2. digital
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Is my dealer lying to me?

This past weekend I went to listen to some speakers. I've been planning to buy CD player also, but that was not this weekend's purpose.

At first we were using a YMB player, McCormick amp, and Soliloquy 5.3 speakers. The speakers is what I was auditioning.

The CD player he is trying to sell me is the Cambridge Audio D500ES, I beleive. Price:400

Big difference I know between the YMB ($2500)and the Cambridge ($400). But it wasn't $2100 in difference in sound I can tell you that. What concerns me is the difference between his comments and the perceived opinions of people on this board. In other threads, there are quite a bit of "ditch the Cambridge" comments.

The dealers comments were "best player under $2000"... "chris sold his $2500 Theta and picked this one up because it's that good, and pocketed the money"... etc.

I'm not asking if this is the best player under $2000. But how does it compare to Arcam and Rega models at $500-700?

Obvisouly, he recommends the Soliloquy 5.3 also. I liked them but wasn't as impressed as much as I thought I would be. The guy has a small shop and seems honest, but it seems this cambridge is not very well respected in this forum.

I've gotten rid of alot of my gear. What I have left to use is a Yamaha RXV-995 receiver. An amp will come, hopefully sooner than later, but I need speakers and a CD player now unless I want to continue to use my DVD player for CDs.

Any comments?
gunbunny

Showing 1 response by sonicart

sonicart
1 posts
 
Why would that matter? If the transport is not up to it then the signal is already corrupted, according to your theory :))
While I agree with the basics of signal retention from the very start of the chain, synergy and matching are big factors in how your system sounds. I also do not agree with new technology being superior. Many older CD players out there sound extremely tactile and musical in a decent system, players such as Marantz CD80 still perform very well, and wipe the floor with most cheap DVD players out there.
DPA Dacs are another favourite, musical and warm, get yourself a PDM1 MKII or a bigger bit for a bargain basement sound.
At the end of the day, how it sounds in your system is far more important than its specs or how new the technology is.
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