Can I play and rip a SACD/DVD-A disc

Sadly it is a bootleg, and not available to buy.
Regarding audio performance from DVD-A, when playing through CoAxial, the odds are very high you are not getting full resolution, but almost certainly cut down to perhaps 16/48 - it depends on the CPPM settings when the disc was authored. There are 4 possibilities:
1 - 2 channel, CD quality
2 - Multichannel, CD quality
3 - 2 channel, full quality
4 - Multichannel, full quality.
If your discs are set to the first option, then you are only getting CD quality.
When using the analogue outputs, you MUST set the player correctly, and poor sound quality is invariably due to incorrect player settings:
Speaker size
Bass management

The other digital option is HDMI (Or D-Link, i-Link etc depending on manufacturer),
Current HDMI specs are at best 1.2, and this should, with a suitably equipped amp, allow up to 24/96 in 5.1 to be output.

Excessive limiting can be seen - rip any modern CD and look at the resulting waveform - it will resemble a lump of 4x2. The transients have been chopped off & the lower noise floor raised all to get a "hotter" pressing, and it is killing music.

 

Interesting about the quality. How can I discern this?

The player (Pioneer Elite DV45A) is set correctly, large front and center, small rears. Crossover points at the rear are set to 70Hz (In room responce of +/-3db from 67Hz to 19.5KHz), fronts to 70Hz (in room responce +/-3db from 22Hz to 19.8KHz), center at 70Hz (in room responce +/-3db from 50Hz to 19.5, crossover specifically designed for proper horizontal dispersion), and sub at 70Hz (flat to <20Hz). In room distances are set as per a tape measure at listening position. In my theater room (Where I listen to DVD-A) my seating position for audio is differant than for video.

I have found the DVD-A discs to be bright and colored, even with Butler Tubes (5150 and 2250). But surprizingly the composition is muddled as well. I know bright and muddled rarely coincide, but I swear it seems as if the instruments trip all over themselves. Not only that but seperation seems ragged at best.

My pre-amp at this time is a Pioneer Elite VSX45TX, untill I save my pennies for the Anthem Statement D2 (I buy toys with cash, not credit). The speakers are all of my own build as is the crossover design with very flat in room responce as well as very flat dynamic impedance curves. Bottom end is strengthened by rear firing ports in the rears, and front firing ports for the mains. The center is sealed. The center and mains use the exact same drivers, surrounds use the same tweeter (silk dome semi-horn loaded) but use a 5.25 driver ported to 70Hz. The sub houses 2 10 inch XBL2 enabled drivers front firing and sealed each getting 250 watts from 2 seperate plate amps.

 

Not everyone. I have the dvd-a of DSOTM, and while I do like it a lot, I think the sacd is better. One reason is because of the song, "On The Run". On the sacd, the guy runs [bold]around[/bold] the room (starts in left front speaker, runs to center, then runs to right front, then runs down the side to right rear, then runs across the back to left rear). On the dvd-a, he runs back and forth across the rear speakers. That is the major difference. There are other subtle differences, that's hard to put your finger on. Plus the dvd-a is 4.1 and the sacd is 5.1. Another subtle difference, but still a difference.


Here is the info that came with the dvd-a.............

Dark Side Of The Moon
From the original 1/2" Master Tapes

This is the real deal. not the usual Q8 or SQ versions with all their limitations
(limited bandwidth on the Q8, Matrixed surround on the SQ etc) but a genuine transfer from the original master tapes.
Finally you can hear Alan Parsons mix as it was always intended to be heard in studio quality audio.
The only "liberty" we have taken here is an additional .1 track. You can make up your own mind as to
whether or not it is a worthwhile addition.
It also features all new artwork in both sections specially created for this DVD-Audio release
The disc will play on all DVD players, as it is a DVD-Audio/Video "hybrid" containing the following:

Audio_TS
MLP Lossless at 24/96 Resolution in 4.1

Video_TS
DTS from 24/48 Source files
Dolby Digital from 24/48 Source files

Additionally, it is possible to play both the lossy streams from DVD-Audio players.
Each type has it's own menus. What you can access is dependant entirely on your player.

All Authoring, Encoding, Post Production and design is exclusive to this release.

FEEL FREE TO DISTRIBUTE THIS DISC TO OTHERS, BUT ALWAYS "AS IS" AND IN FULL.
PLEASE DO NOT RIP AND REPOST IN ANY OTHER FORMAT. THERE IS NO NEED AS ALL DVD PLAYERS CAN READ THIS DISC,
AND DOING SO WILL DEPRIVE OTHERS OF THE FULL HIGH RESOLUTION FORMATS USED.
ADDITIONALLY, RIPPING TO DTS-CD WILL INVOLVE QUALITY LOSS DUE TO DOWNSAMPLING, AND WILL
REDUCE THE LISTENING PLEASURE FOR OTHERS.