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
59 responses Add your response
natalie
404 posts
 
What do they use as a DAC
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.
ears
341 posts
 
Gunbunny, even if you had 3k to spend on digital, I would reccomend a Phillips 963sa cd/sacd/dvd player fully modified over any 2-3k cd only player bar none.

I know of one modder www.asi-audio.com that will do mods to the 963sa as you can afford it as opposed to all at once in one package.
In the meantime,the 963sa is not half bad stock.

After spending 14k lately on upgrades which did not include the 963sa yet, but rather a 1500.00 9000 es with Jensen,Blackgate caps ,bybees,transformer mods ect, my 11 year old who could care less about audio quality, wanted to know why I had the music playing 24/7[break in]and he said that the speakers that I had made a couple years previous were the most obvious change for the better in sound and that was the only change were he heard a significant change for the better.
Of course the amp/preamp/source and cable changes were all positive upgrades to any audiophool,but to a kid who could care less about audio quality and has better hearing then most of us, it is obvious that speakers are the most important component not counting the room.

Modified dvd/cd/sacd players are the most bang for the buck digital source there is and there are other models that shine when modded besides the 963sa....don't fall for the expensive source is best hype.
thefalls1117
74 posts
 
When I started to upgrade my two channel system my dealer let me audition a Cambridge D500SE against my 16 year old Mission DAD 7000.You will be amazed...it will blow away the Mission..a good start....a superior source.Well, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment ,when it was "none of the above".No change, no improvement...it certainly left me scratching my head.
That was my first lesson,there is no substitute for your own ears and my second lesson throwing money at a problem will not necessary make it go away.
Discussion forums,reading articles ,reviews all helped to get me started on my budding audio hobby.
No one can tell you the correct thing to do, only help in giving you direction.Its the ears and your pocket book that should make the final decision.
It can be a very frustrating hobby but it can also be VERY rewarding......ENJOY...HAPPY LISTENING.

IMHO..
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Thefalls1117...That Mission 7000 CD player was really good, especially when you consider that its D/A were 14 bits, oversampled to get 16. Mine finally developed mechanical problems and was given a decent burial.

The dealer probably never heard the Mission player, so he wasn't lying, just misinformed.
golden_ears
224 posts
 
Uh Hello?!
Sonicart, and recent others.......the original posting is almost two years old! The last contribution to the thread before Sonicart came along was inDecember 2001!! Why dredge up an old post like this, that none of the original contributors are even interested in? They've probably all changed their systems a couple of times anyway...:-)
Start a new post if you want to discuss a point, especially as it seems this whole thread kinda' drifted into other subjects other than the original point anyway....
thefalls1117
74 posts
 
Yikes you are right..
Goes to show you ,don't enter a discussion forum at 5:00 AM during a night shift.
Things get missed...
Oh well, it still is good advice.
Take it for what its worth...
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I guess some posts (like this one) never go out of date, even it they may lie dormant for a few years. I guess I was responding to the recent poster, not the original one.
thefalls1117
74 posts
 
Eldartford..
My Mission is still going strong with the exception of the remote.
You wouldn't ,by any chance,have the old carcass of that DAD 7000 still around.I could use it for parts.
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