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Emotiva ERC-3 or Music Hall C-DAC15.3 / connections?

Hi,
first time post. Not an 'audiophile' per say, just a guy who appreciates good sound.

I'm looking at buying a new CD player and the Emotiva ERC-3 is on my short list. I've read good reviews and the 5 year warranty is a big plus.
I'll be hooking it up to an Anthem MRX 710 AVR. The Anthem doesn't have balanced inputs and from what I've read the ERC-3 sounds best using balanced connections.  So, would there be any advantage in using an XLR to RCA cable? Or am I going to get the same sound using RCA-RCA?

The Music Hall C-DAC15.3 player is also under consideration.  My speakers are Paradigm Studio 100's v2 
With the Anthem , which would be a better bet, the Emotiva or Music Hall?

Thanks!
kfoxian

Showing 5 responses by kfoxian

kfoxian OP
6 posts
 
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts.

gdhall and 123running, RE whether the ERC-3 is fully balanced or not, have you taken a look at the internal pics? Does the circuitry around the XLR inputs give you any better indication?
pics here: https://emotiva.com/products/sources/erc-3
kfoxian OP
6 posts
 
Could any Music Hall 15.3 CD owners comment on it's ability to play scuffed/scratched discs? Thank you
kfoxian OP
6 posts
 
@auxinput
please, could you have a look at the Music Hall’s internal and give your opinion?
http://musichallaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/music-hall-cdac15-3-inside.jpg

btw, you can’t see it , but the CD drive controller board is positioned underneath the drive

EDIT: the pic here is better, allows a focused zoom
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MHCDAC153
kfoxian OP
6 posts
 
@213runnin
I thought the same thing, that the Music Hall internals look sparse, but then found out there’s a large circuit board, reportedly the CD drive controller board, hidden under the drive itself.
see here: http://audio.com.pl/images/0/8/5/29085-max_music_hall_c_dac15-3_a15-3_2.jpg
kfoxian OP
6 posts
 
@auxinput
the Music Hall has separate DAC chips, clocks, etc because it's a combination 3-INPUT DAC and a CD player
http://musichallaudio.com/c-dac15-3/

Knowing there's a another circuit board UNDER the disc drive, you still think the interior is sparse?
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