CD Player for ARC/B&W 802 Matrix

I've had both the ARC CD2 and the Meridian 508.24. The ARC is a very sweet sounding, uncolored cd player. It puts the listener around a third or half way in the music hall. The Meridian 508.24 puts the listener very close to the soundstage. Instruments are more detailed with more air around them. It's really a matter of listening preference. I wanted to keep both, but after having the ARC CD2 for a little over a year, I decided to keep the Meridian. You should try to hear all the units you're interested in because all your equipment will contribute to the sound of each cdp.

Tony

these players both sound nice but use old technology.
WIth upsampling done right you can get much better resolution of low level detail, seperation of instruments, etc..

I was looking to buy an Arc C2 and took it home to demo for a long weekend, I later took an ARC DAC3 (highest end tube dac). It was more refining than a Sonic Frontiers but was not as revealing as an EVS Millenium II DAC which I purchased on a 30 day return policy(no longer available, but Ric can mod an existing dac (tweakaudio.com))

Find a new player or dac with upsampling

You can always buy a quality used transport and a good dac now.

Or you can snag an Audio Aero Prima 24/192 version (haven't heard it myself, but it's getting hot press), the little brother of the Capitol ($6000, which everyone seems to be raving about) for a little more than the $1500.

do a search on audio aero for more details (this thread is good ( 1022147810 ) or visit their website
www.audioaero.com

best of luck in this pursuit

tom