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Superior sound from newer CD players?

I have a 12 year old Luxman DZ-111 CD player(dual 16-bit DAC's, 4x oversampling, 3-beam laser). It still sounds good but I've been putting togeather a new system and want to upgrade my player also. Will most of the newer players give me an upgrade in sound? I'm considering used players like:
Rega Planet 2000
Cal Labs Icon Mk11/HDCD
Creek 43Mk11
Adcom GCD 750
NAD S500
Arcam CD-72
Also considering a new Cambridge D500se(is it in the same league as the others?) One concern I have is that the older Luxman sounds much better(to me) than my new DVD player with
96 kHz 24-bit DAC. The DVD player is a Denon 1500 and when playing CD's it sounds cold, shrill and harsh compared to the Luxman although it has greater detail(or maybe just brighter detail). So now I'm worried that maybe these other player's I've mentioned won't really be an improvement after all. Also I plan on getting a pre/proc like a used Lexicon DC-1 or 2. Won't the dac's in a good unit like this be as good or better than most DACs in the players I've mentioned? I guess you can tell I'm new at this and still confused
say811

Showing 1 response by sugarbrie

sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Just because a DVD (or CD) player has a 24/96 DAC does not mean it sounds better. There are Chevy's with 16 value 4 cylinder engines, but that does not mean they perform like a BMW or Mercedes with the same basic engine configuration. It is the quality of what surrounds the DAC chip that makes it perform. All things being equal, 24/96 is an improvement over what came before. Your Denon DVD is a typical mass market player, so all things are not equal. The Luxman (or any older high-end player) would most likely sound better. Not to scare you, but that Denon model has a terrible reliability record and will not play some DVD discs. I would replace it.

If you're doing demo's at a dealer, see if they will let you bring the Luxman in for a comparison, or bring one the the new better players home.


The Cambridge D500 is one of the few under $500 players that can compete with the more expensive ones you mention. There is usually a demo for sale at AudioAdvisor.com for between $329 to $349. New there is $429.

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