Hi-Rez Highway: REVIEW: Philips Electronics Philips SACD Player (Modded) by Pete Watt

Model:	Philips
Category:	SACD Player (Modded)
Suggested Retail Price:	$2250.00
Description:	APL Hi-Fi SACD 1000 vs. Meitner DCC 2 Listening Test
Manufacturer URL:	Philips Electronics
Manufacturer URL:	Philips Electronics

Review by Pete Watt ( A ) on July 13, 2004 at 16:24:12
IP Address: 198.81.26.75

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This is a follow-on to a review I posted here on December 2, 2003, describing listening tests conducted in my home and on my system, comparing two Philips SACD 1000's, one modified by Dan Wright of ModWright and the other modified by Alex Peychev of APL Hi-Fi. That review can be found via the following link:
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/hirez/messages/159086.html
At that time, I concluded that Alex's SACD 1000 was superior, scoring highest on more of the thirteen measurement criteria that I use. These included clarity, natural highs, realistic mid-range, overall tonality, detailed resolution and instrumental delineation. On the other hand, Dan's unit scored hegher in selected categories such as warmth, sweetness and overall musicality, which I am particularly partial to. Compounding the choice was the tendency of the ModWright unit to sound best on poor to average recorded CD's, larger orchestras and rock, whereas the APL player seemed to excel on well recorded discs, small scale groups, soloists and jazz, and was clearly superior on SACD. I rated both of these players as excellent and close to one another in many categories.
In general, the results of the tests seemed to verify that, where major differences exist, they appear due to design and implementation tradeoffs that are inherent and unavoidable, and that clearly affect the reproduction of sound. We often seem confronted with the choice between detail and realism vs. warmth and overall musicality; between accuracy vs. euphonics; etc.
This impression changed dramatically last month when I first heard the Meitner DCC2. In tests again held in my home and on my system, a group of us conducted rather rigorous A/B comparisons between the APL SACD 1000 and the EMM DCC2 player. (My ModWright unit was unavailable at the time, undergoing replacement of its transport under warranty.) It was not that the Meitner unit blew away the APL player -- we agreed that Alex's unit was a very close second. And it's not that the Meitner did everything perfectly -- for example some of us found the soundstage to be very dimensional but somewhat flat, and others felt the DCC2 sounded somewhat bright, especially on older discs. What was very impressive about the Meitner, however, was how well it scored across the board, and how exceptional it was in certain key areas. Specifically, the Meitner conveys a very open, airy and dynamic presentation, with a high degree of transparancy, and unquestionalble musicality. But it was close, and in particular the APL unit seemed to convey a more natural, less bright and more realistic tonality.
During these listening tests, both units were connected in the conventional manner through my pre-amp, partly to facilitate A/B comparison of the two players holding all other system components constant. The owner of the DCC2, however, felt that the Meitner would sound significantly better if it were connected directly to my Class D digital amp, utilizing the Meitner's versatility as a front-end with its own in-board volume control. Coincident with the above, Alex has announced his new digital board featurning the latest Crystal 4398 DAC chips (which he intends to paralleled) and its own volume control. Consequently, we have agreed to meet again and repeat the same A/B tests, this time directly attaching both units to the amp and by-passing the pre-amp entirely. Hopefully, we can schedule the repeat test within the next month.
In the earlier listening tests and in the ones planned for next month we are comparing the APL and the Meitner players based solely on their absolute performance. No consideration was given to cost. However, in the real world price per given level of performance cannot be ignored. Therefore, the concept of value must be introduced. This is not to negate clear differences in the quality of the reproduced sound, but to suggest that two exceptional players as in this case can be very close to one another in performance but at very different price points. It will be interesting to see if the next series of tests indicates even further convergence or the reverse.
Stay tuned.

Product Weakness: Overall musicality, ambience
Product Strengths: Detail resolution, naturalness in the treble, very real sounding mid-range, clear delineation of concerted instruments, clarity

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Spectron Digital One Class D
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Conrad-Johnson PV-12 (Modified)
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	APL SACD 1000; Meitner DCC2
Speakers:	B & W Nautilus 802's (Bi-Wired)
Cables/Interconnects:	Alpha-Core Goertz MI 2: Audience AU24's
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical
Room Size (LxWxH):	20 x 18 x 12
Room Comments/Treatments:	None
Time Period/Length of Audition:	One Day
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Exact Power 1000 Regenerator
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Overall musicality, ambience
Product Strengths:	Detail resolution, naturalness in the treble, very real sounding mid-range, clear delineation of concerted instruments, clarity