CD player...........The choices......aaaargh!!

Can anyone give me any advice? Please.

I've got a Roksan DP1 that i'm running with an Arcam Blackbox 500 and an Audiolab 8000Q and 4 8000M's.
I fancy changing my CD player, i think the DP1 is a fantastic player but it's age means that it won't play the music that i download so i'm after something a bit newer. This is where the trouble begins, i've got about £1500 to spend once i've sold the DP1 and the Blackbox but there's so much choice out there for that sort of money and i've lost touch a little with the newer gear. Thinking about an Naim CDX but not sure how it'd run with the Audiolabs. Any good advice and i'll be your friend forever.
Cheers Mick

 

on the assumption that the DP1 does digital out, you could consider getting a dac to handle both CD replay (via the DP1) and download digital.

 

considered the new roksan caspian m series?

i ran it with the 8000Q and 4x8000m and it was very in keeping with the audiolab balance. A great player for £1100

 

The DP1 is indeed a good player and the BB500, although now dated, can put up a good performance. With any compressed dowloaded music you will never achieve the same quality as CD from a disc. If you are merely seeking to play MP3s, etc, then why not just buy a cheaper (than £1500) CD player with this facility and use its digital out through the Black Box? However, if you want to upgrade your CD source, what sonic improvement are you seeking? IMO, although CDs have moved on some, your current set-up will take some beating with your budget. If you go secondhand, then you could get a very serious player indeed for that kind of money.

Incidentally, Naim don't do digital out on their players. I believe Naim CD players are best suited to Naim systems. Also, I'm pretty sure that the original CDX will not play MP3s.

 

Could you squeeze an Avondaled CD3 in at that money. The AAA5 I run is so good, that if the Naim 3 is as much better as it's reputed to be it could well be a no-brainer.

 

I can't think that many quality CD players, whatever their age, will play MP3. Maybe some DVD and universal players can.

 

Well, yes there are, surprisingly. The Meridian G08, for example.

 

I hadn't noticed the MP3 requirement. Can't you convert the MP3's into Audio CD's using Nero or a similair programme or is that too obvious?

 

Perhaps pouched1 means that his DP1 won't play CD-Rs?

Try burning them at slow speed - 1x or 2x

 

Densen 400+ for a good standard CD only machine.

Alternatively Benchmark DAC + your transport + a cheap DVD player for MP3 etc. will play anything very well indeed.


Cheers

Jason

 

I agree. your transport + good dac (I use the DaxDecade which is avaiable elsewhere s/h), into which you feed other digital sources (which I guess could include a dvdplayer that you might already have for other purposes (like playing dvds).

 

Lordy, £1500 is an enormous sum of money for cd player.

Guess you'll be looking at the usual suspects from Copland, Audio Analogue, Electrocompaniet and Marantz perhaps?

Lector also make some pretty interesting spinners: http://www.docet-lector.com/start.htm .Lovely decks, but quite hard to find in the UK.

DT

 

I see that there are two v.interesting ads for CDPs on ZG: a Wadia from W-M in the trade, and a Mara KI DP in the personals...

 

As a variation on what Jason said, what about a Squeezebox & benchmark dac?

 

Or just a 2nd hand Advantage S1?
Propre piece of kit, and can be used as a digital pre-amp..
No MP3, but why would you want to?