As probably thousandof people have done before me, thanks to ted_b and Jesus Rodriguezfor their wonderful effort. I took the time to read some info fromthis thread (and search for what I was having trouble understanding).I purchased a 3.55 (SACD capable) old PS3 from e-Bay and got itripping my first SACD in less than 60 minutes.
I bought an exasounde28 last summer, and this is a fantastic purchase for me since Ireally like multi-channel audio. (2 channel folks, this is fine you may not have the space, the interest or the $$$, but If you have the occasion please try to listen to a good multi-channel set-up you maybe surprised). Me in addition to really liking the better`acoustic cues`, I own QUAD ESLs (2905,2805, 988) so having a bunch really help with total volume on large orchestra music.
But one disappointment for me has been the lack of good multi-channel downloads (I know about 2L… channel classics, nativeDSD etc) and I did bought a few. But they are expensive to download (I am Canadian so the current state of the can $ does not help).
But even sidestepping the $$$ issue, let me give two other examples:
1- In my humble opinion the best Berlioz Requiem version is the Norrington one, is it available to download anywhere? For any price? no.
2- I want to purchase the album of clarinet player Martin Frost Dances to a BlackPipe, I can download a high-res PCM version but not the multi-channel SACD.
So in the end the PS3 routes makes a lot of sense, I can rip my 300+ SACD collection,and purchase a few more (like the Martin Frost recording) and dowload when available.