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Is my dealer lying to me?

This past weekend I went to listen to some speakers. I've been planning to buy CD player also, but that was not this weekend's purpose.

At first we were using a YMB player, McCormick amp, and Soliloquy 5.3 speakers. The speakers is what I was auditioning.

The CD player he is trying to sell me is the Cambridge Audio D500ES, I beleive. Price:400

Big difference I know between the YMB ($2500)and the Cambridge ($400). But it wasn't $2100 in difference in sound I can tell you that. What concerns me is the difference between his comments and the perceived opinions of people on this board. In other threads, there are quite a bit of "ditch the Cambridge" comments.

The dealers comments were "best player under $2000"... "chris sold his $2500 Theta and picked this one up because it's that good, and pocketed the money"... etc.

I'm not asking if this is the best player under $2000. But how does it compare to Arcam and Rega models at $500-700?

Obvisouly, he recommends the Soliloquy 5.3 also. I liked them but wasn't as impressed as much as I thought I would be. The guy has a small shop and seems honest, but it seems this cambridge is not very well respected in this forum.

I've gotten rid of alot of my gear. What I have left to use is a Yamaha RXV-995 receiver. An amp will come, hopefully sooner than later, but I need speakers and a CD player now unless I want to continue to use my DVD player for CDs.

Any comments?
gunbunny
natalie
404 posts
 
Stay away from DVD players if you have a music system.
People can tell you what they want.bottom line is a Dedicated CD player from a good MFG will allways be better than a DVD player at the same price point.
Pioneer for one does not make anything that would be considerd Hi Fi.
Great units but not Hi Fi,
Cambridge is vastly overrated.
You get alot for waht you pay compared to other units in the 400/500 range yes but true hifi no way.
Listen to a used BAT VK-5 at around 2K used and tell me you wont hear the difference.
Your source is the most important piece of your system.Dont go cheap there.
Junk in is junk out.
The best pair of speakers in the world cant correct a bad singnle.
Also consider a DAC.
drrasta
224 posts
 
I bought a d500 for a friend and was favorably impressed by the sound. At least as good as my Anthem cd1 ($1700 list). Hooked it up to an Anthem tube system (Pre1 and Amp1) played through a pair of Soliloquy 5.0's. The system sounded great, very dynamic. Now Cambridge doesn't have the build quality of the better high-end stuff, but good sounds for the money.
celtic66
1,616 posts
 
Gunbunny,

To quote the marketing people at Dodge, "The rules have changed." Spending lots was the rule. Now, some budget pieces have really caused havoc in the realm of big ticket items. I just picked up a pair of Axiom M3 Ti speakers for a secondary system which I would put up against many a big name. They bely their price of $240.

Some electonics embarrass pieces costing many times more. Stop looking at price tags and reading reviews. Listen!!!!!!! Good luck.......you'll need it.
gregm
3,396 posts
 
Adding to the above, differences in performance are perceptible if the rest of the chain's able to reproduce them (rubbish or otherwise). A $0,5k player in a WELL MATCHED SYSTEM may not sound much inferior to a 2,5k player in a MISmatched system -- but the 2,5 in a WELLmatched system may be another affair...

So, the Cambridge may well be a good buy for you. A used, higher performance cdp may be a better idea, especially as you're out to get amps next.

Whichever the case, you MUST listen to the dream machine, and do so with ancillary equip you LIKE -- otherwise, choosing correctly is impossible!

Cheers
audiopath
92 posts
 
I agree with Natalie above. She is giving you good advice. I think that the better question is: "Is my dealer giving me good advice or just trying to make a sale?"
It sounds like the advice is questionable at best. With the current state of your system, you may not be able to hear differences between CD players, even if they are $2,000 apart. If your speakers, amp, preamp, and cables are not up the the level of the front end, then you will not be able to hear the difference between a mid-fi CD player and a high-fi unit.
My advice it to wait until you have good speakers, amp, etc. and then go shopping for a CD player. Even the higher end DVD players ($1500-$3000) take a back seat to a good CD player for the same money. Another good reason to wait is what's called "system matching". Aside from the cables and interconnects, it gives you the best opportunity to balance the sound of the system to suit your tastes. Some CD players have a laid back sound and some are more aggressive; if you have bright sounding electronics or speakers you may like the laid back sounding CD player better. Lastly, try to set a budget for the whole system, and that will determine what you can spend on each piece. If you are planning a $10,000 system, then you can afford more than $400 for your CD player. If your budget is $2500 for the system, then maybe a $400-$500 CD player is perfect.
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