Stereo Advice

[Noel Fleischer]

I like watches and nice stereo equipment. I have an older system with Classe amplifiers and Magnaplanar speakers.

I had a California Labs CD player- very good but died after 15 years. Can anyone suggest a current CD player that would go with

the rest of my gear? I don't mind spending some $$, but not crazy like $5k. I'm not looking for a Best Buy special for $200 either.

[whoever]

Hi Noel,

Myriad have great cd players, very good quality for a affordable price, I guess around 700 dollars. Not sure though if you find them in the States.

http://www.myryad.co.uk/

Edited November 27, 2011 by whoever

[wat44]

have you considered spending the money on a DAC instead and keeping the files lossless? thats wat I do and use sonos with digital out

[subbiesrock]

Wat44 makes a good point. If you use the CD player just as a transport and link your other digital outputs into a really good quality DAC, that's better than all your players having mediocre DACs and then amplifying the analog signal.

Good luck

[ogladio]

Have a Benchmark DAC1 HDR myself which I have connected to various sources e.g a high end transport, can only give it highest of praises! Never experienced better detailing and well tech specs are basically impossible to surpass. Some however experience it TOO neutral, guess that's a matter of your taste

[Watchmeister]

Pardon my ignorance but can I assume DAC stands for Digital Analog Converter? And exactly what is its purpose? Sorry if these are silly questions.

[tomhorn]

Pardon my ignorance but can I assume DAC stands for Digital Analog Converter? And exactly what is its purpose? Sorry if these are silly questions.

Yep. In basic terms, any digitally formatted music (CD's, MP3's etc) at some point has to go through a DAC to transfer the 1's and 0's into something you can hear. In many cases, the DAC is part of the device itself.

What the posters here are talking about is two devices. One being the box that spins and reads the CD, and one that does the digital to audio conversion process. The advantages to this are similar to the advantages you get when separating your amp and pre-amp. Isolating the two funtions typically allows for better components to be used in each, and therefore better sound (generally). Of course it can also lead to higher costs (generally).

As with anything audio, the best advice is to go to your local high-end audio store and listen. Everyone's ears are different and therefore something that works great for me will be different for you. Without geting too crazy in price, I love the Benchmark, Cambridge Audio and Musical Fidelity DAC products.

One other benefit ... if you have multiple digital inputs (for example an iPod or PC) you can hook them all up to the same DAC.

Edited November 27, 2011 by tomhorn

[wat44]

Good cd players have good dac's in them. But to my way of thinking, why do you need to keep reading the 1's and 0's every time? Hthey shouldn't change. Unlike vinyl which changes every time the needle scratches its way through the valley like a plough... So anyway, if you have the data, wat you really need is the decent dac to decode it well. My ears can't hear any difference between the good ones - but bad ones are terrible. Same goes for lossless info versus low quality mp3. It's easy to hear low rate mp3, but impossible for me to hear anything between wav , apple lossless or flac.

[whoever]

As with anything audio, the best advice is to go to your local high-end audio store and listen. Everyone's ears are different and therefore something that works great for me will be different for you. Without geting too crazy in price, I love the Benchmark and Musical Fidelity products.

true!!

When i bought my amplifier and the rest i spent hours and hours in a couple of good stores, sitting on a couch and going through a LARGE range of products, beginning from 500$ to 30000$, and i was so surprised to discover every print of its own....! Unbelievable....and all the difference is made in matching the different parts together, and see how i works out! Was an orgasmic experience!

As when it comes to the DACs, never tried one, but i like still the feeling of my old CDs in my hand, i feel like i'm 16 again.

Edited November 27, 2011 by whoever

[Watchmeister]

Guys,

Thanks for the info. I used to do the high end stereo thing before digital was a real part of the stereo scene (yeah, I am that old) and our biggest issue was tubes versus solid state and very cool turntables. And yes, I still have ridiculously large Infinity RS something speakers sitting in my basement.

[Noel Fleischer]

Thanks alot for the info. guys. Ill check it out.

Some of these players like Krell cost a fortune. How about NAD or Rotel? They're said to be pretty good bang for

the buck.

PS- Watchmeister, I think audiophiles are still arguing tube vs. transister. High end turntables can cost $100K!

Edited November 27, 2011 by Noel Fleischer

[Watchmeister]

My dream system (umpteen children and dollars ago) had tubes for the tweeters and mids and solid state for the woofers and subs. It also occupied an entire room. The funny thing was with all those wires I was always getting weird hisses, etc. resulting from all my fancy electronics. I am amazed NAD and Rotel are all around.

[wat44]

The arguments will never die. However, you can't argue with physics. Eg speaker cables. The shorter the better end if argument. So taking that to the logical conclusion gives you the answer that you should have zero length speaker cables. How do youdo that? Easy - have each driver in your system have its own amplifier. I have this. Active two way with 4 amps- ie 2 tweeter amps and 2 mid amps. Plus subwoofer (active). I really should have 2 subs. I haven't had the cash to spend lots of money on this - but I'm happy with it!

Digital source ==> DAC ==> preamp ==>active speakers

That's my system, anyway

[Noel Fleischer]

I doubt I'm going to replace everything. I may replace my active sub woofer too. Seems to have some hum

when I turn it up. My speaker cables are to long- built them into my apartment walls- cant really change that easily.

Hopefully I can find a decent integrated CD player for about $800.

[wat44]

i think you'll find many nice ones at that price point

i would lurk stereo forums for a second hand one from a nut who bought a $1500 one and is "upgrading" to a $3000

[Noel Fleischer]

Well thanks again- I ended up buying a Moon integrated unit; about $1700 new. But the guy

knows me from before and will come and install it for free ( usually $150). Also agreed to check out and rewire the rest of the gear.

Not too bad. I tried for fun to go to the stores like Best Buy, etc. They really only sell commercial junk. Not suitable for any good system.

Also; the salespeople ar young kids- know really nothing about the stereo business. Literally did not know the difference between a CD and CD

player!!

[subbiesrock]

He literally did not know the difference between a CD and CD

player!!

Any younger than 18 and I'll be amaze if a kid has ever gotten their music from anywhere other than torrents or iTunes...

CDs to the youth are like records to 25 year olds. Mysterious, ethereal objects that they only hear about from old people...

[Noel Fleischer]

Meanwhile vinyl records are still around. There's a group of high end audiophiles who will only listen to analog recordings

with super expensive gear. These systems can easily go for more than $100K! Not too many people are going to spring for that,but

if I was a billionaire- why not?

[wat44]

,but

if I was a billionaire- why not?

... because they dont sound as good?

the so called audiophiles are really gadget-philes

[whoever]

... because they dont sound as good?

the so called audiophiles are really gadget-philes

i have a 150 euro turntable, and believe me, it sounds FAR better than a lot of other records, either CD or digital stuff....