"Created by Sony and Phillips, Super Audio CD has been around since 1999, but only high-end users could get access to the six-channel aural recreation that has been touted as the next best thing to being there. The Sony SCD-CE595 aims to bring sophisticated and nuanced sound to the masses. Its proprietary Direct Stream Digital converts analog with digital without too much interference to create a fidelity faithful to the original, and frequency responses goes back all the way to 40,000 MHz and a 99 dB dynamic range with CDs.

In the United States, however, there aren't that many SACDs out there. Still, the sound is impressive, and the five-disc changer doesn't discriminate in its music formats, welcoming all takers in any combination, whether SACD, CD, CD-R, or CD-RW. The small remote control lacks basic functions such as an on/off button, but a universal can take care of those irksome omissions. The unit will require an audio/video receiver with multi-channel analog-audio inputs to take advantage of multi-channel SACDs."