This is the only high-end SACD player I have ever owned. It has a unique dual output stage: one tube and one solid-state.
I have the original box and all documentation. There is not a single scratch on the component. I am asking $2,900. Please feel free to make an offer.
From the Musical Fidelity website:
I have the original box and all documentation. There is not a single scratch on the component. I am asking $2,900. Please feel free to make an offer.
From the Musical Fidelity website:
The kW SACD player is a big, big step forward. First off, it uses a cutting edge state-of-the-art dual differential DAC system, which gives incredible definition, linearity, noise ratio, bandwidth and distortion performance. We have not come across anything from anywhere that even comes close to this level of sophistication and refinement.
There is a completely separate DAC and filter stage for CD and SACD. This allows us to optimise the characteristics of each DAC to suit the format perfectly.
The output stage(s) is really interesting. There are two output stages in the kW SACD, operating at the same time. One is a super-quality tube stage, using our amazing mu-Vista tube, and the other is a Class A transistor circuit. Each is an incredible performer and both have truly excellent sound, but they are slightly, ever so subtly, different. Who is to say which one is correct? The idea is that you can connect both output stages to your amplifier and switch between them to select the perfect balance to suit your tastes and recording. Interesting and useful.
The power supply arrangements are sophisticated, using full choke regulation and every technique we know to ensure that each stage of every section of the player has virtually perfect isolation from any other. All well and good, but how does it sound?
Actually it is utterly gob-smacking. The sound is lucid, clear and sweet and the bottom end is just breathtaking. Even at low volumes, there is a heft and tightness to the bottom octave which is quite extraordinary. The imaging is tactile without being 'in your face'. The depth, width and height of the soundstage is much in evidence.
If I had not known what I was listening to when I auditioned the kW SACD, I would have thought it was a perfect vinyl set-up. It is that good. It has made me think about all the differences between analog and digital. I know that when I attended Antony's last recording, the sound quality 'in the box' was breathtaking. We were listening to the live digital stream from the microphones in the hall. It sounded nothing like what you hear on standard CDs. I know that memory can be terribly unreliable, but it was interesting that the sound the kW SACD makes seems to be the sound I heard at the recording session. In short, the kW SACD is amazing. It is a limited edition of 500 pieces for the world.
There is a completely separate DAC and filter stage for CD and SACD. This allows us to optimise the characteristics of each DAC to suit the format perfectly.
The output stage(s) is really interesting. There are two output stages in the kW SACD, operating at the same time. One is a super-quality tube stage, using our amazing mu-Vista tube, and the other is a Class A transistor circuit. Each is an incredible performer and both have truly excellent sound, but they are slightly, ever so subtly, different. Who is to say which one is correct? The idea is that you can connect both output stages to your amplifier and switch between them to select the perfect balance to suit your tastes and recording. Interesting and useful.
The power supply arrangements are sophisticated, using full choke regulation and every technique we know to ensure that each stage of every section of the player has virtually perfect isolation from any other. All well and good, but how does it sound?
Actually it is utterly gob-smacking. The sound is lucid, clear and sweet and the bottom end is just breathtaking. Even at low volumes, there is a heft and tightness to the bottom octave which is quite extraordinary. The imaging is tactile without being 'in your face'. The depth, width and height of the soundstage is much in evidence.
If I had not known what I was listening to when I auditioned the kW SACD, I would have thought it was a perfect vinyl set-up. It is that good. It has made me think about all the differences between analog and digital. I know that when I attended Antony's last recording, the sound quality 'in the box' was breathtaking. We were listening to the live digital stream from the microphones in the hall. It sounded nothing like what you hear on standard CDs. I know that memory can be terribly unreliable, but it was interesting that the sound the kW SACD makes seems to be the sound I heard at the recording session. In short, the kW SACD is amazing. It is a limited edition of 500 pieces for the world.
