CD player suggestions....

Hello, could use some suggestions for a new CD player. I am starting over and am on somewhat of a budget, divorce wiped my previous Pass Labs/Wadia/Magnepan system away.

Anyway, currently I have an Anthem TLP1 tuner/preamp, Anthem PVA2 amp driving a minty pair of Magnepan MMG's on Sound Anchor stands, DH Labs interconnects/speaker cable, all fronted by a Sony el-cheapo $79.00 DVD player. Sad, I know. So, looking for some suggestions.

My budget is around the 1K mark, but I have been looking at the new Sim CD-1 player, not heard it, but interesting. I realize this player is over my budget a bit, but I might be able to wiggle a bit here or there. I am also considering a good universal player as well.

I really do not want to ditch the Anthem stuff, and the Maggies are staying put for sure. I actually do like the Anthem stuff, reasonably good build and decent sound, maybe a little laid back, but then again, with the crap I am driving it with, who would know? I would appreciate any input, and by the way, nice to be back on the Gain, it has been awhile, and I really used to lurk, not much posting, but always enjoyed the views here. Happy Listening All!

Tim

 

why not a wadia 830 s hand...go f or about your money

 

I have kind of been looking at the 830/850's from Wadia, don't know much about some of the older units. I had a 302 and really loved it. I don't care about SACD, so not an issue for me, just looking for something really decent and that is still supported by the manufacturer. Thanks, Tim

 

Hi Tim,

Are you talking about £1000 or $1000?

SCIDB

 

Hi, I am talking $1k-$1.5k US dollars. I know not a lot in some respects, but am looking to keep it all simple. I am looking at new and used market as well. I kind of prefer new at this point, or at least something I can get a good warranty on as my hi-fi fund is very limited these days. Also want to make a good choice here as I won't have a chance for a do-over.

I guess price-wise/new, that is what appealed to me with the Sim unit. But in the context of my system right now, I have no idea about the synergy until I get a chance to possibly demo this one. I really am interested in the universal machine as well, kind of hate having so many boxes around, yet do watch a fair bit of video, just not interested in the surround game. My main focus is on the audio though. Thanks! Tim

 

Arcam is good at combining decent audio with decent video in the same box. Is their DiVA range available over there?

 

Will have to check the Arcam Diva out, not sure if it is available here, but I think Arcam's distributor is right here in Indianapolis. Not a whole lot of options here in town that can actually be heard/played with other than Denon/Yamaha/Nad/Rotel. Not that these are bad options at all, just trying to look outside of those players right now. I do like some of the Cambridge stuff for the money, don't care for the displays though. Thanks Chris. Tim

 

The Cambridge Azur 840 comes to mind. The Rega line as well. Be carefull with Wadia and maggies. The tweeter is a bit hot for the neutral sound of the Wadia IMO. A previously owned Lector CDP7Mk1 will have a great synergy with the Maggies ribbon.
Why not buy a Mac Book laptop and DAC $1000US for Mac then maybe a $450 Oritek Zhaolu DAC. Great combo and you can download and rip away to your hearts content.
Have fun looking.


rollo

 

Hi Rollo, I have heard several folks comment on Maggies and Wadia being bright/hot. I haven't heard that at least with the Quasi-ribbon drivers. That might be more the case with the true ribbon ones.

I used to have a Wadia 302/Pass Labs X1/X150 into my Maggie MMG's and if anything could be considered a little cool/analytical, but not bright. Then too, maybe it was a room thing as well.

I have listened to the Cambridge 740/840 and liked them both, I think I could use a bit more gusto in my system, I thought the Cambridges while very good were a bit laid back/smooth. With my Anthem stuff that might not be the best, but will check it out further.

Not heard the Lector, it is hard to get dems of a lot of different gear here. Will continue to work on that though!

I think what is difficult is that I really enjoyed my system very much, and sometimes it is hard to lower one's expectations after having a great system-well, in my opinion it was great for me.
But I am trying to make this fun too and not get worked up over it. Music is enjoyable no matter what!

