Sony SCD1, state of the art, upgraded SACD/CD player, LOWERED PRICE...!

Sony SCD1, state of the art SACD/CD player…

This is the first Super Audio CD player, and stays one of the best transports ever

(with CEC, Esoteric and Marantz, as competitors). There's no part of the SCD-1 that doesn't impress when one glances at this top loader, with its curvaceous flanks, well-manicured top, and overall stylishness, that even the staunchest of critics should adore, if nothing else the sheer attempt at such a product. It's no stretch to call this chassis "massive." The SCD-1 weighs some 28 kg (over 60 lbs.)! 

It's an Art Museum object s well, though after and (judging by the revival interest and the constant price increasing in the last year or so, most probably a collectible (after all, the total number of units produced by Sony was around 2500, only

and mostly for aiming for the Japanese market first; and then, they've ceased production, as the production costs for these were way to high!…).

…).

Planned  moving overseas mandate unfortunate sale of this very dear possession.

There are many excellent reviews on the web, including one from Johnathan Scull, @ Stereophile here: https://www.stereophile.com/hirezplayers/180/index.html

This particular unit has the following  upgrades:

-       - first  owner has two professional upgrades done to the clock, to upgrade its accuracy. That was a $700 upgrade, but it made only a subtle difference in fine details, when comparing it to a stock unit, in our opinion.

-        - our local detail-er friend from B& B Radio in Tronto had an overall thorough cleaning and lubrication done to  the unit, one year ago and the CD gate flows since; also, the  power receptacle was  replaced with a sturdier one;

-        - further, as we have used it as a transport only, we had mandated last year, our friend Mr. Zdenko Zivcovic, an audio top expert, (a former senior designer at the Sonic Frontiers, and Beyond Frontiers Audio, currently senior designer at the Magnum Dynalab), to upgrade the transport section. By caring directly, (with 7n purity silver wire!) the signal from the reader board straight to the digital output jack post, and by bypassing even the final transformer, and replacing the stock output connector with top line WBT one, he made quite a leap in the reproduced sound quality! Weather the present glory of this unit resides in its outstanding transport qualities, in spite of its outdated DAC, you can, of course use it as a very good SACD/CD player, as well.

The SCD-1 has two separate optical pickups. One entirely dedicated to CD while the other's optimized for SACD.

The SCD-1 Fixed Pickup Mechanism is an entirely new design. To isolate servo voltages from the laser pickups, the pickups themselves are fixed onto the sub-chassis. While the pickups remain stationary, the disc and turntable move horizontally to accomplish tracking. This reduces servo current noise. The SCD-1 spindle motor is made of die-cast aluminum for high rigidity, its stationary side includes a sapphire bearing. The rotating side features a ruby ball that fits into the sapphire bearing. This combination makes for an incredibly smooth spin. The disc connects to the spindle by way of a massive gold-plated stabilizer which is placed over the center hub. This dampens extraneous motion and helps create a high-precision rotating system. The drive mechanism is mounted to a 6 mm (almost 1/4 inch thick!) solid aluminum plate. The spindle cutout is reinforced with an extra plate for added rigidity. Special openings are used to suppress vibration and to reduce servo currents.

The mechanical block floats on four rubber dampers, mounted on four chassis pillars, thus combining high rigidity with superb isolation from chassis-borne vibration.

The rear of the SCD-1 is equipped for both balanced (3-pin XLR) and single ended (RCA) inputs. Coaxial and optical digital output are available, but for 16-bit CD playback only. (There is no digital output during SACD playback.) A 15-character dot-matrix display shows text information, player settings and user-warning indications. The SCD-1 shows information such as disc title, performers' names and track title for Sony text-suited CDs and SACDs. The SCD-1 has segmented displays for track number and time. Since Super Audio Compact Disc titles can have as many as 255 tracks, the players each have a three-digit track number display. The display window is made of thick acrylic with nicely beveled edges and a half-mirror coating on the inside.

The SCD-1 comes with the Sony Remote Commander,® a 1-mm aluminum top plate and buttons that operate with a definitive click. The remote duplicates the front panel features and adds track programming, shuffle and repeat (1, all, A-B), as well as 10-key Direct Access™ track selection. Added controls include cue/review, index search, disc type selection and filter switching. The remote unit's infrared codes correspond to Sony CD player codes. To prevent mistaken operation in systems that already include a Sony CD player, the SACD player and remote can be switched to "CD2" mode, engaging a separate set of remote control codes.

The SCD-1 power supply is designed to minimize interference and exploit the stability and purity of voltage. Separate power transformers for analog and digital sections limit mutual interference through the supply. Sony uses two large R-Core transformers to minimize magnetic flux leakage, mechanical vibration and acoustic noise. Unwanted vibrations are further suppressed (by resin-sealed cases) for both transformers.

Unwanted voltages caused by the physical vibration of wires and component parts are further suppressed by methodical anti-resonant construction. For this purpose, Sony developed a new anti-vibration design: the Base Pillar (BP) chassis. The base consists of two 5-mm (0.2-inch) thick metal plates that combine to form a massive 10-mm (0.4-inch) thick platform. On top of things, Sony has mounted seven high-carbon cast iron pillars, two 4.5-mm (0.2-inch) sidewalls and a 5-mm top plate. To prevent shelf-borne vibration from entering the chassis, Sony's eccentric insulator feet locate the screw hole off center. Varying the radius from screw to perimeter leans to vary the resonant frequency within the foot diffusing one probable path for vibration.

The SCD-1 also sports a refined 5-piece set of insulator feet. The upper foot is made of a high-carbon cast iron that provide high attenuation, while the lower foot is made of brass. These two halves convene at a pinpoint contact, designed to block the spread of vibration. Lastly, the 'pinpoint contact' itself is surrounded by a gel shaped damper to reduce even trace resonances. 

The loading door at the top of the chassis is a gem of mechanical engineering. The door moves smoothly on concealed guide rails. The panel rises slightly as it opens and then lowers to its original height when it closes. The motor cover and floating mechanism are insulated against noise and vibration. The disc housing is treated with an anti-vibration coating. A high-carbon textile with a Teflon® coating ensures sound insulation and high reliability. The main axle for the slide mechanism is made of stainless material, the bearing of brass.

Notes:

We bought it from the previous owner in 2016, and works flawlessly since. Never the less, as a precaution measure we purchased a brand new replacement double laser reader head, offered for sale, but not included in the current price. See our others adds in that respect.

It comes with remote control, gold plated puck, user’s manual and technical service manual, stock power cord. Also, it’s fetched with a gold fuse from HiFi Tuning, in Germany.

Accepted payments are in the form of: cash and carry; swift bank transfer; or PayPal (w. 3% extra if
funds comes from a CC).

Local sale preferred, but worldwide shipping with a high professional standard of double packing is available at extra cost. Stated dimensions are actual for each amp, not for the shipping package (yet to be determined). Will charge actual costs for S$H.

SACD is currently set on the 120V, 60Hz factory setting.

This is a private sale, and no extra taxes are payable. Please check out our other offers as well.