Lector CDP7 vs Primare CD31

buy a Prima Luna Prologue-8 all tube CD player. It will bury the Lector and Primare

Not so sure about that...read the whole review and be careful with system matching. If you are still upgrading, using the Prima Luna may limit some of your preamp choices down the road. Here is JA's summary of the measurements.....

Summing up the PrimaLuna ProLogue Eight's measured performance is difficult, as some of the things it does wrong, such as the increasing distortion at levels above –10dBFS, will not be that audible with typical music—a distorted snare-drum peak sounds the same as a clean one. But I was concerned about the effect of the transformer-radiated hum. I was also bothered by the very high output impedance at low frequencies, which will make system matching more difficult than usual.— JA

In fairness, they did generally like the sound, and thought an upgraded op-amp - Super I/V board ($235) - further improved things.

Thank you for the replies.

Audiozen, I have considered the Primaluna, but that seems to come up for sale used even less than the Primare or Lector, which isn't very often.

Do yourself a favor and save yourself a big headache and forget the Lector and Primare and buy a Prima Luna Prologue-8 all tube CD player. It will bury the Lector and
Primare. For the price of $3K, it is an absolute steal delivering a performance level to die for, that is normally
from player's $10K or over. Stereophile went nuts over the
Prima Luna and gave it an "A" rating.

There are two PCM-1704 BB 24 bit DAC's (with indipendent board pcb for real jitter reduction)

If you dig on the website, there is a pdf with a picture of the Mk II DAC board showing the two BB PCM-63 DACs. These were replaced with PCM-1704's in the MkIII.

They also have special power supplies to the DAC's;

By two double voltage regulator and separate plug-in board as isolated ground loop for reducing ground jitter

They would only need 4 if the unit were balanced.

Thank you for your responses. Does anyone know definitively how many DACs the Lector has? As Mitch mentioned, their translations are not always clear. The Primare has 4 1704's, the Lector states "Dual Mono," that could be read as 4 or 2.

Will the number of DACs make a difference anyway?

I will take a close look at the pics, I have a friend that manufactures custom audio stuff, If possible I can have him make me either the door or the rails out of a different material.

The Primare will match my Primare Pre and phono pre, but I'd overlook that if the Lector sounds better (I know, better to who?). My CD21 seems fatiguing to me, and it is supposed to be on the warm side compared to most, the CD31 more so. I've considered adding a buffer as a shortcut, but would only do it if I stuck with the CD21. I prefer fewer connections and 'steps' in the signal path, as it is cleaner theoreticaly.

Thanks again,

Tony

I have owned 3 of the Lectors and have never had a single problem with the door, but my gear is kept in a relatively dry room - either heated in the winter or air conditioned in the summer, with a dehumidifier. I have heard of others having the door stick, and I could see how it might be worse in a humid environment, but I have not heard anyone say the door issue was a deal-breaker for them. The Lector has an impressive set of features and innovative engineering implementation. Check their website for a much more complete discussion (in Englitalianish) than I can provide here. All I can say is that I have had a hard time finding something better anywhere near the price.

I have owned 2 of the CDP7 players. I have heard the Primare, don't recall the model as I had no interest.
The Lector will get you close to analog.
There are other ( Tube ) players that will also get you there. The issue I have with a Lector is they use acrylic rails to the acrylic sliding door. This is a real NO NO.
Never use 2 plastics of the same as a bearing surface.
If they change I would likely buy my third one.
Dave