Cary HDCD 306/200 w/ 8x1704's. When I sold my big rig almost 6 years ago, I went back to the Cary and was happy happy happy to hear it still more than held its own. Just a great sounding player and DAC still after 15 years. Recently sold mine away to a local friend and replaced with an AMR DP777SE and the improvement is there, but not leaps and bounds....the CD77.2, now, THAT's a DAC and player of a different color.
Old digital that still kicks butt
Not being a believer that time necessarily = progress, I would like to offer the following example of a sonic gem that has transcended time and can totally kick butt in a modern milieu:
1. Marantz CD5000 al la CD48, Philips Cd753, CDS751: what do these players all have in common:? the miraculous TDA1549 chip. As Lucas Ficas alias ’Lampizator‘ has described this chip is a killer and probably the best Philips has produced. If you take the output straight from the chip via high quality output caps the sound quality is still right up there. Add a cathode follower if you you wish for greater solidity and slam at the expense of ultimate clarity.
Add some chassis damping and you have something that plays real music.
1. Marantz CD5000 al la CD48, Philips Cd753, CDS751: what do these players all have in common:? the miraculous TDA1549 chip. As Lucas Ficas alias ’Lampizator‘ has described this chip is a killer and probably the best Philips has produced. If you take the output straight from the chip via high quality output caps the sound quality is still right up there. Add a cathode follower if you you wish for greater solidity and slam at the expense of ultimate clarity.
Add some chassis damping and you have something that plays real music.