Why CD players will never be dead

hi steve:

are you so confident that you would make a wager that i would prefer your digital front end, over my favorite cd player ??

hi steve:

i suggested that a test be constructed between a cd player of my choice versus a digital front end of your choice. i did not
suggest comparing transports.

i would conjecture that your design philosophy diverges from my audio preferences.

you may recall that i visited your room several times when you exhibited at the st. tropez.

well steve, if you think my cd player will sound inferior to your transport and some dac, put your money where your mouth is.

as you realize there is no accounting for taste.

you cannot make a definitive statement that one component sounds better than another, because the null hypothesis will be rejected if one person prefers a cd player.

hi steve;

the bet would be your transport + a dac of your choosing vs my cd palyer.

taking note of your statement regarding comparing transports, assuming your transport is superior to the laser mechanism in my cd player, the dac section and any mods to my player, i conjecture would be preferable to your (supposedly better ) transport and dac.

thus i have no interest in comparing transports. rather i am interested in one digital source vs another.

if you recall my visits to your rooms at the st tropez, you may recall that our tastes in sound diverge.

so i will spare you a bet that you cannot win.

the whole purpose of my statements is to indicate that our hobby is subjective.

i have only found one digital front end that i prefer to my cd player, namely the original zanden and its companion transport.

i will assume that you fabricate a fine product but i doubt it sounds like the original zanden or the original lector.

hi steve:

i think you miss my point.

1) the fact that some prefer your tranhsports and dac combinations to the zanden does not mean that is in fact better.

2) preference is subjective. i dare say it is possible that i would disagree with the assessment of the zanden relative to your products, because of taste considerations.

as has been said before many fine products are different not better than each other.

again, i will not cast aspersions on your products, its just that hmy preferences differ from yours.

would you bet that i would prefer your dac and transport to, say the lector player ?

i am not disputing the (alleged) benefits of servers or computers as transports.

all i am saying is that when the issue is two products competing with each other there will always be some eho prefer one or the other.

hi chas:

believe it or not using some form of a computer as a transport--lap top or desk top, is most inconvenient.

i can use the ps audio pperfect wave transport , or listen to my favorite cd player, which may exhibit coloroations i like and can be tuned by changing a tube.

if i used a "server" as a transport, i would need to find a dac with a tube in it and there is no guarantee that i would prefer the conics of the server with the dac over my cd player.

so, i am part laser and willing to "assume" that my favorite cd player with the "right" tube will be preferable to anything else.

it's a gamble and requires looking for cds. both of which i am am willing to accept.

i may have a chance to listen to a modified lap top from a company , in conjunction woth my ps audio perfect wave dac, but i expect i won't like that combo better than my cd player.

i think you can read between the lines and see why the server route would not be my best choice.

hi chad:

i like a classic tube sound. the audio industry is not designing products which have that sonic signature. in fact designers are trying to get rid of as much coloration as possible.

i have heard many set amps, that have the modern tube sound, not the classic tube sound.

so, i will stick with my old cd player and probably be happier with it than with a device which reveals the imperfections and deficiencies of recordings

hi chadeffect:

i think the essence of the arguement is taste. all components are imperfect. it's just a matter of what "flavor" of imperfect one likes.