"Hi-end" CD player - worth it?

We're not going into analog vs digital debate here. Suffice it to say - I have 5 turntables at home, so you can guess what my feelings are. However, I have close to 2000 CD's, and I play them regularly, too. Naturally, I'd want to improve the sound there, if I could.

 

Well, so far in this thread, it's been mostly "yea" and only two "nay". Looks like I'm going to make an offer on the other Primare I found...

 

Love my Sim Audio Moon 260DT transport.
At $2k new for the transport ($3k for the player ) it is not inexpensive, but sounds great. Much better than the troublesome Cambridge CXC it replaced.

 

NOS (non oversampling) DACs are interesting. Worth checking out what NOS sounds like if you're curious. Only way to find out what NOS is like is to listen to some good NOS DACs. You may like the NOS sound, or may not. Won't know till you try.

There are some modern DACs doing NOS. They're DAC only. You'd need to use a transport to spin CDs.
Border Patrol DAC is one
Metrum Acoustics DACs are NOS. ZMF Headphones sells Metrum DACs here in the US.
The Holo Spring DAC sold by Kitsune HiFi has a NOS mode. Stereophile just did a review of the Level 3 version.
And there are others.
You've got some choices if you want to explore NOS.

Bummer about the Primare CD player getting lost in shipping. That sucks for the seller, and not good for you either. Hopefully you can find another one for sale at a good price.

 

I was looking at the Border Patrol, and liked it. Just couldn't find a suitably priced transport. The one I liked had all the features I want, rugged build, top loading - by Canary Audio, but, at whopping $6000 - for a transport?! I later found another suitable transport - by Sparkler Audio of Japan. Price is acceptable (sort of), but the combination with the DAC is still inching close to $3K. The Primare seems like a sensible compromise, price-wise, and it also has 3 modes of playback -Non-oversampling, and two oversampling ones. Gives me options to see what my ears like better.

My last, and probably main consideration, though, is shelf space. On top of my current Onkyo, I have two phono's and a step-up amp. Other than that - the rack is full. If I break up a one-box player into a top-loading transport plus DAC - I will lose the shelf-space for the phono gear, literally. See below.

 

After warranty repair, my CXC is going strong, in the living room.

 

The weird thing is - the Seller just re-listed the unit again. Not sure if FedeX found the package, or the guy was just playing with me. If he was - I see no point in it, but feels weird to buy from him again. I just made an offer on the other Primare unit listed there, this time it's from a legitimate hi-fi dealer I know of.

 

In my experience CD player transports seem to break down regularly with use, so at this point I would only invest in a cheap transport/good DAC.

 

The problem with this path, however, is that transports also impact sound quality.

 

How - is what I'm still trying to figure out. There's been a whole thread here devoted to that issue, and a very heated one. Some members almost damned each other to eternal Hell over it, but none of them really convinced me.

My way of seeing this is: the transport produces no audio "signal", period. What it produces is a "data stream" which is sent to the DAC for further conversion to an audio signal. For the data stream to be accurate, you need a good laser unit and a fast "bus", or whatever they call the connections in between (you can tell I'm not an engineer).

So, in my not-so-educated opinion, the main thing in a good transport is a quality laser unit, a steady-speed motor, plus an otherwise minimum of moving parts - thus I'd want a top-loading unit (ideally) that has no moving "drawer" to break over time. Otherwise, it's contribution to overall "sound" is only as good as the data stream it is able to gather from the CD and send up to the DAC.

Some people in the previous thread about it had loudly argued that the transport contributes to the sound at least because it has a power supply, but, again - that power is not sent upstream, the way an analog signal is. What's sent upstream is only 1's and 0's - data only, no "signal".

Someone correct me, if you think I'm wrong.

 

I was playing CDs with a $90 Philips DVD player for years. Wasn't a big fan of CDs as a result. Then one day I found a perfectly operational SONY XA20ES [w/puck & remote] laying on the sidewalk. Changed my whole attitude about Compact Discs. Still in regular use some 3 years later.

 

It appears I must traverse Brooklyn sidewalks with a lot more determination from now on...

Or - at least in your neighborhood...

 

I agree.A one box solution is the way to go.
There's never been a regret when it comes to over spending on audio gear.It would be different if i was short of funds and my family had to do without.

 

There’s a tech in Connecticut. I called him to find out how to open it up when I wanted to swap tubes. Good thing too, as I never would have been able to figure it out otherwise and likely would have damaged it.

 

Generally speaking, poor transports introduce jitter and the long and short of it is that we can hear single digit pico-second time distortions.

 

Depends what you are looking for in CD player.If you want great build,exclusivity,and a player that is in the same price bracket of your partnering equipment then spending substantial money might be the way to go.

IF on the other hand you are looking simply for great sound quality then that is possible for hardly any money..In the form something like the NAD entry level model..Or
second-hand you can pick up superb sound quality for under $100.

I currently have a 30 year old Philips CD-380 (TDA1543) and a Sony 715E (pulse 1 bit) that sound as good as any exotic CD players i have ever heard.

The Philips sounds beautifully analogue and is great with rock.The sony has a 3d holographic sound that suits classical superbly.

 

I don't care for "exclusivity" or a matching "price bracket". I want good sound, and the money is paid for that, and that only. No 30-year-old players need apply, sorry, reliability is an issue with those. Also, I want a 16-bit DAC at 44 kHz - the original format, which Primare has.

 

If you want a very durable CD player that sounds great then look at the entry Esoteric CD player. If that is too much for your budget, look at the sister brand of Teac.

 

I hear you...value for money...good sound for the money...reliability. Some of the antique players though have had far less problems with reliability than new ones. I would not risk big dollars on a new single box player for that reason.

 

A system can sound no better than it's weakest component. Generally, I feel that the line stage pre-amp is overlooked. It's not that the first analog component in a system with a digital front end is necessary to improve the sound, but it is absolutely necessary to do less harm. The better the pre, the less harm to the signal before amplification. So that said, it wouldn't make sense to drop $5,000 on a digital front end in a system which simply doesn't have a good pre.

Of course, most of us don't go out and buy two or more components in one big leap. That's why our hobby is a journey. I've faced the reality that I'll always have a weak link. This fact has no impact on the pleasure I get from spinning CDs and SACDs with what I have at any point. Simply something to keep in mind when there's a time to replace a component.

Finally, the good news is that there are DACs and CD/SACD players, both new and used, at every price point. And there are options which have pre-amp as well. Start there, and then in a few years pick up a great stand alone pre which beats the integrated one by a large margin.

Exotic?

Anyhow, there's a zero percent chance that a well regarded, audiophile designed digital front end from the past 10 years will be beaten by your Philips or Sony. No. Chance. Hopefully, your pre-amp is ok.

 

I have a Naim cd5i, is it consider to be hi-fi?
I thought about upgrading (I use Supernait 2 as amplifier) but Naim stop producing CD players except entery level machine. Strange....

 

It's interesting to see that about Linn cd players. I've had the Linn Majik for 10 years now and have never had any problems with it nor have I had any reason to regret it. I chose it over the Ayre Acoustics player because the bass response was a little tighter and authoritative. It isn't for sale so I have never checked out prices on fleabay. Maybe I will later just for giggles.

 

$1.5K for my tube staged Line Magnetic CDP. Worth every penny.

 

Agreed. When I got a quality line stage, I was very surprised by how much of a difference it made.

 

I ripped all my CDs to a NAS years ago. But if I was to go back to CDs I’d take a long look at the top loading Woo transport at $999. Of course, I already have a very nice DAC, an Auralic Taurus II. The pair would cost you about $4500, IIRC.