At the recent Home Entertainment Show in San Francisco, Sony showed its new reference standard multi-channel Super Audio CD player. The SCD-XA9000ES features a multitude of technical advancements that enable music enthusiasts to experience beautifully dynamic sound and take full advantage of the more than 800 Super Audio CD titles available in the U.S., almost half of which are multi-channel surround titles. The SCD-XA9000ES features multi-channel management providing flexibility and performance. Multi-channel management allows for bass re-direction based on the various speaker systems available on the market today, optimizing multi-channel Super Audio CD playback. Sony has equipped the unit with a new Tri power Digital-to-Analog Converter that utilizes eighteen separate SA DAC chips, six per channel, to deliver exceptional precision and minimal noise for an elevated musical experience.

In a report slated for release this coming Monday, The DVD Entertainment Group is going to announce that over 1,000,000 DVD-Audio players have been sold to date. According to public reports from Sony, that is just behind their SACD players who topped 1,000,000 in November 2002 and have been selling well thanks to being a part of the very popular and affordable Sony Dream Systems. Sources inside the DVD Entertainment Group also mentioned that Soundscan, the music industry source for tracking music sales, is going to soon start tracking sales of DVD-Audio titles as a new category. Up until now it has been unclear how much software and or hardware has been sold on either side of the format war.

Krell unveiled its’ first ever SACD player at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month. The SACD Standard marries the Krell high bandwidth, high dynamic-range approach to circuit design to the Super Audio CD platform. Krell is long known for exquisite enclosure design, and the SACD Standard is no exception. The SACD Standard’s unique chassis-in-a-chassis design provides ultra stable disc drive operation, while damping induced vibration from the electronics. Separate power for the digital and analog circuitry maximizes the performance of both sections. A custom-wound toroidal power transformer offers tremendous current and low noise operation for the analog circuitry. Several stages of regulation insure rock steady power to all gain stages for maximum dynamic impact.

Linn says they will show a new high end “combo-player” at CES that will play all of the new and existing formats one could ever want including DVD-Audio, SACD, DVD-Video, CD and more. The projected retail is $8,000 USD.

Canada’s Classé Audio Inc. has just released the CDP-10, a compact disc player engineered for critical listening applications in high-end audio playback systems. Combining a highly sophisticated output stage with cutting-edge digital-audio technologies and transport components, this $2,000.00 CD player employs a segmented power supply design with no fewer than eleven separately regulated stages. Classé claims this ensures perfectly stable operation with voltage and current supplies that are virtually pure and noise-free.