Upgrade from Cambridge Audio 840C to lessen glare?

What was your previous amp?

The issue of upgrades is often a matter of taste. We have a group who discusses this frequently. Our solution is to audition components, cables, and power cords from a local dealer and each other. We have had surprising results. We have saved money or realized the problem was not the one in question as alluded by Elizabeth. Hope this helps. Steve

I don't normally say this, but I think I agree with Elizabeth; caps and all. I would also make sure all of your equipment is fully broken in. If its a brand new amp, it may UN-SUCK itself, without any help.

Also, make sure its not your recordings. More revealing equipment will definately bring out more flaws in the CD's. One last thing. If you do find the problem to be the CD player, insisting on a player with an input will limit your choices to almost nothing. There's not too many out there with inputs.

I really think you dont have to spend so much $$ to acieve the results you want. Keep the cambridge as a transport and buy a DAC that has a burr brown chipset, this will sound much better and gives it a warm lush full beautiful sound that is much easier to listen to for long periods at higher volumes. 2nd Idea..Buy anew cd player like a REGA apollo, seriously it sounds awesome and could be all you need to make your system sound the way you want. Also I would highly consider the OPPO 105 because its a universal player that has Balanced XLR outputs and sounds fantastic even before the awesome MODWRIGHT mods that you can do to it. OK ive said enough..im going to go roll some tubes and listen to vinyl..LATERS!

We have put the 840 through a lot-it was never harsh or bright. I would do 2 things first: 1-run your new amp for at least 100 hours to break it in. Don't even listen during that time. 2-If that doesn't work, try swapping out as much as possible such as interconnects, power cords...

It's very likely that the components may not be in total harmony? You may actually find that a 100 cd player will sound less harsh...until you realize you are missing something.

Thank you for all the replies so far!
I should have added: the amp is not new, I am in fact the third owner now of this Simaudio W-7. It's awesome, and has found quite a bit more detail in recordings for me.

Previous amp was a Parasound Halo A-21. It was good, but does seem to be of a different quality tier than a Simaudio SS amp.

Dynaudio + Simaudio is a classic combination from everything I have seen at shops, and read on forums like this one. So i don't have much suspicion of ill-fit in that regard.

thanks again everyone

Before you dump your CDP, have you listened to alternative cables. Some Nordost cables can easily take some SS systems over the top. If it ain't that, then I would explore some CDP's with a bit warmer tone. Some of the Marantz units can add a bit of warmth to SS.....Or you can get a tubed CDP.

One inexpensive way to reduce glare or hardness is to place a Machina Dynamica VibraBlock Damper on the horizonal surface which the [suspected] offending component rests upon.

Even when one begins with properly functioning components, there is a distinct improvement in sound reproduction showing the invisible, yet audible effect of vibration affecting virtually every component.

Despite already loving what products from Herbie's Audio Lab, Mapleshade Records and other admired vendors had accomplished in my systems, this worked even more impressively -- in certain sites supplanting, in other sites adding to the benefit of pre-existing products.

Reasonable prices and a money back guarantee from many such Audiogon sellers effectively cures fear of buyer's remorse.

While reading your post, my immediate thought was, is the amp new? Then I got to the system, and like Newbee, I'm thinking Nordost cables. A few years ago, for lack of a better word, I was married to Nordost speaker cables. I used Blue Heaven and up the line higher than I will admit to with various speakers. Finally, when I tried something different, I realized how smooth extended treble should sound. Some have great results with Nordost, and others, like me, describe them as lean or bright or unrefined treble.

Try isolating and conditioning the ac to your digital. Your new amp is simply be revealing what has always been there.
The better your system becomes the more you need digital isolation. Your player is very good. Just give it the very clean power & isolation needed. You will be very well rewarded.

As you have a somewhat reasonable budget, I suggest stretching a bit and picking up an Ear Acute. It's 6K, but worth every penny, IMO. It has that quality of being smooth, yet it really digs out the details, unlike some other "smooth" players I've tried, like the Lector, that just sounded too dark for me. PLUS - you can tune the EAR by tube rolling. I happen to like the stock tubes right now, but I did try some vintage Amprex tubes and it was a big difference.

