I just picked up the Sony DVP-NS500v Dvd/SACD player for $160. I put on the SACD sampler that came with it and actually had to sit down to listen to the whole James Taylor track on it. I was really amazed at how it made my system sound.

Here's my two cents with this "format war." The sound of these formats is highly dependent on the source material. Remastering classic albums onto these formats does not truly show them off properly. Also, I'm not a fan of multi-channel music. That said, adding some ambience into the surrounds, not instruments, is an interesting idea. Finally, SACD is made to work at such a high sampling rate that it makes sense why there's not a digital connection for it.

One more thing, as a sound engineer DSD is a much more appealling idea to me than PCM at higher rates. I get nice headaches when listening to regular CDs for longer than one song at a time. I don't get these when listening to analog at a comparable volume level. I hope DSD allows for longer listening periods.

To finish my ramble, I think it's too early in the game to see where these formats are going. I like the idea of hybrid discs at this point. Give the listener the option if they want it. If you can pick up a not too expensive player in either format, have fun and experiment.