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Best CD Player for Under $1000 - Page 2

post #16 of 79
11/26/04 at 2:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyeteeth
KR... are there no MF dealers on your travels from N.J. to N.Y?
You certainly have the amp & phones to judge it properly.
I only know of...

http://www.audioconnect.com/
Audio Connection
615 Bloomfield Ave.
Verona, New Jersey
07044

www.soundbysinger.com
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post #17 of 79
11/26/04 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyeteeth
What a coincidence! December's Stereophile arrived in the mailbox and Sam Tellig is reviewing the X-RayV3.

I didn't paraphrase the Musical Fidelity quote very accurately.
"On par or better than most of the world's expensive CD players."

Tellig says, "I haven't heard most of the world's pricey players, and I'm not sure what "expensive" is. I do know that I've heard nothing better for under $1000. In fact, Im not sure I've heard anything better for under $2000."

"I haven't heard a player for under $1000 that comes even close to the X-Ray."

"With the X-RayV3, you'll have CD playback that's close to as good as it gets. I'd say you'll be 88% of the way there."

Wow, I sometimes criticize Sam Tellig for liking too many things too much but the X-Ray seems very promising.

KR... are there no MF dealers on your travels from N.J. to N.Y?
You certainly have the amp & phones to judge it properly.

I wouldn't necessarily go on Tellig's opinion alone. I don't think he's a critical enough reviewer. He may not be wrong in his recommendation of the Xray, but I wouldn't necessarily go on his opinion alone.
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post #18 of 79
11/26/04 at 4:38pm
of the players ive heard and compared the rega planet 2000 is a great choice for under a thousand. ive used mine with great success with the stax phones for over a year now with no complaints whatsoever. the nad player i was using before which is considered a great budget player just gets crushed by the rega, no doubt about it.....
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post #19 of 79
11/26/04 at 6:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bifcake
I wouldn't necessarily go on Tellig's opinion alone. I don't think he's a critical enough reviewer. He may not be wrong in his recommendation of the Xray, but I wouldn't necessarily go on his opinion alone.
I absolutely agree.
There have been times I (in a churlish mood?) thought he was way too friendly.
I did drop in a magazine shop on my travels today and looked again at the HiFi Choice review and my first paraphrase in the earlier post was correct. Why a toned down very similiar phrase was used for Stereophile is unknown to me.
I looked in Hi-Fi News which had a review of the X-Ray DAC which they liked and when used in combination with the X-PSU thought outperformed in some ways the MFidelity Tri-Vista!

Anyway...I found the smorgasbord of all X-Ray related reviews
gathered at (big suprise) The Musical Fidelity site itself.
All the print reviews have been scanned and are available in PDF.
http://www.musicalfidelity.com/mf/en/News/reviews.jsp
HiFI News, HIFI Choice, HIFI World, Gramaphone.
(What's with those Brits and the word HIFI?!!!)
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post #20 of 79
11/26/04 at 7:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xeno7651
Another vote for the modded Music Hall CD25. Also, the Shanling CDT100 can sometimes be found for under $1000 used.
As far as off the shelf stock new unit the X-Ray v3 would be hard to beat at the $1,000 price level......also if you need small foot print because of limited space it is one of the only games in town.

But I suspect the Music Hall CD25 level 3 mods also for $1,000 would edge it out in absolute sound quality.....if you want to go the mod route. The edge people like Sound Odyssey and others have is the $500 extra in parts upgrade they add in level 3 mod would cause MF to have to charge $1,000+ extra for same thing because of thier price structure and overhead. You get more bang for the buck with mods but there can be "possible" issues with reliablity and warranty.

BTW I do not own either unit being discussed but do have two full systems of Musical Fidelity gear.
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post #21 of 79
11/27/04 at 6:08am
While the X-Ray is built like a tank, I had one small problem with it when I brought a unit home for an audition in September - the unit completely locked up on me and had to be unplugged and plugged back in again before any buttons would respond. I do not know if it was an isolated incident, but I thought that I would mention it.

Regarding the Planet, I am not certian how true this information is, but I was informed that Rega sometimes does small, silent upgrades (i.e. no public announcement or model change) to the Planet every so often. If correct, new Planet 2000's may be slightly improved over their earlier counterparts. Again, I do not know if it was true, but it was what the US distributor told me in a telephone conversation.

FWIW, these would be my top two choices for under $1k.
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post #22 of 79
11/27/04 at 6:43am
No Arcam FMJ DV29A? No Arcam DiVA CD192?
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post #23 of 79
11/27/04 at 12:23pm
Isn't Arcam dropping their Ring DAC architecture?
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post #24 of 79
11/28/04 at 2:24am
I've got the X-Can v3, and I love it. The only knock against it is that the soundstage isn't quite as wide or deep as some players, but it does everything else so well that I can live with that. And IMO, a narrower soundstage is an advantage when listening to headphones anyway.
I've heard real good things about the AH! Njoe Tjoeb 4000, and for used don't discount the older Arcam Alpha 9 - I heard one through a Conrad-Johnson MV-52, and it sounded great. There are also used Theta Miles CDP's on Audiogon for around $700 to $800, and used Theta DAC/transport combinations start at around $500.
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post #25 of 79
11/28/04 at 8:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bootman
Isn't Arcam dropping their Ring DAC architecture?
They already did....

But the new players with the Wolffson (sp?) DAC's are extremely good as well.

Having heard the Planet 2000 and the Arcam CD-73T side by side (as well as the Rotel that was highly touted), I bought the Arcam. More of most things hi-fi, and every bit (no pun) as musical if not more so than the Rega to my ears.

Still, the Rega is no slouch at all; I just liked the Arcam better.
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post #26 of 79
11/28/04 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skullguise
Having heard the Planet 2000 and the Arcam CD-73T side by side (as well as the Rotel that was highly touted), I bought the Arcam. More of most things hi-fi, and every bit (no pun) as musical if not more so than the Rega to my ears.

Still, the Rega is no slouch at all; I just liked the Arcam better.
I find that very reassuring as I have an Arcam CD73T.
But were I shopping now I'd have to hear this X-Ray before deciding.
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post #27 of 79
11/28/04 at 7:27pm
Do cheaper units such as the NAD C542, Cambridge Azur 640, and Marantz CD5400 come close at all to the Rega, Musical Fidelity, and Arcam?
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post #28 of 79
11/28/04 at 8:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiWire
Do cheaper units such as the NAD C542, Cambridge Azur 640, and Marantz CD5400 come close at all to the Rega, Musical Fidelity, and Arcam?
It really depends on your definition of "close". The NAD and Cambridge players are good players, but the Regas and the Musical Fidelity players are the next level up in terms of resolution, clarity, air and all the things that make them high fidelity players. However, whether the extra resolution and coherence is worth the extra money is another question.
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post #29 of 79
11/28/04 at 8:56pm
I'm basically asking because my father laughed at me when I mentioned the NAD C542. He said that all CD players sound the same nowadays, and to get one less than $100 CDN. So you know where my family's coming from, anyway

Cheap
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post #30 of 79
11/28/04 at 10:16pm
My brother in law used to say the same thing until I played him my Rega Planet 2000 and my Pioneer DV-414 DVD player. I switched back and forth and once I switched back to the Pioneer, he asked me to switch back to Rega because he just couldn't listen to the Pioneer anymore.

So, they all say the same thing until they actually hear it.
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