I just received this SACD from Amazon a few days ago and played it today on my Sony XA5400ES SACD player and was immediately taken back by how average it sounded when compared to the regular stereo red-book CD edition. In stereo the Eagles Hotel California SACD seems to be tipped up in volume but sounds no better than CD. I don't like surround sound and I don't have a surround sound set up. I have a High-End Stereo setup at home and have been very disappointed lately by many of the expensive imports coming from Japan. I've found the majority of them to be bright sounding compared to their American equivalents. The one good thing I can say about this recording is that it isn't bright sounding at all. Instead it just sounds like a regular CD, nothing special, certainly not worth paying the upscale price. However I just purchased The Who's Tommy Domestic SACD and it sounds fabulous. So does the Domestic Elton John Tumbleweed Connection as well as Mad Man Across The Water. The only Japanese SACD I've heard that is great is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road on Universal Japan. It stomps all over the harsh sounding American version and is worth every penny IMHO. For comparisons sake today I played my old trusty copy of Hotel California on vinyl pressed by Mobile fidelity in the Early 1980's and it of course bettered both the SACD & CD in every area of sound, better bass, sound stage, dynamics, midrange and so on.