Cambridge 840c or $150 CD player with digtal output +DACMagic?

[A.Thorsen]

Left hand vs right hand IMO. Up to your budget, what you want to do, how you want to do it.
 
The beauty of it is: There's no "wrong" answer.
 
A quality player like an 840c that doubles as a DAC isn't going to let you down if you go that route. It's a nice all in one solution that does everything well at what I think is a fair price.
 
I've had mine for almost two years and I've never looked back. I can highly recommend it.
 
Lots of interesting alternatives in this thread, though. Good luck OP!

 

[Audio-Omega]

Is 840C a reliable player with good build quality ?

 

[Stoin]

Quote:

Is 840C a reliable player with good build quality ?

The build feels very sturdy and there is no wobble on the tray when it is ejecting. I've not heard reports of them failing and have owned other Cambridge CD players for a number of years without problems so I think that means it should be reliable.

 

[A.Thorsen]

Quote:

Is 840C a reliable player with good build quality ?

Very much so yes.

 

[SP Wild]

I spoke to a lot of dealers that felt CA cd players have terrible reliability problems - even the CA840 I auditioned behaved erratically when adjusting tracks a few times.........

 

[A.Thorsen]

Quote:

I spoke to a lot of dealers that felt CA cd players have terrible reliability problems - even the CA840 I auditioned behaved erratically when adjusting tracks a few times.........

I've got two discs out of several hundred that I've played that this player doesn't like and I have no idea why. They're not scratched. They're not imports. They're not CD-Rs. It beats me.  Past that I've had no issue.
 
These same discs work just fine on both my Oppo BDP-83 and my 5 year old Onkyo DVSP1000 so go figure.
 
Believe me: I better not see that phenomenon expand or you'll see my opinion travel downward quickly.

 

[computerparts]

Quote:

IMO, a good CD player is a transporter + a good DAC. The transporter section just read digtal signal(1 or 0)  from a CD disc, the DAC section is more important that it converts the digtal signal to analog signal. So an entry level CD player's transporter part maybe has not too much different with a high level CD player's transporter part. Am I right?
 
 

The transport is just as important as the dac. Same with the digital cable being used. All three of these components have a part in making up the whole sound.

 

[sokolov91]

Quote:

The transport is just as important as the dac. Same with the digital cable being used. All three of these components have a part in making up the whole sound.

I seriously doubt that at this level OP needs to worry about the transport and digital cable, let alone any other level, especially if the DAC is going to reclock any.
 
Audition if possible,or go with whatever has the best specs as a DAC, or the features you need most really. Whatever suits your needs best is what you need.
 
And FTLOC do not spend 1/

of your DAC budget on a digital cable. Unless you throw 20$ at hobos, your rig is not good enough you can afford the icing that is cables, you should put it all into your critical components (and no, that does not mean isolation feet for your DAC or CDP )
 
Keep it coaxial if possible... thats about it.
 
If you need a universal player, a cheap oppo might be enough to do it. The B83 is a great player and costs 499.99, and plays every format under the sun. No dac though, except for what it accepts through its USB ports and network streaming.
 
GL in your quest.

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

Quote:
Is 840C a reliable player with good build quality ?


 
fwiw I've had bad luck with the CA gear I have bought to the extent that I wouldn't even consider buying the brand ever again.
 
Computerparts is being mischievous. Provided they actually work  neither optical drive transports nor digital cables make a joy of difference to the sound quality. None. At all. 

 

[Yikes]

Quote:

Is 840C a reliable player with good build quality ?






 


Computerparts is being mischievous. Provided they actually work  neither optical drive transports nor digital cables make a joy of difference to the sound quality. None. At all. 

In your opinion, there are many that would disagree. Even with DAC's that claim exceptional re-clocking abilities changing the transport often changes the sound (IME). I would however agree that in this price range almost any CD/DVD player works as a transport. RCA SPDIF is superior to TOS Link (TOS has higher jitter than properly implemented coaxial SPDIF) so look for a player that has both (that way comparisons can be done).

 

[mudhole]

Ok, Today I got a new Marantz CD5003 from a local audio store with a good deal. then I need to make a decision on a good DAC.
 
Now I put more interesting in the Audio-GD's DAC. I am going to use this DAC mainly serving my intergrated tube amp for the speaker system.(Just moved to a new home, so I have a basement to setup my speaker system

.)  As I already have a little dot DAC-1 which is in my desktop headphone system with the balanced MK6+, so the new DAC must be [size=10.5pt]significantly[/size] over the LD DAC-1.
 
