Is it worth upgrading a CD player?


I’ve had my Marantz CD6002 for around 14 years and it’s still going strong. I have it connected to an Audiolab M-DAC+ and play via my Rega amp. I’m mostly vinyl but have started to playvmy CD’s more recently and wondered whether upgrading the CD player would be worth it or not, given the fact it’s played via a dedicated DAC. Am I right in thinking there would be little noticeable improvement?

side22olto

Showing 2 responses by jbuhl

I forgot to mention my cd collection is ripped to an external drive and then either streamed through the house via Sonos or played directly to the DAC via a USB cable from a Mac. I still manage the music library using iTunes.

If you have the cash to float and are not locked in on itunes, pick up the Bryston BDP Pi on here for ~$550.  Then attach the your ripped storage to it via USB and hook the Pi to your DAC.   The Pi will also stream Tidal or Qobuz up to 24/196 if you have wired internet to it in some fashion.   You can even hook external DVD player to Pi and rip CDs directly to storage.    The web interface is spartan and frustrating to some but the SQ is good.  Pi easily sold if you dont like it.   If you got even more cash look at the BDP -2 or 3. 

I believe you can purchase the Audiolab from Audio Advisor or the Cambridge CXC....

The CXC gets a lot of love here.  I wish I had bought the original version when they could be had for around $300, hard to find now.  There is a new version over on usaudiomart now for a little less than $600.