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Best CD Player for Under $1000 - Page 3

post #31 of 79
11/28/04 at 10:38pm
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?
IMO, no. Something with a good measure of what the big boys have is the Musical Fidelity E624, and you can find them for around 3 or $400 dollars on Audiogon. Which really isn't all that much more than a mid-fi player would run you.
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post #32 of 79
11/28/04 at 11:34pm
Nice. Thanks for the recommendation. I was just being optimistic about the $500-range guys. And even those players would be a giant step up from my dad's old Technics changers or my portables.
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post #33 of 79
11/28/04 at 11:57pm
Went all the way through and didn't see it so here's the best: Ahh! Njoe Tjoeb Super 4000 oversampled. This should be on your short list and you gotta hear it before you decide. www.upscaleaudio.com
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post #34 of 79
11/29/04 at 10:39am
Thread Starter 
Musical Fidelity has a habbit of releasing multi versions of the same thing, for example:

And as such there are now THREE different versions of their entry level player:

A3.2 CD Player
Full Size version
CD-Pre24 Preamp
Same as above with a bigger case and a built in preamp
X-RAY V3 CD Player
Same as the A3.2 but in a much smaller box.
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post #35 of 79
11/29/04 at 6:12pm

Actually, another thought.....

The Toshiba and Panasonic DVD players have been getting pretty good press as good cheap, excellent mod'd.

I have 2 Panny players, DVD-S47 and DVD-S55, both are VERY good out of the box. I have played my S47 in my bedroom system, using a Taddeo Digital Antidote active version. This combo is extremely impressive, and without ANY mod's to the Panasonic!

I haven't tried it, but I bet a cheap Panasonic or Toshiba with the passive version of the Taddeo ($119 delivered I think) might be a worthwhile combo as well. If it gets 70-80% of what the big brother does, it could be awesome.

I did some subjective tests between my mod'd Pioneer DV-45A (>$1k total), my Arcam CD-73T, and this S47/Taddeo combo. The price followed my preferences, but it was scary how close they could be! And the Arcam and S47/Taddeo combo did some musical things even slightly better than the Pioneer (some of that smoothness and PRaT thing).

Anyways, another thought, perhaps with less investment.
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post #36 of 79
11/29/04 at 6:30pm

I Agree, skullguise

My $80 Panasonic DVD-S47 sounds great feeding my Benchmark DAC1 (and it doesn't limit or molest the digital output with DVD-As like most DVD-A players)!
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post #37 of 79
11/29/04 at 6:31pm
The best in my opinion is a DAC1 + a cheap dvd player. I'm not convinced there is much better out there period.
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post #38 of 79
11/29/04 at 7:48pm
For about $550+shipping and import tax in your country you can get a Cayin Cdt-15a cdp. Very well made, its the best stock pcm1732 based player you can get and I think has a switchable tube/ss output like the shanling cdt-100. Available from www.cattylink.com. I've been tempted to buy it for a long time, but then decided to get a modded emu 1212m.
BTW if you want a music hall cd25 player, the same player (shanling cd-s100) is available for about $250+shipping and import tax.
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post #39 of 79
11/29/04 at 9:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KR...
Musical Fidelity has a habbit of releasing multi versions of the same thing, for example:

And as such there are now THREE different versions of their entry level player:

A3.2 CD Player
Full Size version
CD-Pre24 Preamp
Same as above with a bigger case and a built in preamp
X-RAY V3 CD Player
Same as the A3.2 but in a much smaller box.
From the reviews I've read, there are differences in the players both in parts used, and overall sound. Not huge differences, but differences non-the-less.
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post #40 of 79
11/29/04 at 10:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KZEE
From the reviews I've read, there are differences in the players both in parts used, and overall sound. Not huge differences, but differences non-the-less.
Actually I am going by what Musical Fidelity themselves or himself said in interviews.
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post #41 of 79
11/29/04 at 11:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by taymat
For about $550+shipping and import tax in your country you can get a Cayin Cdt-15a cdp. Very well made, its the best stock pcm1732 based player you can get and I think has a switchable tube/ss output like the shanling cdt-100. Available from www.cattylink.com. I've been tempted to buy it for a long time, but then decided to get a modded emu 1212m.
BTW if you want a music hall cd25 player, the same player (shanling cd-s100) is available for about $250+shipping and import tax.
thanks for the link.
A lot of interesting pieces there.
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post #42 of 79
11/30/04 at 12:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KR...
Actually I am going by what Musical Fidelity themselves or himself said in interviews.
OK, I'll buy that. But there is a review link on the MF web site itself where the reviewer had an X-Can v3 and a A3.2 side by side, and he claims that there are some parts differences in the power supplys of the two, and he also claims that the two players sound a bit different, with the nod going to the v3.
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post #43 of 79
11/30/04 at 12:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KZEE
OK, I'll buy that. But there is a review link on the MF web site itself where the reviewer had an X-Can v3 and a A3.2 side by side, and he claims that there are some parts differences in the power supplys of the two, and he also claims that the two players sound a bit different, with the nod going to the v3.
The X-Can is a headphone amp, I think you mean the X-Ray.

There is also an interview on that very same site, where they speak to the head of MF and he says they are both the same inside.
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post #44 of 79
11/30/04 at 1:25am
If I had to choose and was on a budget then I probably choose the x-ray. If they are similar in build and sonic representation. Also cos it is small and dinky and would match well with my earmax anniv.
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post #45 of 79
12/1/04 at 9:44am
Has anyone had the opportunity to compare the Arcam and Musical Fidelity players? I'd really like to hear more about their relative pluses and minuses.
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