[Czilla9000]

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/pr...%20CD%20Player


Is it any good?

 

[wasifazim]

Not very. It uses the pedestrian Burr Brown 1716 DAC, NE5532 op amps in the output stage and standard grade Elna caps throughout (only a couple of Cerafines). Build quality is solid but nothing spectacular. This unit is manufactured by a Korean company for Roksan; oh, and the remote is horrible.

- Wasif

 

[TimSchirmer]

but they make nice turntables...

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Czilla9000,

Quote:

Is it any good?

I've auditioned the Roksan Kandi at the HIFI Expo I attended back in August and can attest to the fact that it sounds fantastic, not only to me but to many others. I've heard them connected to an Audiopax tube amp. Smooth, relaxed, and detailed. It's considered a tough competitor for the REGA Planet. You couldn't go wrong with it if you can afford it.
Cheers,
Alex Altorfer

 

[Czilla9000]

Alex...how does in compare to the Planet?

 

[wasifazim]

Quote:

Originally posted by Alex Altorfer Czilla9000, I've auditioned the Roksan Kandi at the HIFI Expo I attended back in August and can attest to the fact that it sounds fantastic, not only to me but to many others. I've heard them connected to an Audiopax tube amp. Smooth, relaxed, and detailed. It's considered a tough competitor for the REGA Planet. You couldn't go wrong with it if you can afford it. Cheers, Alex Altorfer

I disagree; I owned one for four months and found it brittle and thin on bass, and a totally different (and inferior) beast to the Rega Planet 2k. But everyone's preferences are different: some (including yourself) might well find it better than the sum of some very unimpressive parts.

- Wasif.

 

[Tuberoller]

I have used one of these for a few months and didn't like it at all.we also had one in use for the chicago meet.It sounds Ok with headphones systems but really has strange soundstage dynamics and only fair instrument placement when used with loudspeakers.My friends at Decibel Audio Sell these and report that the Cambridge D500SE,Music Hall MMFCD25 and any Creek CDPs are better sounding.I have heard all these players as well and have to agree.I would strongly advise against spending that kind of money on a digital rig right now.

 

[RVD]

Quote:

I would strongly advise against spending that kind of money on a digital rig right now.

Tuberoller, may I ask why?

 

[TimSchirmer]

Because nobody knows what the next format is going to be.

 

[Czilla9000]

Ya....but the CD format is not going to die overnight.

 

[Tuberoller]

There are some very good players coming out in the next few months(weeks maybe?) that represent a far superior performance per dollar ratio.Todays $900.00 mid-fi player is tomorrows $400.00 Audiogon reject.I won't get into the format stuff and I doubt any of that is going to sway anyone one way or the other.

 

[akshobhyavajra]

Quote:

Originally posted by wasifazim It uses the pedestrian Burr Brown 1716 DAC, - Wasif

I am a bit disappointed that a even companies like CARY use Burr Brown DACs in their 306/200, 303/200 and 308 CD players. Marketwise Burr-Brown appears to be concentrating on lower-cost chips for use in CD-R, MiniDisc, and A/V receivers...

These little chips cost like what? Three bucks or so? Too bad.

But then I'm not sure if companies like Accuphase produce their own delta-sigma converters or if they are outsourced... one thing seems apparent - the well established technique of delta-sigma oversampling has a substantial increase of resolution over conventional analog-to-digital converters.

At this point Analog Devices and Philips may just be sitting things out to see where we are heading with all this.

Personally, I am happy with my old redbook format and my even older vinyl. I don't really want to buy media in a third format at this point....well - maybe a SACD or two - just for fun

~Michael~

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Wasif,

I've auditioned the Kandy at the Expo for a few minutes. They were playing acoustic Jazz with a very nice tube amp. There were other people in the room saying good things about it. It also came to my knowlege that the Kandy requires about 100 hours burn in. Anyways, I've never owned one so I won't defend it any further. The Planet I auditioned was connected to a solid state Rega Brio so it shure sounded different but I couldn't really say better as I didn't do a direct comparison. BTW, some people in this forum hate Rega players as well, and some others love them.

Czilla9000,

Just don't buy anything without auditioning it first. Your ears should be your fundamental criteria. OBTW, if you always wait for the next great thing you will wait forever cuz planned obsolescence is one of the pillars of capitalism.

Tuberoller,

If, according to your definition, with U$ 900.00 one only gets 'mid-fi' players, then 99% of the world's population may never afford a 'hi-fi' player (especially if the definition of the term 'hifi' keeps going up and up and up forever). I suppose a U$ 900.00 'midfi' player could become 'lofi' in, say, "a few months (or weeks maybe)"? Ouch!

akshobhyavajra,

I actually thought Burr Brown DACs were good. AFAIK Sony gets its DSD converters from Texas Instruments (Burr Brown) for its SACD players. If they are compromising on quality then that's bad news indeed.

Guys,

If you lived in Brazil and you earned half the pay and had to disburse twice as much for import electronics you'd be pissed too!

Cheers!
Alex Altorfer

 

[wasifazim]

Quote:

Originally posted by akshobhyavajra I am a bit disappointed that a even companies like CARY use Burr Brown DACs in their 306/200, 303/200 and 308 CD players. Marketwise Burr-Brown appears to be concentrating on lower-cost chips for use in CD-R, MiniDisc, and A/V receivers... ~Michael~

Actually, Cary uses the PCM1704, Burr Brown's best DAC, (K-grade units run about $25) in their CDPs..the 1704 is a true multi-bit design which imo is superior to delta-sigma because it doesn't feature cheap built-in op-amps..I'm certainly not saying that one couldn't build an excellent delta-sigma DAC, just that BB's delta-sigma DACs (and the 1710/1716/1734 series in particular) aren't great..

- Wasif

 

[Tuberoller]

Alex,

I'm sorry if my post seems a bit misleading.What I mean is that there are better players available for what the Roksan sells for and the point of diminishing returns for digital gear is getting lower by the minute.The differences between digital players is getting smaller and the best and worst are seperated by larger differences in price than performance.