all advice you get is subjective. whether system subjective or subjective to your ears. a cdp that sounds phenomenal to me may not work in your system or be to your taste. You must look at the fundamentals: 1) do you have room for two pcs.? 2) you must buy extra cabling ($$$) to connect the dac to transport 3) do you listen to two channel only (16, 20, 24 bit cd will do) or do you wish to have video too (you'd want transport to play dvd as well) 4) are you running an all digital system (no phono, tuner, tape etc)...if so...you may wish to run a cd player with preamp direct to your amp. This can sound great and avoid the cost of a preamp which opens your budget for a better digital source. I recently had a very very nice separates from Muse 8/296 combo. I loved the sound...but had too much mechanical difficulties with the combo. I am now looking for substitution...and I have demo'd several pieces. don't listen to ANYONE who tells you "buy product xyz...it is clearly the best". that is bullshit. you must decide what type of source you want based upon your unique situation. (ie: if you want a digital only system and wish to avoid a preamp...you should look for a one box with preamp (like levinson 39, wadia 850/860 etc) that you enjoy listening to. But if you wish to use in a video/audio system....you may wish to have a dvd transport with a separate and upgradable DAC. I have found that some of the expensive one box players sound as good/better than many of the two box players. Best advice is audition...audition...and audition again. Spend the money on what you LOVE now....or it will cost you more later to get out of it and move to something you decide is better at a later date. j
Fair comparison? DA Conver vs HighEndCD
As I am making up my mind about my last CD player upgrade, I wonder if some of you gentlemen had any suggestions in what would be the better match, either buying a entire CDP or spending the bulk of the money in a separate DAC? I was pondering upon a Music Fidelity model at around 1k, the Rotel 991 at around $1295, a Classe .3-.5 (1.5k-2k)or even a Electrocompaniet Ec-1(3-4k) VS the DAC-1 ($1295) by BEL CANTO. I was thinking about using a DVD transport I have and tweek it with the DAC-1, what is better? Does anyone have experience with a set like the DAC-1 with a DVD player, and yes, I read the review in Soundstage, but I would like real people and not reviewers who look and listen for details that I might not to give me an honest feedback. Ay suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks PAUL JOON NYC
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- 8 posts total
- 8 posts total