Paul Christie

Here in Australia I've read about a couple of new Pioneer universal players (sorry, can't give you model numbers right now). I think the cheaper one sells for AUS $1000 and the other for about twice that (that's probably equivalent to US $500, or less with discount, for the cheaper one. Both were favourably reviewed for their sonics (SACD and DVD-A), the more expensive one in particular, and both reported to have excellent video performance. Not a bad way to go if you're on a budget

I have a Sony DVP-S905V, which is a DVD-video player and SACD/CD player. When my old CD player died, I decided it was time to get a DVD-video player which could double as a CD player, and also get me started in SACD. This seemed the ideal solution. I have it hooked up to a TV using composite video (my TV doesn't have component video) - the picture is sensational, even on the composite video. For music I'm not using multichannel, just steroe through my old Musical Fidelity B1 amp. CD playback is way better than my defunct Sony CD player. The bass is much better, and overall the music on CD sounds more lifelike. I don't have a lot of SACDs at this point, but I can say that the extra resolution can be heard, and it gives instruments better separation and a feeling of space around them. This was not an expensive solution - I would thoroughly recommend it.

I have a vinyl copy of the Basie "Chairman" album, and would consider getting the CD. I agree with you JS that it's perhaps a bit over-arranged, but that seemed to be the way with the Atomic era Basie at that stage. I still like the groove they created, and some of the textures they achieved with their horns. Very different from the Ellington band, but the thing I like with these late 50s and early 60s recordings (both Ellington and Basie) is that it was the early days of stereo and what I would call true high fidelity recordings - so you do get to hear the big band in full and glorious sound. As for the Hodges/Mulligan disc - people have been calling for this one for years, especially on the long defunct Verve BB. I only have a few tracks from the session on a couple of other compilations, and what I've heard I really love. I think it has Mel Lewis on drums - it really swings. Can't remember the bass player off hand...

Quite correct Gigolo - the AKG 501s are a fair bit less sensitive than other cans - although I've never found that to be an issue. I get ear splitting volume from my amp socket with volume knob at about the same level I use for bothering the neighbours with my loudspeakers. But you might struggle to get loud volume running the AKGs from a walkman. I haven't noticed a low bass roll-off, but you could be right. Some of the Sennheisers do go deeper, but I find that subjectively, the presentation of the music with the Senn 580s is a bit too ballsy for my taste - sounds great, but not quite natural enough for me (unless I wanted to emulate the sound of a rock concert).

Nutty, unless you really want to spend a bucketload of cash, I would recommend checking out a pair of AKG 501s - they are slightly boofy looking, but exremely comfortable. I compared them with a number of Sennheisers, and found them to be very neutral. They aren't as "in your face" as Senn 580s, or even 600s - the bass is a bit more restrained. But they have oodles of tight bass, whereas I found the 580s to be a bit overblown in that department. I think the 501s are perfect for jazz listening. Good for everything else too. I also listened to some Sony's, but they weren't in the running. I'm not using a headphone amp, but I'm sure one would tighten up the bass even more, which is important to me. Nothing worse than flabby bass where it should be taught and crisp. I like the look of the Creek amps, and the Rega model looks interesting too - they would be on my short list for affordable units. The Musical Fidelity X-Cans I think are more expensive, and there are mixed views about them - a lot of people seem to like to tweak them with new tubes.

Greetings from Oz! Thanks To John Shelton for alerting me to this board - I wasn't even aware of it, and it's nice to know Ed that someone remebers my name from the old days of BNBB. I've been to the AAJ board periodically - it's a bit slow over there, but plenty of good posts. It's really nice to see familiar names over here - looks like the place to be.