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CD Changer?

I currently have the SONY CDP-CX90es 200 disc changer. This player sounds great with the rest of my very mediocre stuff. However, I've recently made a major upgrade to my whole system, by buying a whole bunch of stuff from Odyssey Audio - a new pre-amp (Tempest), two mono amps (Stratos) and a new pair of floorstanding speakers (Lorelei). I probably won't receive much of this until mid July.

My question is this - will I be able to get by with my CX90ES, or will it severely handicap my system? I have gotten spoiled by the changer, and don't really want to go back to a single disc player, but I will if I have to. I am very unsatisfied with the system I have now (Yamaha RX-V995 receiver and Polk Audio RM7200 surround) for audio, which is why I am doing this upgrade, and I don't want to be disappointed because of my CD player.

Does anyone have any impressions of my CD player? I don't have much comparison experience in this space so any information will help. If you think I am kidding myself by trying to keep this, are there any other CD changers that you think are good, or should I just stick to the single play ones?

Thanks for any advice you can lend me.
petequad
elevick
2,636 posts
 
What about an external d/a converter? That can improve your sound dramatically.
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,760 posts
 
I recently helped a colleague upgrade her system. I put the new integrated amp and speakers in place, a Creek A50iR and Soliloquy 5.0's, but decided to plug in the mid-priced Sony 5-disc changer she already had since we knew it was working and I wanted to introduce the variables one at a time if possible.

She put in a CD and music came out, but the sound was so bad that I was scared I'd really screwed something up or that the new gear we'd spent a lot of time picking had turned out to be a horrible mismatch. I nervously shut things down, checked all the connections and tried again. Same thing, thin, bright and extremely irritating. So, I nervously unpacked the Philips 963 player that was to serve for both CD and DVD playback, plugged it in and put in the same CD.

The difference was remarkable, with the Philips, her system sounded just as I'd hoped and she was absolutely thrilled with the sound. Still, we left the changer in place because she entertains a lot and reasoned the fidelity really wouldn't matter to a room full of people at a party.

Keeping the changer for convenience and adding a decent single player of some kind for critical listening makes a lot of sense. With some excellent players available used in the $300-500 range, it might not be worth your trouble to experiment with the external DAC and you could choose convenience or fidelity with the flick of an input switch.
petequad OP
6 posts
 
OK, well that is probably the approach I will take, although I may wait until my stuff arrives before getting anything. I was hoping someone had particular experience with my CD player - anyone out there? It had gotten some good reviews as one of the few "decent" jukeboxes when it came out, but I'm not sure how true that was compared to real audiophile stuff.
tomryan
796 posts
 
Absolutely go for an outboard DAC. There are lots of good deals on this site such as Bel Canto, Perpeptual Tech (with ModWright mods), Musical Fidelity, etc. I've heard good DACs matched with changers sound superb. Marantz makes a good changer in its SE series. But a DAC is a necessity.
petequad OP
6 posts
 
Please excuse my ignorance - Is this DAC something that plugs in between my premap and the Changer? How much do they go for?
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