High Quality Universal Player??


I’m interested in a disc player for CD, SACD, and cinema DVDs, Blue-Ray.

It MUST have equal or better sound quality than my current Cal Audio HDCD player.

Ideas? How about the Cambridge Audio Azur 651BD Universal Blu-ray/SACD/DVD/CD Player?

or the newer 751? Also, what is the difference between the 751 and 651?

I’d laos like to buy form a company large enough to stay in business for a while :)
randy-11

Showing 4 responses by auxinput

If you're not wanting the balanced XLR stereo outputs of the Oppo 105, the CXU looks to have a very good audio stage.  Different approach than the oppo.  Five wolfson DAC chips, and it looks like each channel output has its own individual SMD op amp (possible a mono op amp).  This could be very good depending on the type of op amp they chose.  You could probable mod this and put in something like AD797 op amps and the result sound would be very nice indeed.  The DAC chips and op amps are supported very well with electrolytic caps all around them.  The only thing is that the CXU uses switch-mode power supply where the oppo uses a linear power supply for the audio stages.

http://www.excelia-hifi.cz/cambridge-audio/img/cambridge-audio-cxu-inside.jpg

Keep in mind that the choice of the DAC chip (wolfson or sabre) has very little to do with sound quality output.

I would not say the 2-prong power cord of the Cambridge is a negative thing.  The power connection is still a standard IEC inlet, so you can use any power cord upgrade.  Some electronics have a floating internal ground plane and do not use external ground, so that is why you will only have 2 prongs.  It's not really a bad thing.

That being said, with the Oppo, you can do the following mods/upgrades:

http://www.oppomod.com/

Or there's always Modwright tube upgrade if you want to do that expense.

@nutty - that's a very interesting review.  I do know from experience that the Oppo requires a long burn-in time (200+ hours).  After that, the brightness/forwardness of the highs will calm down.  Not sure about the bass.  The Cambridge may still be better in the end.  Yes, the Oppo has a very large set of functionality and features that can make it hard to disregard. Keep us posted!