What cd player for my system?

Hello all-
I am new to this forum and seeking a bit of advice for a new system I am putting together. The amplifier will be a Rogue Sphinx and the speakers will alternate between the Kef LS50 and the Dynaudio Excite x12 (until I decide which I prefer in my room). I want to add a cd player and am considering the Sony scd-xa5400es or the Rega Apollo. Do folks have thoughts about which would work better in my system? Will I be sorry if I don't have SACD capability (currently I don't own any but might if I had a player). If I go with the Rega Apollo do I also want to run it through the Rega DAC?

Any thoughts (including ideas about speaker cables and interconnects to match with this equipment) would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks-
Margot

 

Hi Margot, I am also new, actually this is my first post. I am running the Kef LS50's and alternate with the NHT Classic Three's. They are both fabulous but have differing strengths and hence I keep both. Though it must be said that the LS50 is the overall better of the two. I run a Bryston B135 SST² Integrated and two CD players in my main system. A Simaudio Moon 230D chosen for it's price/performance and not needing the additional features of it's more expensive (but identical) more featured big brother the 260D. A fine sounding unit. Reviews of the Simaudio Moon 230D and 260D as well as the CD-.5 and CD-1 are on the internet to peruse. (It's confusing, the 230D is the CD-.5 and the 260D is the CD-1. Moon changed the names, face plates and cosmetics to match a new line of amplifiers that they introduced, much to the chagrin of their dealers, but they are exactly the same units). I would suggest they would be a very good buy used as they were discontinued last year. When I added my second CD player I auditioned 4 units. The absolute clear winner, noticeably even a bit better then my Moon was the Cambridge Audio 851C. It clearly out performed the Marantz SA 8005 the least expensive player, and surprisingly the Hegal CDP2A MK2 the most expensive. The biggest disappointment was the OPPO 105. Given it's glowing reviews I had hoped it would prove itself the 'best buy'. Wrong. Proving to me once again that reviews in audio magazines must be predicated on revenue, at least to a degree. Thin, uninvolving, sibilant, I could go on... huge disappointment. On the other hand the Cambridge 851C is truly remarkable. I am not a reviewer hence I haven't the vernacular to describe it as reviewers do, suffice to say it sounds absolutely right. I don't know if the above has helped much, but know this will. When I placed my 230D and 851C on the Symposium Acoustics Segue Platform's with their Rollerblock Series 2+ placed between I was absolutely blown away to say the least. It was like Magic ! What ever you buy, double it's performance (IMHO) and ad the above.
Cheerio, Doug MacGregor (dmacg)

 

Be careful to audition the player in your system. I auditioned the Sphinx amplifier for about 2 hours and found it very hot and biting on certain program material. Fortunately each of your speaker sets are very smooth and should help take the edge of the amp.
You may want to go with one of the smoother sounding CD players- both the Sony and Rega would probably do very well as would the Marantz SA8005. Another to consider would be the Yamaha CD-S1000.

 

Consider as well a Creek Destiny

 

I have the Rega CD and the Rega DAC but then again my primary system is all Rega including a Brio R and RS3. I would definitely audition your selections. I love the Rega sound but not everyone falls into my camp. The CD player construction is like armor plate and the sound is more analog than any CD spinner I have ever owned. The DAC adds smoothness and dimension to the bass. Every recording I have thrown at this system has produced music. How the Rega components synergies stack up with the Rouge is something I can't guess but the Rega CD and DAC are solid on their own.

 

Thanks all for your good ideas. I went with the Rega and have been playing it with the KEFs this weekend. Terrific to my ears!

 

Congrats and best of luck with it.

 

Good show Canaday !! Enjoy, the LS50's are truly giant killers.......

 

I use to have a Rega Apollo, warm with a lot of detail, very nice player.

