Audio Research Ref: CD8

How much does the power supply upgrade cost? Also, did ARC say if the majority of the improvement of the CD8 will be due to the power supply or DAC?

Lula, I have heard that the price will be in the $10,000 range and that the CD7 will be discontinued. If the sonic improvement is really that large it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against some of the much higher priced competition. The CD7 was already close to the top regardless of price.

Wsill, what did the power supply upgrade cost?

I actually just purchased one of the last CD7's available for sale from Audio Research.

I went for the CD7 instead of the CD8 because I got a great deal on the CD7 with a trade in against my CD3 MkII and was also told by my dealer that the machine I was getting was a hybrid unit incorporating many of the design changes implemented for the CD8 with the exception of the new DAC; essentially a CD8 without the DAC upgrade. I guess it makes sense that as the factory ran out of parts for the old unit they would incorporate whatever parts could be directly substituted from the new unit in the last production run. While I have no way to verify this, the new unit delivered to me came with the new power supply already installed instead of an upgraded older power supply so I have to assume that what I was told was at least partly correct. (I also received the CD7 manual which referenced the CD7 tube complement instead of what was provided with my unit).

I have not had a chance to directly compare my unit to a CD-7 and have only run it for about 60 hours so far, but from memory of using a borrowed CD7 in my system I can already support the comments made regarding the performance of the upgraded CD7 and CD8. Notwithstanding the deficiencies of aural memory, there is definitely a more detailed, livelier sound with better soundstaging along with the impression of a slightly more extended, tighter bass. In fact the improvements are so much so that I was compelled to tweak the position of my speakers away from the back wall and further apart, something I did not feel inclined to do with the borrowed CD7. Performance should dramatically improve with break-in so I assume I am hearing only the tip of the iceberg.

It is not clear how much of a difference the DAC makes but assume that the CD8 will be even better than my unit. If someone ever has an opportunity to compare an upgraded CD7 to a CD8 I would be interested in the results. For now and into the foreseeable future I am in music lover heaven!

Interesting. My hybrid CD7 also came with the dimmable display and LED indicator features so its looking like I did get a lot of CD8 parts after all. Sonically it is sounding even better with superior bass definition and extension, more neutral midrange with seemingly more detail and overall better soundstaging. In my setup from what I recall the standard CD7 used to bunch images a little at the center and close to the speakers. My unit spreads the image more naturally and seamlessly between and outside of the speakers so that it is easier to pinpoint each instrument's exact location (laterally, vertically and front to back )in the soundstage. So far ARCs description of the improvements appear to be right on the money as the CD8 should be even better (hard to imagine) in this regard.