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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.
pesky_wabbit

Showing 1 response by naimfan

naimfan
166 posts
 
I have a Naim nDAC powered by a Pardo T-XPS; it's seen off (almost) everything I've compared it to - Denafrips, Schiit's Yggy, Hugo TT, etc.  

The one DAC that was noticeably better was the dCS Rossini; while I' sure there are others I've never heard one that's noticeably/obviously better for anything close to what I paid for the nDAC and Pardo power supply - about $2.2k USD.  

And while I don't own one, I heard a Theta Digital DSPre Gen 3 that is still terrific.  Ditto an older Wadia.  
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