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How Important Is The Cdp?


Hi,

My current set-up includes PSB Stratus Mini's speakers, Cambridge AZUR 540 A and a Toshiba 3950 DVD which i use for cd playback only. I know this is a mismatch of gear, but i originally hadnly planned on using this equipment with each other, then shortly after had some money troubles so im stuck with this gear for awhile.

My system sounds OK at times, its somewhat musical but alot of the time the sound is jsut too harsh and fatuiging- guitar harmonics are especially grainy and shimmery, vocals seem to be yelling at me way too much and overall the sound seems unfocused and veiled.

My room is pretty small, about 10x10 with an open closet and Jon Risch acoustic treatments directly behind each speaker, side walls arent really treated at all. I know my room isnt the greatest, but somehow i get the sence that the room isnt the main problem im having, sure it could use alot of improvement but the bad sound seems to be coming directly from the speakers.

Im sort of confused on what is causing the harshness, some people say its my cdp, others say my amp and then theres a few who think its my speakers interacting with the room.

This brings me to the question on how important is the cdp? Ive heard many people say that the cdp makes very little to no difference and wont tame the harshness i speaker of. Others say the source is most important and that what im hearing is my speakers producing the crappy sound my cdp is feeding them.

Would a better cdp, or say a 1000$ DAC improve my system to the point where the harshness i speaker of will be mostly eliminated, or will it just show more weaknesses of my amp. Or will a better cdp just make my system only slighty less harsh by only taming some of the digital glare of cdp's?

What do you guys think? cdp causing the harshness, or is it the amp?
dave123456

Showing 4 responses by reubent

reubent
7,066 posts
 
A couple of people have mentioned your speakers and I suspect they are off base. Although I have not heard the PSB Status Mini, it is a well respected monitor that retails for $1100. I just read through the reviews and it was mentioned that the Stratus Mini had a "neutral tonal balance", so I suspect the speakers are the strongest component in your system.

However, the speaker is listed as a 4 ohm impedence with a sensitivity of only 86db. Your amp could be having a hard time driving this load and this could be adding to your displeasure with the sound. I don't have any experience with this amp, but if it is unable to drive your speaker sufficiently, the sound you discribe could be a result.

I have not heard the Toshiba DVD player, but have heard many highly regarded DVD players used for CD playback. I have owned the JVC XA-SA600BK which ia an TAS recommended component and I have owned the Sony 7700 and Sony 9000ES which are highly regarded and expensive DVD players. None of these were even close to any of the dedicated CD players that I've also owned. Yes, all of my CD players were relatively expensive models, but they all handily trounced all of the DVD players that I have owned when playing back CD.

Sorry I don't have an answer for you, I just raise more questions! Regardless, this may be a synergy issue between your speakers and amp or it may be a source issue. I would highly recommend borrowing a different source or amp and trying it in your system. It should help you determine what component is causing your issue.

Enjoy,

TIC
reubent
7,066 posts
 
Gmood1,

I heard several, and actually owned a couple of single drive speakers (including one using the famous diatone driver) and it just doesn't work for me. Personally, I can't see it working for the vast majority of folks out there. Yes, the midrange is excellent, however everything else suffers.

I have not listened to any single drive speakers that would retail for more than about $2000, so I may be missing out on the best, however, a $2000+ speaker is not in most peoples budget. Personally, I could afford it, but don't want the tradeoffs that a single drive system would bring.

No thank you, I'll keep my 2-way monitors.......

Enjoy,

TIC
reubent
7,066 posts
 
Marakanetz,

The original poster already has good speakers. Following your argument, since he has a $100 (list price) CD player currently, he should have $1000 speakers (1/10 ratio), right? Well, his speakers are actually 11X more expensive than his CD player right now. I think his speakers are just fine.

Also my system is obviously misconfigured following you logic. My CD play cost $1500, amp $1000 and speakers $2500 (all new, list prices). Are you saying I should buy $15,000 to match my CD player? Or are you saying I should only use a $250 CD player with my lowly speakers? I don't think so...

BTW, my current system is the best combination I've ever owned.

Lastly, one of the best systems I ever heard uses a digital front end that is 10X more expensive than the amp and 3X more expensive than the speakers.

I don't believe that any price ratio is going to fit every situation.

Enjoy,

TIC
reubent
7,066 posts
 
Dave123456,

If you are curious about the benefits of a quality DAC, there is an inexpensive way to find out if it works for you.

Simply do some homework on DACs, determine the going rate (price) for some popular DACs, buy it, try it, resell it here if you don't think it was a good value. There are some great DACs priced between $350-800 that seem to get a lot of play on this site. It is likely that you could buy one of these (or a couple of different ones), try it and resell it for little or zero loss as long as you keep it in pristine condition and keep the packaging.

Some examples of DACs that get high praise, are inexpensive and resell quickly are:

Scott Nixon DacKit or TubeDac
Ack! DAC
Benchmark

If you do your homework, you should be able to try a DAC with little exposure to depreciation. Heck, how fast can the price drop on a <$500 unit? Some of these DACs are very good and are so popular that you could likely resell in a couple of days.

I hope you find audio nirvana!

Enjoy,

TIC
(Tom In Cincinnati)
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