CDPs for full orchestra

Twoleftears - Here's from another serious orchestral music listener, CDs and Lps. I agree with a lot that's been said--it depends upon recording, mastering quality, etc. Frankly, I finally got so annoyed at the sound of orchestral CDs in general (though there were some exceptions) that I re-habbed my turntable and was forced to conclude that, for the most part, Lps do a better job with orchestral music. But still, that ignores 20 years of newer recordings. After a fairly long (and sometimes painful) search, I finally concluded that the EAR Acute was the CDP that was most compatible with my classical listening interests. As it happens, I described that experience in a post earlier today, which you can find if you do a search for "acute" (I assume).

Good luck and good listening.

05-31-08: Pacific_island_audio
This may not be the answer you were hoping for, but CD players have little effect on soundstange, imaging, or rendering the complexities of orchestral music. For the qualities you are seeking, the recording is the most important factor. You'll never get anymore out of a recording than what is already there. Next most important are the speakers, their ability to deliver those qualities and how they interact with the room.
Pacific_island_audio (Answers)

I disagree. Source is the beginning. CD players sound different. They also image and soundstage differently. Recording quality varies from disc to disc, that's true. But to say that CD players have very little to do with soundstaging is an incorrent statement. I tried more than one cd player in my system, also tried several different DACs. Beleive me, some soundstage and image better than others and the difference is immediate.

If your system is capable of certain level of resolution, you will hear difference between components much quicker and easier than you would with a lower resolution system. The better your components get, the more important synergy becomes. Don't ignore the source.

This may not be the answer you were hoping for, but CD players have little effect on soundstange, imaging, or rendering the complexities of orchestral music. For the qualities you are seeking, the recording is the most important factor. You'll never get anymore out of a recording than what is already there. Next most important are the speakers, their ability to deliver those qualities and how they interact with the room.

Raysonic 168, then add Herbie Tube dampeners, and isocup/balls. I also use a Morrow MAP 2 PC, and Machina Dynamica Code Name torquios in the well.

YOu can find a review here, annd more by googling. It's available from Underwood HiFi

I listen to primarily classical music and in the last few years with great emphasis on Shostakovitch,Mahler, Bartok etc,
Recent cds are excellent.I have a number of cdp I am very happy with,I will order them in term of the lowest price first,Reimyo 777 excellent,Esoteric X-01 limited also very good,Meridian 800V4 very good,Accuphase 800/801 superb and finally Zanden 2000transport and 5000 signature DAC very very good.All of these provide excellent detail ,accurate instrument placement,each cd has slightly different timbre.By the way I did not find the EMM SE combo sound pleasing to my taste.However like Rcprince mentioned the speakers and the room makes a huge difference.I could never enjoy listening to the large scale symphonic music when I had electrostatic speakers,and even with The JM Lab Utopias the overall realism is somewhat lacking.

My Audio Research CD3MkII cd player does really good on classical music. I also have a nice collection of 19th and 20th century classical. Of course it depends on the recording, but where the recording is right, CD3MkII delivers the goods. I listen to a lot of Mahler, Brahms, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Schoenberg. No problems. I agree that room acoustics play a big part in the soundstaging capabilities of a system. But the source is very improtant as well. I previously had a Bel Canto DAC2 and while it sounded very good, CD3MkII just beats in the soundstage and imaging precision, easily.

I believe that I have that from both my Forsell transport/Audio Logic DAC and EMM Labs CDSD/DCC2SE combinations (I too listen to large scale orchestral works a lot). However, I have found that speakers and the recordings themselves seem to have more of an effect on the items you mention than the CD players I have owned or heard. I think a lot of it has to do with the ability of your system to unravel very complex musical material, and a lot of that lies in the speakers (and in your amp/preamp as well, I guess). And there are some recordings (increasingly rare in the classical area in recent times, I'm happy to say) that are just plain poorly recorded and cannot give you what you're looking for on any system.