Yesterday I talked with Kingwa, he said the the Ref 5 is kind of waste to serve a non-balanced amp. He suggested me to stay with the DAC-19. I just wondering what's the difference  between these two DAC without using the balanced output. Or I just go for the Ref 5 and sell the LD DAC, use ref 5 serving both amp?
 
To make a decision on a component is always a such headache for me, maybe for most headfier too. I will search the forum to find out which one is good for me, Benchmark, Larry DA10, Refference 5 or something else. And saddly, I can't find anywhere to audition them in this beautiful great Vancouver area.

 
BTW, I am not a cable believer, especially in the digtal cable. I would like to spend $100-200 to buy some good built quality cable for the whole system. Even the effect of cable is there, for the system at this level will hard to hear.
 
 
 

 

[SP Wild]

I have read that Kingwa gives honest advice, even at the detriment of his sales.  I'd heed his advice, unless you plan to purchase a balanced amplifier one day.

 

[computerparts]

I'm not sure why you bought a cd player instead of a dedicated transport if you intend to buy a dac. If you have a CD5003, then why the need for a dac? Just enjoy the CD5003 until you feel the need to upgrade. Like many people, I too was a non believer in cables. That is until I started experimenting for myself with different cables. I found that cables can really become the breaking point in a system regardless of the level. Now I'm not saying that you have to spend hundreds or thousands on cables. But I will say it never hurts to have good quality cables. There are many good quality cables in Audiogon auctions at low price points. Bogdan and Audio Metallurgy are just two of the manufacturers that come to mind. Also, White Zombie Audio makes good quality cables for the price. They can be found on ebay. IMO get some good quality cabling and stick with that CD5003 for a while.
 


Quote:

 
So an entry level CD player's transporter part maybe has not too much different with a high level CD player's transporter part. Am I right?
 

 

Not correct. Entry level is made to a low price point. High level is made to a higher price point. Better parts and implementation comes with a higher price point. Here's a good way to look at it. Look at the weight of an entry level cd player. Most are around 15 lbs. Then compare that to the weight of a high level cd player. Most are around 30 lbs but some can weigh as much as 50 lbs. Much of that weight goes towards solidifying the transport. I'm not saying the heavier the better, but that's just an example. 

 

[ak622]

mudhole: consider buying a used CA 840C if you're interested in it.  Since you're in Canada, check out canuckaudiomart for deals and see if there are any.  I don't know if there are any used right now but there are dealers also on there that sell less than retail.  If not, consider audiogon as a source as well.

 

[sokolov91]

Quote:

I'm not sure why you bought a cd player instead of a dedicated transport if you intend to buy a dac. If you have a CD5003, then why the need for a dac? Just enjoy the CD5003 until you feel the need to upgrade. Like many people, I too was a non believer in cables. That is until I started experimenting for myself with different cables. I found that cables can really become the breaking point in a system regardless of the level. Now I'm not saying that you have to spend hundreds or thousands on cables. But I will say it never hurts to have good quality cables. There are many good quality cables in Audiogon auctions at low price points. Bogdan and Audio Metallurgy are just two of the manufacturers that come to mind. Also, White Zombie Audio makes good quality cables for the price. They can be found on ebay. IMO get some good quality cabling and stick with that CD5003 for a while.
 



Not correct. Entry level is made to a low price point. High level is made to a higher price point. Better parts and implementation comes with a higher price point. Here's a good way to look at it. Look at the weight of an entry level cd player. Most are around 15 lbs. Then compare that to the weight of a high level cd player. Most are around 30 lbs but some can weigh as much as 50 lbs. Much of that weight goes towards solidifying the transport. I'm not saying the heavier the better, but that's just an example. 

That is the absolute WORST advice I have ever seen someone give. I wish I were exagerating, too.
 
I myself got into the whole audiogon cable thing about a year ago, when I didn't have enough money to make a real upgrade, but wanted one nonetheless. You really feel like you are getting a deal and are making small improvements, until you realize 3-4 cables later, that they all sound the same, and you could have actually bought something significant for that amount of cash... that and that you are also a huge sucker.
 
If your pricepoint is low, you should NOT be buying cables any place other than radioshack. As your budget gets higher, you have more money to throw away in order to make themselves feel good. Some choose charity, others chose cables. They are both entirely unrelated to audio.