2. digital
  3. 1062400510

I'm so confused....

Ok, first I thought I would make life easy and get the NAD 541i. Then I saw an Audiophile review of the Philips 963SA that made me rethink my whole life. Then I read the thread here that compared the two, only to find that the guy that started the thread went off and got a Jolida JD 100A, which was what I was giving a serious eye to a couple of weeks back. (Then I started reading all about these DAC gizmos, but that's a whole different can of worms...Don't get me stahted!)

Anyhow, now I don't know what to do. Is HDCD anything I should care about? Is SACD a passing fad...Sony's latest Betabust, or does it have legs? If I have the sweet warm sound of tubes such as a Jolida, do I even care about SACD? (FYI, I listen to just about every sort of music imaginable...From punk to Gregorian Chant...Though mostly jazz and classical.)

Or should I just stick with my Aiwa boombox and skip the whole darned thing?
dcwinton

Showing 2 responses by dmitrydr

dmitrydr
221 posts
 
I recently was doing my first upgrade, getting new amp and speakers... In regards to the source I made quite comprehensive searches in forums and reviews, and got that CD players are generally divided into two groups with a border in around $2000. Meaning that even if Music Hall sounds some better then NAD, it still on about the same level. Significant change is achievable when you jump above $2K. Thus, I needed a source, but I didn't want to invest too much in something I'm going to upgrade just when financial situation allows, I ended up with NAD C541i. I find it extremely good for its price and it allows me to wait peacefully the required time to get some serious CDP.
In regards to HDCD, once I've got it, I don't think I'll be able to stay without it - if you're not into SACD yet, IMHO it may be considered as an essential feature.
dmitrydr
221 posts
 
What's funny about HDCD is that Simaudio has an official upgrade for its Moon Eclipse CD player that REMOVES Pacific Microsonics digital filter (i.e. HDCD circuitry). They succeeded to build a CD player that sounds better without HDCD then when it's in HDCD mode!
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