Just a heads-up that the SACD/CD hybrid of Chailly's new Mahler 3 at
$18.99 is *half* the price of the regular CD release.  A promo to get
people to hold an SACD in their hands I guess, and yes, the CD layer
of the hybrid will play without compromise in your standard CD player.

(Please forgive a moment of tech talk:)

My rudimentary surround system is complete.  (I added two rear speakers
only, which gives you about 85% of the magic.) I bought a well-reviewed
SACD/DVD player for $250 and then bought a used amplifier* to power the
additional rears.  (The rear speakers were $free as they were sitting
in my closet.) Plugged "L/R front" from the player into my main amp, and
"L/R rears" from the player into the second amp.  Used the test tone on
the SACD player to balance the volume of all four speakers...done.  (If
the format doesn't take hold, I'll put my speakers back in the closet
and I've still got a DVD player for movies.  My point is, if you want
to try, it's *not* expensive.

*a five-channel amp is ideal, but if you only want to try with rears,
just use an old 2-channel amp kicking around the house and bi-amp--good
amp for the fronts, discarded or used amp for the rears.

Classical music listeners: I can't tell you enough how impressive this
format is for classical music.  We often complain that no one cares about
our genre, but 1/3 of all SACD releases, (780 out of 2150) are classical.
You like Bach and Durufle organ music?  Your ceiling becomes a huge
cathedral and the music floats above you, just like it does live.  With
organ concerti, the orchestra is in the front while the organ comes from
above and beyond.

Do you like antiphonal effects?  I can't wait for a Verdi or Berlioz
requiem where one can hear brass placed where they were intended, from
behind or from four corners.  MTT's Mahler 2nd will be out in the fall.

What about plain old symphonies?  The rear ambience, ideally inaudible,
somehow expands the orchestra's width and depth about 15ft.  What it
sounds like--and I know--is if one were standing about 10ft away from a
rehearsing orchestra in an empty hall.

Do give it a try.

John Smyth
Sac, CA