Which one

First post as only joined today so I thought I would pick your brains.
I need, well wifey needs new CD, prefer vinyl myself, old one on ebay so replacement needed fairly soon.
Am considering

Marantz CD5400 or CD5400 OSE about £100 - £145
Marantz CD6000 OSE LE £180
NAD 521 BEE £180
Arcam CD73T £350

As you can see quite a variation in supposed quality.

Will be partnered with

Audio Analogue Puccini SE amp
Wharfedale Pacific EVO 30's / QUAD 12L's

Both sets speakers being assesed at present.
One pair will eventually go.

Is the Arcam worth the extra? Have only heard the NAD
which sounded quite "nice". I dont play many cds but when I
do I want it to "sound" as natural as possible.

Has anybody experiences of the above cds?

Thanks Bogart

 

I've heard a C541i which was very good - clean and natural. Superfi has them for £250 new. Maybe even cheaper elsewhere.

 

Hyperfi not Superfi

 

For my tastes I'd go for the nad or the arcam. As for the speakers the quads are something quite special and will not be out of place with ancilaries in the region of 1k a peice.

I recently auditioned the quads 99cdp 909 12L combo.... quite stunning for the price point.

 

I would go for the new £250 Cambridge Audio. Best value out of all of them imho.

 

what hifi are raving about the NAD, i have seen it for 150 in some places too

 

Got the NAD541i myself, can't fault it in terms of playback, slightly warm sounding, detailed, smooth midrange although a little bass-light.

Thought the build quality was a little lacking. The top and sides are made of one piece of relatively thin metal compared to the chassis, and it seems to give a little, and when the volume is up high tends to vibrate a little.

 

If your gonna spend that much on an Arcam 73, why not either get the Rotel RCD-02 for a little more, or the Alpha 9 second hand, either of which should be better than the 73...

 

I had the Arcam 72T for a while - its now still in the family but with student daughter - and liked it, but - and this is not just a shameless plug - it was more than equalled by the 10year old Meridian 200/203 I had acquired s/h for the 200 transport, and completely blown away by the Meridian 602/606 I then tracked down (for the 602 transport) - I was preparing to get the Dax Decade dac/pre-amp. As it so happens, once I got the Dax Decade, I jumped at a modded Transcend, which is ideally paired, for a bargain price. So I now have some surplus that I should pass on ... I'm advertising my Meridian kit in the AVForum.com classifieds, in case you are interested.

Even if not, do consider spending a bit on the CD replay to get the quality you both can appreciate. Of course the Arcam CD players do have an upgrade path - you can upgrade the dac inside - so I would not want to put you off that route. So much the better if you can find one s/h, although you would be paying new for the dac upgrades in the future.

Personally I took a bit of persuading about going the CD transport + dac route (rather than the integrated CDplayer route), but it does give greater flexibility. I now also have the prospect of playing other digital sources via the dac, such as downloaded MP3s, etc.

The moral: however nice the vinyl, digital sources have arrived, so think about a strategy that gives you a dac and the means to upgrade the dac as digital formats change; CDs are cheap and reliable, so think about a good CD transport; older stuff, Meridian included, can have both better build and better sound than new stuff - and nearly always represents better value for money.

 

I am currently playing with a pooch SE, its a wonderful amp, really crystal clear, times well too. I am being seduced by this latino magic. Its got chips in it as drivers 5534s, and tle072, pretty cheap and nasty...for the output stages, have not come across this before.
One of the nicest amps I have ever heard, quite remarkable.

I would say partner with the 6000 ose and quad 12ls but any of the cds are likely ok. IMHO the arcam will not be worth the xtra. Can't go wrong with marantz, nad fine, too.

 

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woof woof!

 

PUCCINI se