I know it's somewhat over your budget, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet - always within reason of course. You might even get a dealer demo at a decent discount with a full warranty and all. I have the older model, but the newer one has a digital input, which is not an issue for me. Best of luck

It is so hard to helpfully reply to question like this. We don't know what kind of music you are listening to, the characteristics of your room, and haven't heard specific examples of the "glare" you refer to. That said, take all I say with a grain of salt.

Realize that just because common wisdom says that any "x+y" pairing of equipment brands is wonderful, that doesn't mean YOUR ears and brain will agree.

It's possible that several factors mentioned by others are collectively contributing to your impression of glare. It may take addressing some combination of interconnect and speaker wire, power conditioning, digital equipment, and room acoustics to make things gel in a pleasing way. You are reaching the level of equipment quality where it can become very tricky to balance increasing revelation of detail with the desired overall tonal balance. All of your components are reputed to be on the "neutrality and insight" side of the audio spectrum and sometimes it can all just become to much of a good thing. There can be more than one path forward at this point. It could be your issues would be solved with one change: a good tubed preamp. It might just take addressing room acoustics. Very hard to give meaningful advice if we can't hear what you are hearing. It's going to take experimenting with demoing replacements for suspected culprits from someone like Audio Advisor who offer returns or buying used equipment you can hopefully resell with little to no loss if it doesn't work out.

Hi Brian,
Been through many changes mostly good and a few learning experiences in the past 5 years particularly. Look into Darwin Silver ICs ($295 new, less if demo pair)--very reasonably priced and WAY better sounding in clarity, dynamics, and beauty while offering a very balanced sound spectrum wise. They don't look like much, but the sound is system changing. I will second the Modwright comment made earlier. Have had 2 different MW cd players and they sound so beautiful compared to anything short of $10,000 players--much like really good analog with better dynamics and quieter. Caused me to stay up late many nights listening to just on more cut when I needed to get to bed. Totally changed my mind about digital forever. You can find them used for under $1000 sometimes--or under $1800 for a newer version. About $3500-$4500 new with the mods. Dan at MW really stands behind his products--even the ones bought used. You WILL NOT regret buying one.

One more ModWright fan here. Send an Oppo 105 to Dan and kiss your troubles
goodbye. By the way, I owned the Cambridge and now own a ModWright Sony.
Your new amp may be revealing the true nature of the Cambridge. it had some
virtues, but there was no mistaking it for anything but mid-fi digital.

Brianam 03-14-14
Am currently using both of the 840C's digital in's.

Are the symptoms consistent between CD playback and playback from whatever sources are feeding these inputs?

Also, one thing I would try before replacing the 840C is changing its connections to the preamp from unbalanced to balanced or vice versa, as applicable. For that matter, doing likewise for the connections between the preamp and the new amp.

Regards,
-- Al

try a different preamp. perhaps the synergy isn't there with the new sim/parasound combo. My guess is the Sim is superior & bringing out the digititus. I bet if you tried a better preamp or good tube preamp you'd never go back to SS.

I'm an 840C owner. I'm not using it now because I have an Oppo 105. I can say that I never found the 840C to have glare though. I use a McIntosh integrated with Shunyata power filtration and Martin Logan speakers. Both players work very nicely in my system but the 105 is the best and it also does an excellent job of video as well.

I auditioned some Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cables a week or two ago and found them to be bright/brittle and to have a sound that lacked cohesion (like my audiophile terms!) This could be part of your problem, I don't know. But I have had an experience kind of like one of the posters above. Again, I never found the 840C to have glare. I always wished it could provide a bit more air at the top though. The Oppo does that for me.

Perhaps your new amp is more sensitive than the old to the digital hash that comes out of virtually all digital products.
Before you go spending money on changes--at the least- "experiment" with isolating and conditioning AC to at least your digital- much better treat your analog separately. It should be quite revealing and give you much better sound. With it you will be in a much better position to evaluate any difference in digital players you may try. This is a case where you don't throw out the baby--simply give it a bath. You have nothing to lose by trying-and a massive increase in overall musical enjoyment to gain. Dealers love the fact most "philes" are happy to chase new equipment. Clean power supply is essential and all dealers and manufacturers know it; now you do to.

I would keep the 840C as a transport and add a DAC that gives you several filters that can be applied for harsh sounding CDs.