Parasound P 5 DAC vs. CD players

I have not compared the P5 to CD players per se, but I can tell you that it's an excellent DAC and preamp for the price. I had the P5 before, then I saw a great deal on a Cambridge Audio Azur 851D DAC at Audio Advisor (original price was $1695, marked down to $999), so I foolishly returned the P5 to Audio Advisor and bought the Cambridge 851D instead. Big mistake!

I can tell you that the Parasound P5 was heads and shoulders above the Cambridge for sure, and quite a bit better than the Rotel 1570 preamp that I had before. You get HT bypass, bass/subwoofer management and tone controls (with bypass). The Cambridge with all it's gimmicks doesn't even come close to it. I'm still kicking myself for my mistake.

arafiq:
    Your information is much appreciated.

Not sure how the Cambridge 851D sounds but I have a 851C and it's a great player. I'm curious how much time you have on it and what is the rest of your system? My local hi if shop which carries both Parasound and Cambridge gear has both the P5 and 851C on the same system with a Parasound A23 driving either Magnepan 1.7 or 3.7i. I've done the comparison with the staff there and no one felt the DAC in the P5 is even close to the 851C. Not knowing your system it's likely the 851D is more revealing than the P5 DAC and maybe you're hearing something else in your system you're not liking such as your digital cable. Give the 851D more time to burn in. I will add my 851C shines with a better power cord. I have a kimber PK10 Gold on mine with Clear Days ICs.

The P5 is a nice pre for the money and full of nice features as well. Not sure how the DAC in the P5 compares with lower priced CD players but I suspect it does well. My guess is an older player with digital out will benefit running through the P5 DAC, but a newer player in the $700 and up range will be better with its own DAC.

Again I will add my 851C took a long, long time to settle in and I have not heard the 851D but I would sure think it's equal to the 851C. Give it time.

@adg101  I completely agree with you that my assessment of the 851D was a bit premature. After putting about 50 hours on the Cambridge, the sound is definitely improving, and I hope that it continues to get better. I am told that it takes at least 100 hours for the burn in. So keeping my fingers crossed :)

However, I would say that the P5 is no slouch either. For $1095, you're getting bass management, HT bypass and a phono stage in addition to a decent DAC. Right now, I don't find the Cambridge 851D to be much superior to the P5, but I guess I should reserve my judgment for another 50 hours or so.

By the way, the rest of my system is Bowers and Wilkins CM10 s2 qne Parasound A21. So far, I am using inexpensive AudioQuest cables (I think I paid around $60) and XLR connector. I plan to slowly add better speaker cables, followed by power cord.