Toshiba 4960 Available

[Zero]

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3981270

SACD, CD, DVD-A, all you could ask for and them some at an all new affordable price. She is brand spanking new. I hope she will still retain the redbook quality the 3960 is capable of. If so, man, the value of this player would be IMMENSE...

[amulford]

is this thing REALLY that good. I've heard some good things, but are we talking price / performance ratio or outright quality?

[Zero]

The performance of the 4960 is unknown. I have thus far, not heard of any reports of its performance. This unit was released on Monday, so I woudl expect some first impressions to start leaking in on the Audio Asylum, by next week.

The 3960 is good by ANY standard. We are talking outright fine audio quality at consumer prices. No, dont expect absolute magic, just expect great sound.

Dont ask, go to your nearest Best Buy and grab one.

[madmax]

It's about time. I think I am going to hold off a bit on this one though. Remember, it has 6 audio channels required by SACD. There is not much chance of it sounding much better than the $150 to $180 it costs. Even if it does you are looking at the $150 to $180 + $80 in upgrade parts (if it uses similar op-amps. Given the 6 channels I would suspect they will not use SO-8 footprint op-amps, they will probably be either smaller seperate ones or a single (with smaller pin spacing) which will all but eliminate the chance of replacing them. The other factor is that with SACD it will have a separate decoder which means a total re-thinking of the audio board. Not much chance in my opinion of having the lucky magic of the 3960 and will cost $230 to $260 in raw parts even if it does. For me this takes it out of the realm of the 3960.
madmax

You guys know me well enough to know I'll probably try one anyway if I see a good sale. Anyone know how long a model is sold before they start blowing them out at maybe $120? :D

[radkrisdoc]

Hi everyone!
Do Toshiba players convert DSD to PCM for bass management like the pioneer 563A? I'd like to know that before I take the plunge.

http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread/1201/1201

[madmax]

No bass management on the 3960, at least I haven't seen any if there is. The Toshiba as a stand alone transport isn't all it could be anyway. The reason many of us like them is the sound from the analog board. (analog out). There are much better quality units out there if you are using the digital out. That is not what the Toshiba is all about. Quality wise I wouldn't recommend one so if you are not using the analog out there is not much point, you might as well find a sturdier unit. Just my opinion.
madmax

[radkrisdoc]

I do plan to use the analog output from the toshiba. SACD decoding (DSD) is only available in expensive receivers.....I dont plan to use a receiver at all. I plan to buy a very nice 5.1 amplification setup, probably separates with a 5.1 preamp and use the toshiba's analog out.
The 3960 does not have SACD capability. It would be interesting to see what the 4960 does for SACD playback.

[Danny Tse]

The Toshiba 4960 is now available for $47.00 w/ no shipping charges....

http://www.hhgregg.com/ProductDetail.asp?SID=2A23935321054B21BFC276438628 F07A&ProductID=11750

Based on what I read, the Toshiba doesn't do a DSD >>> PCM conversion on SACD playback.