Musical fidelity A5.5 Vs Arcam CD 37

I never try both of model above but owned arcam player,I can tell that arcam delivered good detail and huge soundstage on my set up.my opinion for best result is try both unit which one is better for ur taste

I've just got a great deal on the MF 5.5 and what can I say - straight out of the box - great player - huge soundstage with immaculate warmth and detail. Also - built like a tank. Never heard the Arcam though.

I purchased the CD37 about 2 months ago and all I can say is WOW!. I am re-discovering every CD that I have hearing details that I have never heard. Red Book CD's sound awesome, but SACD is absolutely incredible. I replaced a Sony XA-777ES with the Arcam. No comparison!

The rest of my system includes Thiel CS7 speakers, Musical Fidelity M-250 monoblocks, Arcam AV8 Pre-Pro and AntiCables.

Regarding the prices, availability (I don’t have now a decent player, the 3930 went back to repair) and internet reviews I narrow my choice two these to players.

I can only get a good price for MF (cheaper them the Arcam) over the Internet, and I don’t go to a street store to listen something that I do not want to buy from them. Not fair in my opinion.

Last Friday, I listened the Arcam in a store with Amp similar to mine and with different speakers. I liked, I perfectly live with it, but something was missing to make me go for it. So maybe I can get it that with MF and I don’t believe that I will be disappointed.

So if everything goes as I am expecting, I will have a MF CDP :)

I'd lean towards the MF A5.5. I have the A5 which is an excellent player - very neutral, well integrated and musical. I would expect the A5.5 to be very similar in sound to the A5.

Now that I have the MF A5.5 for a week and a half, I have another question. How many hours to break-in this CDP?

My estimate is that it has now about 80 hours playing, can I expect more changes in the sound?

If it's like the A5, I shouldn't expect much change after about 100 hours. Are you not happy with the sound so far?

I believe that the big changes in the sound were in the first 40 or 50 hours. Didn’t notice sound changes after that.

The problem was the noise, the sound was grainy and harsh, but now finally is OK. What remove the noise were the Herbie’s Audio ultrasonic tube dumpers. The noise was from the tubes and those tube dumpers made a great improvement.

I advise you clean the tube pins on those stock Phillips 6922/6DJ8 tubes. I had an A1008 cd player for a short time, so trust me on this. Better yet, replace those tubes with your favorite NOS.

The tubes that came with my CDP were Electro Harmonix 6922, not Philips.

Then its time to start rolling.