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Confused State of affairs: CD player

Strange that I am caught up in this quandary in this digital streaming age. I currently have an Oppo BDP-95 as my CD player and Blue-Ray video player. It plays through a coax connect to my Auralic Vega G2 DAC with a HDMI connect to my TV with HDMI audio off. The sound seems good through my B&W 800D3 with McIntosh C1100 pre-Amp/ MC1.25KW mono blocks. So I don’t use the Oppo DAC in the current set-up.

I visited the McIntosh dealer today and really liked the MCD600 playing on his set-up. Question to the group here:

Should I be looking to upgrade my Music CD player from the Oppo?
If yes, should I be looking at a transport MCT500 and let the Auralic Vega G2 (DAC) play on like the set-up with the Oppo. This will remove any possibility of playing a SACD through the set-up as the MCT500 (like the Oppo) does not pass on the DSD quality through its coax.
Or should I go in with the MCD600 which has a built-in DAC and connect it to my C1100 and then retain the option of playing a SACD?

Price difference between the options is $2,500 between the MCT500 and MCD600 as I end up having two high quality DACs in my system (3 if I count the Oppo which I will have to retain due to Blue-Ray video).

I do not have the option to demo either of the MCT500 or MCD600 against the Oppo to compare and I listen to CD music around 2 hours a week, so not too much and not too little.

I want to have the best sounding music from my system, so quality comes before any other consideration. Happy to hear views from people who might have heard through any of the above combos.

Thanks,
sudhirgoel

Showing 3 responses by cd318

cd318
2,636 posts
 
Stick with the Oppo BDP 95.

If you compared them blind you might not hear a difference.

Besides, why spend $$$$$ for 2 hours listening a week if it is merely more hassle?

With a system like yours you can only really go sideways. However, if the urge to upgrade proves too strong you could listen to other loudspeakers. This is where the biggest differences lie.

Or watch this first.
https://youtu.be/zrpUDuUtxPM

I hope this will be of help. Many of us appreciate how difficult it is to attain that elusive "dream’ sound.
cd318
2,636 posts
 
@sudhirgoel, no I have not heard either of the CD players in question but out of all the ones I have heard (Kenwood, Sony, Arcam, Marantz, Cambridge etc) my experience is that the differences in sound quality were minimal. And not related to cost either.

Whether there is an actual difference between the BDP-95 and MCD600 you can only determine by comparing the two side by side, and I can only give you my opinion.

I hope this helps.

cd318
2,636 posts
 
@sudhirgoel, I'm glad to hear it, just remember the old trick about volume matching. If you could take a few notes, say on your phone, and share your findings with us I'm sure it would be much appreciated. 

The dealer can insist on what he/she likes, but the 2 most 'different' CD players I heard were the Rega Saturn and the Linn CD12.

Through some medium sized bookshelf speakers on stands, can't remember make but I recall they had ribbon tweeters, the Saturn had an almost chocolatey smooth propulsive bass.
The Linn CD12 had a huge image through an all Linn system.

Very difficult to say if they were actually better or just different.

All of the rest sounded pretty much alike.
Have fun.
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