What Sonically is the Difference between a $1,500 CD Player and a $10K-$25K One?


I realize opinions may vary, but if I could give an example of two CD players perhaps someone can give me their thoughts on the cost benefits of either one? What would be the difference in your opinion between say a Cambridge Audio Azur 851C CD Player and the Gryphon Scorpio S CD Player? And are the difference truly audible or more technical and rather indiscernible through human hearing?

In general, what makes a CD player (other than build components) 10x more costly than a decently built one other than features?
mrc4u

Showing 1 response by audiotroy

The ever popular price to value discussion.

On a suitable system with the resolution required to hear any subjective difference you should hear a pretty big difference between two such price ranges.

One: a $1,500.00 CD player is not going to have a really spectacular analog stage. Most likely the analog stage will be some inexpensive op amp based circuit. 

Two: a $1,500.00 CD player's optical drive isn't going to be anything special so the signal going to the dac will have errors. 

Three: the $1,500.00 CD players parts quality again in the analog stage and dac stages are going to be pretty inexpensive parts.

If you think about it the greater the subtitlities reproduced and the more you preserve information the greater the qualatative differences you are going to hear.


In our shop we have multiple dacs from $2,500.00 to $35k and the differences are clearly audible on our reference system. When you hear  a $35k dac and it is a good one, the music starts sounding very very real in a way that the less expensive ones didn't replicate.

https://www.google.com/search?q=T%2BA+pdp+3000&client=aff-maxthon-maxthon4&tbm=isch&tbs=...:

https://www.fidelity-magazin.de/2016/06/04/ta-pdp-3000-hv/#foobox-2/3/T-A-PDP-3000-HV-5.jpg

https://www.audio-activity.com/2015-munich/ta1

compare that level of build quality vs a $2,500 Rega Saturn which is an excellent player


http://www.hifishock.org/gallery/electronics/rega/source/cd-player/saturn-1-rega/

When you add up the differences in drive quality, analog output stage quality, digital output stage design you can start to understand that there are very large and audible differences between CD players, amplifiers, dacs, loudspeakers etc.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