the distribution of SACDs through out the spectrum. The classical genre vastly dominates with all others in the minority. Several artists seem to have embraced the SACD format more than all of the others - 'The Kinks', 'Bob Dylan', 'The Rolling Stones' & 'Stevie Ray Vaughan'.
TAM
