2. digital
  3. 1156312871

Law of Diminishing Returns - CD/SACD Players

I've been surfing through Audiogon reading many of the posts regarding the sonic qualities of some of the top tier cd/sacd players. Some brands/models that seem to be mentioned often are EMM Labs, dCS, Meridian, Esoteric, Audio Aero, etc. These players, however, are in the tens of thousands of dollars. I would love to own one of these machines some day, however, finances do not currently permit.

For those of you that have evolved to owning a top tier player like those listed above, what players can you recommend that would give 95 percent of the performance of a top tier player, without having to pay the price of a top tier machine? What does one have to pay to get that 95 percent performance? Does a Rotel 1072 give us 95 percent of the sound? Can a $1000 player like the Rega Apollo compete? Or does one have to move up a more costly player like the Resolution Audio Opus 21 or Ayre Cx7e to obtain the 95 percent? ...or perhaps one has to move to the $5000 - $6000 category of player like the Cary 306, Ayre C5xe, or Bluenote Stibbert?

Unfortunately, I have not heard any of the top tier digital players. I would love to hear from those who have had the opportunity to own or audition the very best. We all know that extracting the last 5 percent of sonic nirvana is extremely costly! What is the best "bang for your buck" to obtain 95 percent of the sound of a first class player?

calgarian
calgarian5355

Showing 1 response by pard

pard
21 posts
 
Hi Calgarian,

I can empathize with your situation. I had a chance to listen to many top players and there certainly are differences: the best players (the Aurum Integris and Audio Research CD7 for example) do indeed sound markedly better than less costly players (my opinion of course).

However, having said that I would strongly recommend getting a top used CDP. The best CDP's of the past are still very good and offer much more value than brand new products. In my opinion, they simply sound much better than brand new CDP's of the same price. I ended up picking up an Audio Research CD2 ($1500) and am very happy with it. In my system, it is only bettered by far more expensive units - and I mean the best of the best. As an aside, note that the CD2 must be run balanced to produce good results. In any case, others I know have been very happy with older Meridian products.

If you don't have an aversion to used products, I think you will find that there are indeed many fantastic buys out there. Newer is often just newer - not necessarily better.

Best of luck,

Peter
More to discover