Going down the road of transport and DAC gives a lot of flexibility for future upgrades and "tuning" SQ to ones liking. Limit of $2K is well enough to start on this path. Cambridge or Audiolab transports, very well regarded, and lots to chose from DAC category under $1.5K. Been there, done that.
Ruminations On CD Players
After multiple factory rebuilds, I'm ready to replace my twenty year old Arcam CD-73 CD player. I've looked through lists of recommended CD players in the $2000 range, and have noticed that some are all-inclusive while others have separate transports and DACs. Other than ease of replacement, what are the benefits of having the transport and DAC separate? Any recommendations on CD players in this price range? I only have music CDs so don't need anything that can do more than that.
Thanks,
John Cotner
New Ulm, MN
Showing 3 responses by knock1
I will describe to you my experience, not what I had read or heard from others. I bought Denafrips Ares II and utilized Arcam CD192 as a transport, it was great improvement, then I replaced Arcam with Cambridge CXC transport that was very noticeable improvement over Arcam transport section. I did go further up the ladder since. I have learned from my own experience that dedicated transport matters. P.S. I do not understand why whenever there is a discussion about CD medium, there are multitudes of posters joining in on bandwagon trying very hard to "persuade" how antiquated this concept is and the streaming is the ONLY way to go. Then there are others coming up with ideas of an equipment with price tags severalfold exceeding clearly stated OP's budget. Just my three cents. |
mahler123"Perhaps Audio Fanaticism is an outlet for this kind of aggression, much the way that sports channels aggression into less dangerous areas." I think it is very poignant observation. |