CD Player for a Grand?

Funny that, I had a pio 565 for a couple of years and think it's an excellent device for the money. Sure the build is biscuit-tin, and the transport is a flimsy plstic affair, but it worked flawlessly. The player has jitter of <200psec and never refused to read a disc, ever! I'm quite impressed how pioneer managed to engineer something so reliable/effective for such a low price. Whilst I wouldn't use it as a player (treble's a bit glassy), it would make a half decent transport with a few tweaks/upgrades.

Failing that, if you can live with the minging aesthetics, a Teac VRDS would be the obvious choise for the budget conscious.

DT

 

And thanks for the review, Legzr1.

 

Hi DT - sounds like you had a faulty unit. My speakers (£5k's worth of Kharma Ceramique 3) have the Scanspeak Revelator tweeter - thought by many to be one of the best in the world - there is no way a correctly working Beresford gives out distorted treble.

 

That's what John & I thought too. Certainly his feedback on the unit is excellent.

I've heard the revelator is good but surely the latest generation of Beryllium tweeters outperform it? I have SS tweeters in both my speakers and considering the one used in my Amphions is aluminium, it's very smooth.

 

Yes, fine! No need to argue about who has the longest tweeter. I was just making the point that the 2 Beresford DACs I've had (Mk1 & 2 of the TC-7510) have excellent and clean treble.

 

I agree with the previous suggestions on Rega and Sugden. Certainly the Sugden Masterclass, great player for that money!!

 

I too did what you are doing. Fun isn't it.

I had a Musical Fidelity A3 CDP which isn't bad (keeping it for my garage system
After listening to Shanling, MF A5, Marantz, a DAC on the A3 and my DVD player, and a few others,
I finally settled on a Copland CDA823. It's more than £1K but there are 2nd hand out there.
Suits my system and ears. Very good detail, presence, dynamics, and none of your high note edginess (the A3 suffered from that), just clear and well presented music irrespective of what you listen to.

I first heard a Copland paired with a home engineered valve amp (the one I have is the same, built as a project by a group of us - see the thumbnail pic, and used Svetlana KT88's) and a large pair of Canton speakers (cost about 4.5K each!)
Tube rolling is essential to get a really nice sound. I have bought many different types of 6SN7's on Ebay and all have worked and many have been well used by me. The 6SN7's are not being used as hard at the KT88's. I changed the Svetlana's for Tesla's which suit my ear better.

You occasionally Coplands on Ebay (mostly the older models, but these are very good too).

 

I find JANDL100's setup interesting, knowing this I might very well try the DAC he mentions on my current Arcam Alpha 6.

I have tried many CD Players under £1000 and have not been impressed so far - they are not much better than my current setup. Although I am willing to try this cheap DAC for a laugh, you never know.

And JANDL100, my experience with a Leak Stereo 20 was great and this uses EL34 valves - do you know of a modern equivalent EL34 which produces the same fantastic sound? Or do all EL34 valve amps sound similar due to the nature of this valve type?

Going back to the CD Player for under a grand question, I personally have not found one devastatingly good enough - might as well focus on the power amp where changes are more obvious. But as I said and will say again - I will willing to try that cheap DAC out as my last port of call before I decide that the CD source change only affords minimal sound improvements!

 

By all means give the Beresford DAC a try - I believe that there is a refund arrangement if you don't want to keep it (I think it genuinely excellent though) - but best to confirm this with the seller before you buy. IME you might get more than a bit of a surprise though - the little beast punches WAY above its weight.

With regard to EL34 tubes and amps, I have limited experience - I've only ever owned my current Ming Da 34-A (which I very much enjoy) and a pair of EL34-based Papworth M100 monoblocks which were just a little bit boring (they used Electro-Harmonix EL34s - but I wouldn't necessarily blame the EHs for the somewhat uninspiring sound). As to which varieties of EL34s to go for, I don't know - I've done some tube rolling with 6550 power tubes but not EL34s. The stock Chinese EL34 on the Ming Da seem fine and I don't have the wherewithall to bias new tubes, as this needs to be done internally on the Ming Da and the stuff I've read indicates this is way beyond my humble DIY abilities.

 

If you don't mind second hand how about this Audionet ART in the Classifieds? It is more than a grand though.

 

For CDGEORGE mainly ...

One thing in addition to today's previous post that I should mention about the Beresford DAC ...... give it a few days of playing (and I mean a good 24h+ of actual use) before making any judgements - the DAC sounds truly horrible straight out of the box - closed in, claustrophobic and very midrange prominent. After a couple of hours use it starts to open up, and a couple of days will see it reach its quite considerable potential.

 

Well, I've purchased the Sugden Masterclass which will metaphorically wing its way down to London tomorrow. Will keep you posted... am very excited to have a grown up stereo at last... fingers crossed that none of the valves break on the Pathos TT on the way home. Will let you know how I find it...
Thanks for all your help.

 

Well done - I'm sure you won't be dissapointed.

 

Blimey... it sounds fantastic. I am so thrilled. Wonderful to have a grownup stereo... The speakers (Art Stiletto 6) are bi-wired but there's not quite enough speaker cable to put them where I would like. Any suggestions as to what cable to get would be most appreciated (Pathos TT amp if it makes any difference)...

 

Zanash for cables. Jim.