"Hi-end" CD player - worth it?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Benzion, Jun 21, 2018.

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  1. jh901

    jh901 Forum Resident

    Location:
    PARRISH FL USA
    I'm in the process of replacing my Cary Audio 306 Sacd Pro with a certain decade old original design, upgradeable player, which is closer to the top tier. Putting PS Audio DS DAC fans on notice! Haha. Which FPGA will reign supreme?
     
  2. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    I don’t think so, But if I had a bunch of money I probably would:)
     
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  3. Leroyd

    Leroyd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    I have been usingthe Primare Cd32 for over 2 years now. Cracking CD player and totally reliable.
     
    HDOM likes this.
  4. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    FWIW: In this day and age, I would be much more inclined to recommend spending money on a good DAC which contains both an SP/DIF and a USB input than I would be to recommend buying a high-end CD player today. Use one of these with an inexpensive transport, and you will get most of the advantages of a really good CD player, while at the same time also getting a really good DAC that you can use for other things.
     
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  5. jh901

    jh901 Forum Resident

    Location:
    PARRISH FL USA
    Some hi-end SACD players will spin physical disc and include digital inputs. Further, the FPGA offerings can be upgraded with firmware. Finally, USB inputs aren't all created equal. Nor are transports.

    I do generally agree that putting money into a proper music server/DAC can represent the best value for many listeners.
     
  6. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    I don't disagree with anything you said.

    FPGA-based DACs are mostly much more expensive though. But I really love my PS Audio Direct Stream DAC which has already received at about a half dozen free firmware updates since I purchased it. This is probably the most expensive single purchase I ever made for my audio system. But with all of the free updates I have received, I consider it to have been some of the best money I ever spent on my system.
     
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  7. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Me too. I've ended my search for a digital front end. . . which was a relief. And it keeps getting better.
     
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  8. jh901

    jh901 Forum Resident

    Location:
    PARRISH FL USA
    True.

    Thread topic refers to hi-end, which covers very wide price range. Some might be able to spend a good bit more if there is a legit rationale.

    Anyhow, I've had my player for a long time and may be weeks away from significant leap! I've got a pretty terrific, upgraded pre. Time for worthy front end. Gonna needle DS DAC folks (in good fun). LOL. Can't wait..
     
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  9. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    If this was aimed at me - I do have a very good preamp, and listed it in the OP. You must have missed it.
     
  10. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    I have no other things, and never plan to. I don't do "files" other than on my phone. That's why I'd like a dedicated Redbook setup, with at least an option for a non-oversampling DAC inside. I've mentioned it all above, yet I still get advise for super-duper DAC's, for which I have no use.
     
    Blank Frank likes this.
  11. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    I found a dealer in NY. Will give him a call to see what these Lector's run for. The dealer selling the other Primare unit is too scared of fraud, so he won't take my card. I guess no Primare for me, anyways.
     
  12. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Woo transport is $1200, not $999. I though of it, in combination with a Border Patrol DAC - but shelf space consideration bites again. If I replace a single-box CD player with a transport/DAC combo - I will lose the even surface on which I have placed the phono gear for my two TT's. I need a single box...
     
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  13. jh901

    jh901 Forum Resident

    Location:
    PARRISH FL USA
    It is entry level, which is not a slight. I did miss it. My fault.

    Nothing wrong with wanting to spin physical, but stay open to gear options. All about total system.
     
  14. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    You don't have to go for super-duper DACs if you don't want to. Nor do you ever have to play a single file. I totally get that. It's going to take me many years to rip my collection. And I have no plans to stop spinning disks either. I'm not even sure if I'm going to the use the computer when I'm done yet.

    Another option is to just get your fancy NOS dac, and connect it to a less-expensive transport. The issues that you will certainly face (in time) with a high-end CD player is that when the laser eventually fails, it becomes a door-stop. But with a high end-DAC with an SP/DIF input, you should have relatively little difficulty replacing a dead transport with something that works far into the future.
     
    Shawn likes this.
  15. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    To answer your question of, "how big of a difference does a better player make, if the rest of the system is already very good, where it counts?" It all starts with the source, so that's where it really counts.
     
  16. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    I'm an Onkyo 7030 owner who's very happy with its sound. It is susceptible to skipping due to footfall on suspended floors, so they skimped out on isolation.

    Has anyone auditioned or bought Onkyo's all-out CD player, the 7000R? IIRC, they introduced three players, including the 7030 and the 7000, at the same time. The 7030 got all the attention for including chips normally way, way out of its price range, but I don't recall reviews of the uncompromised 7000.
     
