Hi End CD players?

[Rob N]

Price upto around £9000,would prefer a single box player,smooth sound

Any suggestions?

[tom hankins]

I've been on a search too. If you only need redbook, the Audio Research CD7 has outclassed anything I have heard at any price. If your looking for a one box SACD/redbook player, I like the Audio Aero prestige. I have also heard the EMM labs one box and DCS. Didnt think either lived up to there billing.

[Jahvetti]

New Wadias would fit in the budget.

[Duggeh]

Thats Naim CD555 price territory. It's supposed to have reset the benchmark for Redbook audio. I of course, couldn't even dream of offering first hand experience with anything t that price level and frankly if I was looking to buy there's no way I'd do it without some serious home auditioning.

[selfdivider]

I think this standalone CDP from Zanden should do it at that budget.



The other usual suspects are Esoteric X-01 Limited, Abbingdon Music Research CD-77... if you like smooth sound, Accuphase would do it, too.

[Rob N]

What about Nagra CDC or CDP?

It's small size would be ideal

[883dave]

Have a listen to Sim Audio Andromeda

[Pars]

Originally Posted by 883dave

Have a listen to Sim Audio Andromeda

That is one I would like to hear as well.

[Mister Crash]

I was on a similar quest not too long ago. I was looking for a significant source upgrade, and was ready to put down some big money to get it. Currently, I have an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 DAC, which is being fed by an Eastern Electric Minimax CD player. I went to a couple of high-end audio stores in the area and sampled some of their finest CD players to see if anything was a vast improvement over what I currently had. I really wanted something with digital inputs, and preferred a front-loader to a top-loader, but I wanted to keep my options open. Here's what I listened to:

First day: Esoteric UZ-1, Chord [I don't remember the model], Esoteric UX-3SE, Electrocompaniet EMC1-UP. All of these were hooked up to a Chord pre-amp and amplifier.

1. Esoteric UZ-1 - I wasn't really blown away by this player. It sounded OK, but didn't really involve me. The presentation felt a little cold and analytical.

2. Chord - I think this was a Chord Blu, hooked up to a Chord DAC64, but I'm not positive. Honestly, I did not like this player at all. I played a few tracks on it, but after about ten minutes, I realized that I just didn't like the presentation. I'm not sure I can explain what I didn't like about it, though. I felt like my current set-up sounded better than this one. I'm also not really a fan of top-loading players, which this was.

3. Esoteric UX-3SE - To me, this sounded a good deal better than either of the previous two players I tried. It felt precise and resolving, if still a little analytical. There was a lot of detail there that was uncovered. I also really liked the build of this Esoteric and its accompanying remote control.

4. Electrocompaniet EMC1-UP - Since I have an Electrocompaniet DAC, this player was used as my baseline in this store. Listening to this and comparing it to the UX3-SE, I felt like the EMC1 had more authority in bass impact, but sacrificed a little in the control of the bass. The Esoteric was more like a maestro, precisely playing everything exactly as it should, while the Electrocompaniet was more like a rock star, playing with passion that got a little out of control at times. The attack and decay of the Esoteric were clean, while the Electrocompaniet was just a little less precise. I didn't like the flimsy remote, though, and it's not a front-loader. Sonically, I thought it was pretty close to the UX-3, but I preferred the UX-3 just a smidgen more (though not enough to drop that kind of coin).

I left the store that day thinking that maybe I didn't need to upgrade my source after all.

Second day: Ayre C-5xe, Audio Research CD3 MkII, some older Oracle player, all hooked up to an Audio Research pre-amp and amplifier.

5. Ayre C-5xe - Dry, dry, dry. I was not engaged at all with this player. To me, it sounded sterile and lifeless.

6. Audio Research CD3 Mk II - I really didn't like the presentation of this one, either. I really couldn't find any area where I preferred this to the Ayre, and since I wasn't too fond of the Ayre sound, this was quickly dropped from consideration. It was also a top-loader.

7. Oracle player - I don't know the model, but it wasn't the 1000 or 2500. It was some older model. I basically had this hooked up because it had digital inputs in the back, and offered a variety of upsampling choices. Within five minutes, I knew this player was not right for me. It sounded considerably worse than either of the other two I listened to that day.

After this day, I was fairly convinced that it was going to be hard to find something that I preferred to my set-up.

Third day: Oracle 2500 Mk II

8. Oracle 2500 Mk II - It sounded OK, but not terrific. The buttons on the front of the player are unmarked, and you have to press one of them every time you load in a disc so that the player can prepare the disc. The sound was not memorable at all to me, and after this, I was even further convinced that I would be unable to find anything I liked better than my current set-up.

Fourth day: Wadia 581i SE, hooked up directly to an Audio Research amplifier.

9. Wadia 581i SE - And then I listened to this. For the first time in my quest, I had to admit that this was noticeably better than my current arrangement. This player felt like it had everything completely under control, from the lowest lows to the highest highs. All the music sounded right. The digital volume control is also a nice feature, as it allows you to bypass a preamplifier if you want. I had the volume in the mid-40s when I was listening to it, which is supposed to degrade the sound, and I still thought it was magical. A few other nice features of this player include the presence of multiple decoding programs (in case the standard one doesn't suit you), the digital inputs, and the very nice remote control. It is also upgradeable to the new flagship 781i player should you ever want to improve the sound even further.

In the end, I ordered the Wadia, and I am anxiously awaiting its arrival. Very anxiously.

[Roam]

Originally Posted by 883dave

Have a listen to Sim Audio Andromeda

For one thing it's a two-box player, and it's also big and heavy. Worth every penny I spent on it though, I find it's better in every respect than my Audio Aero Capitole.