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How Much Has CD Technology Improved in 14 Years?

As a "born again audiophile" I recently purchased an ARC VSi55, a pair of JM Labs Micro Utopia Be's and am awaiting the arrival of a new JA Michell Orbe SE and Tecnoarm.

Years ago, I purchased an inexpensive CD player to utilize with my previously existing system (Quad 57's with presently blown bass panal--no room in present home hence Utopia Micro's, Oracle Delphi, Audio Innovations integrated amp). At that time, I was listening almost exclusively to vinyl and had no interest in investing in a mid/high end CD player. The only reason my CD collection has grown over the past decade is because my previous system has been inoperable and the only medium available to me has been CD.

My question is what improvements have been made over time in the various parts of the CD player (DAC, optical reader, transport etc.) when comparing a moderately priced modern player of around $500.00 with my old clunker a JVC XL-V182? I would like to get the most out of my CD's and would like to get an idea of how much an improvement I can expect by replacing my old player. Also do I use digital cables for the interconnects?

Thanks,
Lash
lashman

Showing 1 response by tobias

tobias
1,534 posts
 
You’ll only need a digital cable if you have a DAC and a transport as your source. The DAC’s outputs, like a CD player’s, will use standard analog RCA cables. The single cable between a transport and DAC would be a 75-ohm digital cable.

Although there are expensive digital cables that deliver great sound, even quite inexpensive ones can work fine as long as you make them the right length. You can find posts that deal with this in the archives but briefly, a 1.5-meter length ensures that the almost unavoidable reflections within the cable do not arrive at the DAC at the wrong time.
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