I'm not into the computer/dac thing, maybe someday. Was considering just trying a dac on my Sony DVD player, but not sure it would be worth it. But don't really know either, so much debate over the transport and what it brings to the table as well. So much to ponder! Tim

 

Popular a couple of years ago - out of favour now - but still one of the finest CD players you can get for the money - Eastsound E5, available from Cattylink. If you find the cambridge too "smooth" then the slam and dynamics, not to say amazing detail from the E5 is perhaps what you need? I'm very sorry I sold mine!

 

Second that. I still have mine and happy with it. There are better players out there but i think i would have to pay a lot more to get a better level of performance. Was some trouble with transports or lasers getting damaged in the post but they have sorted it out now. Actually when i put my Rotel 965 BX discrete cd player back i heard no difference. This did cost about £370 in the 90s and it did have a Tentlabs clock and power upgrade costing £120. The Rotel was an exeptional machine for the price then.

 

I am not familiar with the Eastsound, might have to do a little searching on that one.

I did get a chance to listen again to the Cambridge players only this time they were in my system at home. The 740 and 840 are both very good players and I could live with either one. I am trying to work out a deal to listen to the Creek EVO and Destiny players, although the Destiny is a bit out of reach new.

I appreciate the suggestions, will keep looking and listening. Tim

 

I can't imagine using a CD player ever again.

If you're unaware of the item google 'slimserver squeezebox'.

In effect, wirelessly stream music from your pc's hard drive to your hifi.

All your cd collection at your finger tips, never leave the comfort of your seat to select a track again. Set up playlists, by genre, album, artist, or a mix of your own choosing - or let random play.

It's got a decent built in DAC, audiophilia tendencies may mean the purchase of another external one.

Using a CD player now would feel like a wind-up gramaphone.

 

that's assuming he has a pc and wants to spend countless hours ripping stuff to it.

 

I do have a PC, usually being in use by the wife's work which she does from home. I am more interested in the PC based music server as time goes by, just not ready for that move right now. I really would rather keep it separate for now. Tim

 

a matter of perspective .. countless hours for me were spent getting up and changing silver discs 2 or 3 times a night (every night, presumably forever!!).. and even then you don't always play what you want because you can't be bothered to get up...

against a weekend of burning ...

no contest IMO.

 

I can surely see some advantages to a PC based setup, I think part of it for me is mindset too, just not a real PC guy and like my gear to be just Hi-Fi. Maybe too old-school I suppose.

Maybe some of it is a bit ritualistic as well, kind of like turning the LP over, hands on type of thing. I had LP's and a nice LP12 up until a few years ago. So I suppose changing CD's isn't that big of a deal. I do know what you mean though about putting something in the machine only to realize that you really aren't that interested or whatever once it starts. Just breezing through a menu list or whatever would be nice.

One of these days I will get into the new technology. Tim

 

I'm not convinced about the benefits of squeeze boxes either.

Putting cds into my player isn't a big issue IMO.









From what I'm told SBs aren't quite up to speed with cdps anyway (generally speaking)....and thats what its all about for me.

 

Tim, bearing in mind the budget, I recently connected a used $/£400 Bel Canto DAC2 and 2 cent DVD player (a Toshiba 210 maybe) into a ten thousand dollar system and tested it side-by-side against a current $2-3 thousand 24/192 CD player.

The result was unanimous: myself, the system owner and his non-enthusiast wife were quite clear that the ancient Toshiba DVD + DAC2 outplayed the $2M+ 24/192 CD player. Not slightly, but comprehensively.

I'd swap the DVD player for a proper CDP/transport, the Toshiba user interface is a bit cumbersome and an old CD with digital coax out would be more convenient (check the digital output board still works, my Arcam 8's didn't...!)

Tony

 

I'd agree with the transport + DAC approach, with the added benefit of being able to add a SB or digital output from a soundcard, assuming of course the DAC has sufficient number of correct inputs.