Upgrading my CD Player

[arj]

Hi

How about buying a Normal CDP like a Marantz or a NAD and adding a DAC like the Remiyo or Benchmark? Will that sound better then a high end Player?

Tharun, apologies for causing more confusion

Overall , below USD 4000. the whole problem with a transport/DACs are the power chord and Digital cable which can really impact the sound so much that getting it right takes time and money. BUT Dacs do give the adaptability to be a bit more futureproof as you can move to a other transports ike HDD transports. If you do have a large collection of CDs a box is a good place to start but if you plan to get into HDD then go the DAC way/

while a benchmark is a good place to start..you will need to do better than a NAd etc to use as a transport to get the best usage out of it...and standalone transports dont come cheap.

Finally buying a used transport/cdp comes with its own risks...from my (hard learnt) experience, unless it is from a known source or have easily available rtansport mechanisms. While DACS are much safer to buy used.

There is one great advantage to DACs ie they kind of futureproof a part of the investments..you can also feed it a HDD or any other transport as an input as well and very few CDPs have that feature. and that is perhaps the only reason i went the transport/Dac way

from your figure of 1 lac..you can get the benchmark as a DAC. use a DHlab Digital cable all for less that 60K and spend the rest on a a transport. I have heard that the chinese MHZ cd players have a good transport section.

all this can get confusing but i guess it is better to be clearer on you want now as this is a large investment !

 

[tharun]

If you can stretch your budget a bit more by 25-30k, a USED single-box Levinson 39 is a good buy. Again, if you are lucky, a USED single-box Wadia may come your way too![/QUOTE]


Thanks Audio Eng for beautiful explanation and if i get a used Wadia or Levinson for 1.3L I should consider myself lucky. I will search in the net, Any idea about the Benchmark DAC ??

 

[tharun]

I am sitting in Computer for atleast 6 hours every day and reading a lot of things about CDP , Transport and DAC, I want to put an end to this quickly and get along with my work. Let me start searching for a DAC and Transport and then compare it with the CDPs from Primare , MF , etc etc.,

 

[rikhav]

Hi Tharun
Murali / audio_engr / dinyaar and others are way more experienced with equipments then me so whatever they advise is best. Also your idea of DAC+trasnport is a nice one
Only thing is that good deals where the price is right and the product is in top notch shape is hard to come buy in india. You can get killer dealers in USA and UK (ebay, audiogon, direct stores)
So meanwhile please do audition the said Arcams and Yamaha cdp. If you have someone who can bring a cdp for from USA then you have many choices

 

[prem]

Hi Tharun

I agree with Audio_Engr on a separate transport and dac.

The Lavry 10 Black is a very good dac. For transport duties look at a used transport. DH Labs digital i/c and power cords are great value for money.

 

[murali]

I am sitting in Computer for atleast 6 hours every day and reading a lot of things about CDP , Transport and DAC, I want to put an end to this quickly and get along with my work. Let me start searching for a DAC and Transport and then compare it with the CDPs from Primare , MF , etc etc.,

Just a word of advice (take it or leave it) from someone who had taken this path before...

If you consider the fact that Wadia made some of the finest CD players in this planet, remember that they always sourced the transports from Pioneer and Teac, two of the best. Later Pioneer stopped making transports and Teac started pushing their Esoteric brand and Wadia, rather than compromising, just got out of the CD player business.

The next fact to bear in mind is that DACs like Benchmark and others "in the affordable" price range are virtually insensitive to the transports upstream whereas high-end DACs like Wadia or dCS or Theta are highly sensitive to the transports driving them. With a Benchmark or similar DAC, it does not matter whether you use a Marantz or Sony or others as transport.

Next, never forget the evil of jitter with separates and a digital cable between, whatever others say.

Believe me, when you spend your hard-earned money to buy a source you intend to use for a few years, the single-box players in that price range of yours will give you much more satisfaction than the separates. Well, if you have more money to spend, or are in the habit of changing components every 1 or 2 years and can afford to do it, noone can stop you.

To summarise, my experience is that in the $2000-5000 range, there are excellent single-box players which will outperform separates and in the $5000-10,000 range, there could be close matches. Beyond, well, I am still waiting to win a lottery.

Think and act wisely. Listen to whatever you choose finally. It is your money.

Good luck.
murali

 

[tharun]

Thanks a Lot Audio eng , Murali , Prem , Rikhav.

I am yet to audition any of the CDP except the MF, its good but not a VFM product , this sunday i am listening to a Cyrus which my friends frind has , but the front loading thing is a big irritation. Will also listen to a the Arcam , but no way to listen to the Yamaha. I am also getting some good deals on used CDP from fellow members , thinking of that too. Totally in a more confused mood. Any one had experience with a Primare CD 31????

 

[odyssey]

Hi Tharun
A customer plans to upgrade from the Ayon CD-1 to the CD-2. If interested, I can pass on his contact to you. He has tried a few of the players that are mentioned here - Cyrus 8 (dual box), top of the line Marantz (~ 2 La), Primare among some others. The Ayon is surely in a league above this.

cheers

 

[prem]

Hi Tharun

The Ayon CD1 is a very good player. Worth exploring.

 

[tharun]

Hi Odysey and Prem , The Ayon CD 1 was way beyond my budget and at this point of time, I dont want to spent that much of amount on a CDP.

 

[prem]

Hi Tharun

You could get a used Ayon CD1 for about $2000. You can also look for an old Sony ES series cd player. They are really nice.

