I AM IN THE PROCESS OF BUYING A CD PLAYER AND I DONT KNOW WHICH WAY TO GO.WITH SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM I WANT TO PURCHASE SOMETHING GOOD BUT I DONT WANT TO SPEND 10,000 EITHER.
Guys I happened to come across this interesting transcript of a well known high end audiophile manufacturer's annual board meeting. They are discussing how much to charge for the "best CD Player money can buy". It starts with a proposal by their CEO.
Thank you Shadorne for some much needed humor after the past week of posts to this thread ...
Its clear to me, after listening to Mr Muralman's "collectors" disc Lavin that the man needs to get out his room and listen to some other systems and the latest digital out there. No truncating of Couvoisier's piano note decay, vague harmonics or blanching tones on my system, and I can compare to a real piano in my room. Maybe some more fun music too, notwithstanding the Niggli's and Courvoisier's talented improv recording. Still, thanks Muralman for pointing out a great small label called Intakt Records. Maybe I'll try some of their other stuff.
Tvad, I think it was mentioned before, but IMHO the Oppo 980H for $169 is the undisputed BEST CD PLAYER FOR THE MONEY. So this is a value for money question. Not an audiophile CDP by any means but probably the answer to this threads question... don't you think?
Muralman, if you want to discuss the benefits of NOS CD players you should start a separate thread.
But "value for money" suggests a return on investment calculation. Maybe you can look at it this way. If hypothetically, as the originator of this thread suggested, a $10000 CDP would give you 100% musical enjoyment, the Oppo certainly wouldn't score 1.7% of enjoyment, maybe somewhere around 60-70%. So if you could buy ~65% of maximum enjoyment for 1.7% of price ... wouldn't that be a damn good value for the money?
It doesn't help us audiophiles, who are paying stupendous amounts to get that last illusive percent of often perceived improvement...
The Gryphon 32 Bit Signature CD Player maybe the best High end CD Player for the money,it is been compared to the CEC TL-0x Transport & Audio Note Dac 5 Signature this combination is at least 4 times the price!!
Actually, my player is the best value and performance. 9 out of 10 dentists agree! Best, best, best, hands down, bar none, period, end of disscusion! Don't argue, it's the best! I won't tell you what it is, but if you can prove me wrong I'll pay you a zillion dollars!
Actually, my player is the best value and performance. 9 out of 10 dentists agree! Best, best, best, hands down, bar none, period, end of disscusion! Don't argue, it's the best! I won't tell you what it is, but if you can prove me wrong I'll pay you a zillion dollars!
Wadia 781i. No, its not an inexpensive player but after leaving APL HI Fi as Customer Service Manager and dealer , I was forced to audition many players to fill the void. I had heard mixed reports of the Wadia 581 and 861 . Some claimed it was the perfect balance and some claimed it needed the GNS mod to become more organic . I picked a Wadia 781i up new and it was horrible out of the box . Patience and burn in was mandatory . As it burned in , it unfolded unlike any player I have ever worked with . I broke SACD in first and it evolved rapidly . It now stands as the finest SACD playback I have ever heard . Redbook was a mess . The Sonics were constrained and imaging was jumbled up with harsh edge and no dimensionality . It bloomed far slower then SACD for some reason . I thought that at 300 hours it was simply going to be a mediocre Redbook player and was disappointed and sorely missed my NWO3.0SE . I ran it in another 200 hours without listening . When I returned it was obvious that it had exploded through a performance barrier . It is hard to describe what is so amazing and that is what has me puzzled . It is as if it is has no single attribute that distinguishes itself as superior yet it presents music in such a way that I am glued to my chair. Micro detail is the best I ever heard and listening at very low levels is now addicting . The space breathes with life : small trios become situated between the speakers in an intimate space and large works not only expand beyond the speakers but often wrap around you. Mid bass to low bass is the best I have ever heard , period. Nuances of upper bas and lower midrange glow with color and pitch. Midrange and upper midrange is controlled and rich in gradations of harmonics . Lower treble through upper treble still needs air , presence and palpability and I expect that will be coming with more break in as the top end almost always fleshes itself out last in my experience . Yes, I am a dealer but I just needed to " shout it out " about this player because first and foremost , I am an audiophile and this is a break through cd - sacd player IMO and its the best cd player for the money I have yet encountered
Cambridge Audio Azur 840C is my pick. Very happy with it. HUGE step up from the Rega Planet, which I enjoyed many years, before and after adding a DAC.
Mtkhl567 and Tvad, Alex P is in hiding w/Andy Hefly somewhere in the Czech Replublic. I think Andy is the only person who can get my Audio Alchemy amp to work!
I have had the Rotel RCD 1072 (MSRP $700) and a NAD T585 (uni. player)($1199). The Rotel never gave me any trouble. The rather new (to me) NAD has trouble with hybrid SACDs now (read errors), but plays CDs fine. After living with both for some time and inspecting the interiors, I thought the Rotel a more solidly built piece of the two; note the price points.
"Stonedtemplepilot why do you want to invest in stoneage technology ? moving parts, vibration damping, CD cleaning ....
look into Cambridge Dacmagic, Logitech Duet, Peachtree, Linn Majik DS, Weiss DAC 2, Prism Orpheus"
Reply to old thread: I can't help but smile with your reference to "stone age technology" (exaggeration for emphasis understood) when I see you have a tube amplifier. With your love of "new technology" surprised you don't have D-class amp. Hilarious.
Need a paired DAC and CD player. Get a DAC that can feed the power amp, bypassing/eliminating the pre-amp. Just because it can drive the power amp, does not mean it is built to work that way. Check the impedance to make sure it is a good fit.
I am very happy with my denon 3910 multiformat player. I use it only for 2 channel - no video or surround.
You can get these high-end players for pennies on the dollar since everyone wants blu Ray now. There are also lots of mods available for them if you are so inclined.
I've owned several of the different Kinergetics CD players and for some reason, they all have a very a sound that's really special, but the balance between soft and smooth vs detail and clairty with the KCD40, is just the right sound for me.
Hard to find, but if you can get one for under $400, I think you'll have something very special.
Great thread. I just bought a Rega Apollo and am using van der hul ICs to a Cambridge Audio 640R receiver then to Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grand speakers.
But honestly I can't tell the difference between this and my much cheaper new Samsung bluray player with optical out. Both sound dandy. What am I missing here, folks? I was hoping I wouldn't need golden ears to detect this upgrade.
I had a musician friend with big ears over and blind-tested him and he preferred the Samsung.My heart sank. We were listening to new cd of Miles Davis SKETCHES OF SPAIN. Nice full-range recording. We tested two minutes of A, two minutes of B, and so forth and so on.
i'm musician as well, I guess musicians prefer a more realistic presentation, i mean hi-fi music is like can food, it can't beat live concert, though some systems do reproduce toward that goal, with the right system, one can tune the sound to either laid back or more aggressive, so I'm just guessing cuz i haven't heard samsung blue ray, it's probably quite different from Rega Apollo. In the end of the day it's down to personal taste, i heard people who own expensive system auditioned and upgraded to something cheaper. So i say go for the one your ears like, if you like to cheaper one, that's even better.
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