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Why does my old CD player sound so much better than my new streamer?

Earlier this year I upgraded my system. Briefly, new Prima Luna Dialogue Premium HP integrated, new Lumin D2 streamer/DAC, kept my Tekton speakers, bought a 10 year old Muse Erato CD player, new Nordost Red Dawn cables all around.  After plenty of break in, the Lumin D2 streaming Tidal, even 24/96, does not sound close to as good as the Muse Erato.  I understand the Muse was about $10k new years ago, I paid $650 for it on Audiogon, is that the difference? It replaced my Naim I had for 20+ years and I bought it on the chance I want to listen to something not on Tidal, but now I'm going to CDs when I want to sit and listen instead of streaming. I considered upgrading to the Lumin T2, but will that be more of the same Lumin sound, which is accurate but thin and a little cold compared to the Muse.  I like the Lumin when just letting Tidal shuffle music as I move around the house, but from the opening note in an A/B test the Muse just sounds so much warmer, live and simply more enjoyable. Any thoughts or suggestions?
fsgattuso

Showing 1 response by duckworp

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duckworp
259 posts
 
It is the different DACs which is contributing most of  the difference in sound you hear.
  
I have a high end CD player with a digital USB input to allow a network bridge (streamer with no DAC) to run through the same DAC.   Initially CD sounded better. However by making the following adjustments to the streamer they now sound virtually identical:
1. Connect the streamer to the router via Ethernet not WiFi 
2. Turn off in the streamer the following: Bluetooth, WiFi, HDMI, and any other connecting methods other than Ethernet 
3. Introduce a good quality network switch (eg Cisco) between the router and the streamer 
4. Use Cat8 Ethernet cable. 
5. Try different USB cables. This provided subtle improvements. 

After these changes the sound is almost identical. 
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