 

[odyssey]

Tharun
sure, I suggested it as I doubt you will find a better deal on a CDP now, considering the age of the player - practically new.

Prem, the seller is asking a bit more than that price which anyway one will pay in shipping or duties

cheers

 

[venkatcr]

Totally in a more confused mood. Any one had experience with a Primare CD 31????

I have been listening to the Primate CD31 for over a year now. I always use it as a reference whenever I have to compare another player or get confused about an album.

The Primare CD31 has two aspects which are important for listening to music.

When you listen to vocals with a few instrumental support, the CD31 pinpoints the voice accurately in the centre with the instruments supporting the voice gently without overwhelming the voice. When you play an instrumental number such as Orchestral number, the CD31 fills the room with the music. It easily projects the music across the room surrounding you with the music. I have heard the Raaga Symphony many times on the CD31 and have always been surprised with the way the CD31 plays the album. It seems to provide the amplifier and speakers with enough data to be authoritative and powerful.

On the same amplifier (A Primare to boot) and speakers I have connected other CDPs, but have never heard the sound stage produced by the Primare CD31.

Please also read Stereophile: Primare CD31 CD player. Brian Damkroger concludes that the CD31 'isn't perfectbut it's sublime'.

Cheers

 

[tharun]

Thanks Venkat CR , i am also thinking of the Primare CD31 , but if i pay little more i am getting some very good CDPs , the price seems to be very attractive but lack of funds at the moment is confusing me too much , Is any one ready to take one of my kidney

 

[unleash_me]

i am also thinking of the Primare CD31 , but if i pay little more i am getting some very good CDPs , the price seems to be very attractive but lack of funds at the moment is confusing me too much

There's always that next best thing just out of your budget. The only fix is to decide up on a particular model and save up for it. It's always worth the wait. FWIW I had the Primare CD31/I30 driving ProAc Studio 140 few years back. It was a very good combo and didn't sound 'thin' at all imo. It's currently with my father-in-law and he adores it!

I 2nd Dinyaar's suggestion of Yamaha CDS2000 as well as Prem's Sony ES series. Also, check out the Reference range from Marantz. I replaced my Primare setup with 15S1 combo for more warmth and fluidity it offered compared to the rather clinical sounding of Primare - its a matter of personal choice. Going by audio_engg's suggestion, you can not only use them as stand alone cdps but adding an external dac like BDA-1DAC will take them to a whole new level. Just recently I listened to the Bryston dac with an old marantz player (cant remember the model, it was an old OSE or KI version) This is an amazing dac for sure.

Happy hunting.

 

[arj]

Is any one ready to take one of my kidney

does it play music . Just kidding

Tharun, what do you look for in music and what kind is music do you listen to ?

eg soundstage (forward/backward/criticality), fluidity, details Bass, etc etc. if you could list it down then we could try to at least isolate some potential sources for you. else it would be pretty madenning.

also what are the CDPs/Dacs you have on your current list ?

 

[arj]

i would completely agree with Audio_Engr above. I honestly have not heard it but the user/reviewer comens on it are really good.

Anyway one must always upgrade from the top of the chain. get the best possible source and then forget about it for some time till you get the rest of the chain right (Or very very smartly start concentrating on music rather than the components )

as i mentioned earlier (and echoed by Murali) the most Value for money is had in 1 box players....and future upgradeabilty with DAC/Transport

 

[unleash_me]

Hi unleash_me :

This is even more confusing. The 2 statements above are self contradicting! (sorry - but no offenses here!)

I still maintain that I found the P-CD31 thin, clinical indeed, yet it did quite a number of things well like soundstaging, etc but couldn't develop a solid, robust, deep tone that I look for and get it in my Accuphase.

Well I guess it depends our individual interpretation of 'clinical'. By that I didn't mean it lacks body or weight. For me, I like the music to be warm in nature which the Marantz provided but ime Primare was more analytical in its presentation, and rather powerful if I may add. Even though it never sounded fatiguing as such, I would rather prefer the effortless music that the Marantz provided for those long late night listening. Primare shines when it was driven in high volumes; maybe the 140s liked it that way. Either ways, I was not intending to confuse Tarun. I'm sure he can find his perfect cdp with enough auditions on his own.

PS: No offense taken

 

[unleash_me]

Indeed there is a 'studio' in front of the 140. And yes, the D series is awesome. I was once torn between D28 and 1027BE but couldn't nail it due to some logistical issues. I might not be a fan of 1027BE anymore but D28 is a special speaker.

 

[tharun]

does it play music . Just kidding

Tharun, what do you look for in music and what kind is music do you listen to ?

eg soundstage (forward/backward/criticality), fluidity, details Bass, etc etc. if you could list it down then we could try to at least isolate some potential sources for you. else it would be pretty madenning.

also what are the CDPs/Dacs you have on your current list ?

Hi arj
I listen to all type of music , mostly slow numbers some Ghazals , Classicals, Soft Rocks , few soft Malayalam Songs , Kishore Kumar , Rafi , Some this and some that which is soft.
I am not into Bass kind of music so bass is not my preferrece here. i am not looking for a forward sound at all. I heard a Cyrus 8SE , I liked the sound very much but the loading thing is more frustrating. I would be very happy if it was a CD 8x or even a CD6s would be good for me. I am looking for that type of sound---am i confusing you?????? I have heard the NAD and marantz and those are normal once , I have not heard any CDP beyond Cyrus and Musical Fidelity. I am even open to purchase a CD6s from Cyrus. Is the Primare a better player then the Cyrus? ??. never heard the primare so far. Kindly advice.