  17. jh901

    jh901 Forum Resident

    Location:
    PARRISH FL USA
    I'll further your point for the OP. Yes, an upgrade to a hi-end digital front end will absolutely deliver a pronounced "WOW" under the right conditions. By "WOW", I mean that the sound from the same speakers in the very same room will be unrecognizable. Those very much acclimated to a certain sound will have many weeks of unfamiliarity until a new normal is accepted. There are so many variables though. It's a complex hobby. Far, far more ways to get it wrong than the many right ways.
     
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  18. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    It's one way of thinking. Most people here, though, think that the speakers are the most important part. The best and most expensive component will sound only as good as the speakers can. I tend to agree with that.

    Also preamp and amp are important. Good amplification plus speakers will make even a modest but decent source sound pretty good. The C-7030 is just that - modest but decent, so my overall sound is pretty good to begin with.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2018
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  19. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    For me there is a tipping point in the gear performance where source becomes more important than transducer. Below that tipping point the transducer is more important. Above that tipping point the source and synergy of the source with your pre-amp/amp becomes more important. There is no one answer to the source first vs. transducer first debate. It depends where on the see-saw your source and tranducers are sitting. Once the transducer becomes good enough to reveal improvements in source that is where the balance tips to the source first. Once you hit that tipping point it becomes productive to focus on source first and synergy of the source with pre-amp and amp and the overall sound of the system. I consider your system to be at that tipping point where thinking more about source and synergy of the source with your pre-amp and amp becomes more productive than thinking about new transducers.

    The Bottlehead Crack and HD600/HD650 is a headphone system that I'd consider to be at that tipping point where it would become more productive to look at better sources and source synergy with your amp than in buying a better and more expensive headphone. The Bottlehead Crack is good, but an even better amp will allow you to hear more into the source while keeping the HD600/HD650. No need to be getting better headphones to get better sound quality. The HD600/HD650 are good enough. The system is at the tipping point where thinking about better source and amp becomes more productive.
     
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  20. Hipper

    Hipper Forum Resident

    Location:
    Herts., England
    I'm only a home user who has heard only a very few CD players.

    I compared my current player (Teac P/70 Transport and D/70 DAC; original new cost about £10,000 in 2004) with a Marantz CD-6oo3 (cost £250 in 2010 or so). There was a difference but it wasn't that obvious - you had to listen for what that difference was then when you 'got it' you noticed. The difference was principally a seemingly quieter background allowing more details to be heard. When you knew these details were present you could then hear them on the Marantz, but you had to listen for them. On the Teac's they were just there. Whether that is worth forty times the price who can say - if you have the money and like listening to music it is.

    High end players have more attention to detail of every part of the chain. The Teac's for example apparently have a highly thought of CD turntable that holds the CD rigidly (known as a VRDS - Vibration Free Rigid Disc Clamp System) and so, it's claimed, reduce the need for error correction.

    My guess is they will last longer then mass production products. My Teac's have been trouble free since I got them fourteen years ago and used almost every day.

    If they ever needed replacing I would look at the PS Audio designs as they seem to be quite innovative, but more likely I would go for some sort of computer based audio (which I currently have for headphones). There's a lot more flexibility there. In your case you could put your vinyl on there too.
     
    Shawn likes this.
  21. enfield

    enfield Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex UK
    This has got to be the golden age for sound quality with regards to hardware (if not in current recording and mastering techniques).

    A high quality front-end sound can be had very cheaply..Free if you already have a laptop or pc (Just add a free program like 'Foobar /Wasapi' and you have a very good front end).
    Or simply buy a decent second-hand CD for peanuts.

    Yes if you want to tweak around the edges and improve the sound very subtlety for big bucks then that option is still open to you.For me i would only pay big money for a front end nowadays if it was for aesthetic or build quality reasons.
     
  22. somnar

    somnar Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC & Amsterdam
    After years of Denon and Cambridge players - which sounded very good - I bought a used Naim for $650 because I liked the way it looked (and was intrigued by the reviews of it that called it very “musical”).

    Sounded so much better than anything I’d had before. More musical indeed. Made CDs that had previously sounded sonically disjointed sound completely cohesive in my system. Love that player.
     
  23. jfeldt

    jfeldt Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF, CA, USA
    Very well said.
     
  24. Socalguy

    Socalguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    CA
  25. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Me three.
     
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