 

Good choice for speakers + amp. Now regard a CD-Transport and a DAC. There are a few combos of that sort, that really bring out the best in both. Very good CD and an even better DAC, that will take care of your CD's AND lift up any music files, TV or DVD sound to new and higher levels.
Try Goldenote, Project RS or best the Musical fidelity CD-T with the fitting M1 DAC. Punches over his weight and at the same price of the entry level MF M§ Cd Player it offers 4 inputs for DAC, which is missing on the traditional M§ CD-Player.
Check : http://www.musicalfidelity.com/products/m3series/ or that
http://www.musicalfidelity.com/m1cdt/ coupled with the fittind M1 DAC -http://www.musicalfidelity.com/m1dac/ and you got 2 midi compinens that are together the same size as the M3 CD-Player.
Goldnote from Italy offers very musical involving gear in those little boxes, too
http://www.goldnote.it/wordpress/cd-7/ with the fitting DAC, that is said to sound better than any other DAC in that price range (incl. MDAC M1 DAC REGA DAC etc.) - rich and melodic = http://www.goldnote.it/wordpress/dac-7/
you could upgrade them with external PSU boxes and get 2 regular sized combos of 2 midi blocks..lol
Crazy what they offer today ..

 

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You can often find the Marantz and Yamaha units at great prices off accessories4less.com

 

Hi M.Canaday, just wondering which speakers you finally decided on, my bias is the LS50 of course but the x12 is a fine speaker as well and so much depends on the choice of amp, source and interconnects. have you decided yet ?

 

Hi Dmacg, So sorry not to reply. I wasn't aware of your post until just now. I can tell you I am definitely keeping the Kefs. I actually am so taken with them I haven't even been able to hook up the Dyns yet to decide whether to sell or keep them as an alternate speaker. Right now I am trying to figure out cables for the Rogue/Kef combination (I am using Darwin Ascension for the IC, but haven't decided on speaker wire yet.). Then I may mess around with power cord and try to figure out a DAC that sounds good with Rogue/Kef. I am having fun. How is your system coming along? MC

 

Hi M.Canaday; Not a concern, glad you got back to me. The LS50's are amazing aren't they.... I had them hooked up from new for about 4 months until last week. I have at least 500-600 hours on them in that time. I thought it would be fun to pop my trusty NHT Classic Three's back in, just to see if they are as good as I had believed they were for 2 years before I bought the Kef's. I will definitely be keeping them as they are almost as amazing as the LS50's. I actually love them both equally, though admittedly, if forced to choose one, T'would be the Kef's.... the B-12d subwoofer is an uncanny match to the Kef's as well.
I thought you bought a Rega Apollo ? What need is there for a DAC ? The DAC in the Apollo is good is it not ? I am not familiar with Darwin Ascension IC's (just goggled them)$600.00 is a lot more than I'm willing to spend on a 1 meter cable. I'm sure they sound good ! I am happy with the synergy I am getting from my Transparent and Morrow IC's and Morrow SP4 Reference speaker cable, but hell, there are so many.... I am using Audio Sensibility Impact SE (3) and also Take Five Audio Asylum Deluxe(4) power cables. I would like to try the Audio Sensibility IC's sometime down the road though. The biggest difference to my system by far was the addition of the Symposium Rollerblock Jr. + and the Segue platforms under my two CD players. I was so amazed I went and bought their Rollerblock Series 2 + and am now using the Jr's under my B-135 and other components. Again, hard to say how they will improve any individual system, all I know is they made a way way bigger improvement than I would have ever believed. Be careful, you can get lost in this hobby
Cheerio, Dmacg

 

Oh I can't spend $600 on interconnects, either. I got a nice deal on them. They are recommended with Rogue amplifiers, and I am liking them in my system. And I don't need a DAC now at all, you're right. I am a bit complicated in that my job has me living in two different places, though, and so I am often away from a lot of my cd collection. I am thinking at some point I will figure out how to rip them to computer and get a nice DAC to play computer audio in one place or the other. That's down the road, though. In the meantime, thanks for the tip on Symposium Rollerback. It looks great. I'll give it a try. Enjoy! mc