After the just concluded Axpona show, Stereophile published a video of PS Audio's new product reveal. In it a visitor asks what mechanism the new transport uses. Paul McGowan identifies the Denon/Marantz unit then declares that its producers have already announced the end-of-life phase for the part and that with a few hundred sleds secured, their new transport model would in fact become a limited edition. Paul also said that this drive was the only one left capable of SACD playback. He forgot JMF's universal drive but a/, it's probably cost prohibitive and b/ may not be available OEM. The Marantz version is also used by Métronome and Playback Designs among others. Presumably when a provider of specialist OEM parts phases one out, their clients have opportunity to place one last bulk order to restock their inventories. Declaring the death of SACD, again, is thus most likely premature. And as Stream Unlimited have with the reissue of the legendary Philips CD-Pro2 drive in the next-gen CD-Pro8 for dedicated high-end CD playback, perhaps someone else will step into the breach when current SACD mech supplies dry up. Just so, a warning shot was just fired. The already niche phenom of physical DSD carriers might finally segue into its golden years as the machines capable of playing them back phase out.
