[Sovkiller]

Do you still consider a source between 1,000 - 3,000 midgrade???? How much do you have to spend to get a top one, 20,000 then? IMO you can get an excellent player for even under 1000...maybe not the best available or maybe not a brand new one, but something really good, just check once in a while Audiogon and eBay.

 

[Geek]

markl,

I have a crappy airhead which will be replaced to match the source. I am a firm believer in matching components, and my first pair of phones were DT250-80s.

Sovkiller,

I am talking about mid-grade in both terms of price and quality. There are far more expensive sources out there than the ones I'm looking into, and those offer unsurpassed levels of fidelity which you simply can't reach unless you have those sources. There are also multitudes of less expensive players which may sound almost as good at much less price. I'm talking about the point at which diminishing returns really kicks in without making stuff prohibitively expensive for me.

Grinch,

Thanks for the advice. Adding the 306/200 to the list, as well as the FMJ CD23T.

Yidimsum,

I have a violin which is very rich and almost dark and find them quite reasonable for what I'm playing currently (Bruch Concerto No.1) - I need lots of grit and power which does admittedly sacrifice some things.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by Geek Sovkiller, I am talking about mid-grade in both terms of price and quality. There are far more expensive sources out there than the ones I'm looking into, and those offer unsurpassed levels of fidelity which you simply can't reach unless you have those sources. There are also multitudes of less expensive players which may sound almost as good at much less price. I'm talking about the point at which diminishing returns really kicks in without making stuff prohibitively expensive for me.

IMO (and is your money at the end) you can get an excellent player for about this range of price, you stated, just that I would not call it "mid-grade" (and don't think that a much more expensive one will offer you much more in audio quality) in audio once you reach certain level of performance, then to get a little bit more of quality, you have to pay an small fortune that at the end, IMO, sometimes does not worth the investment, if you have the money is OK...but please I don't think that a source in the range or 1K-3K is a mid grade one, IMO is an excellent one and will offer you top of the line performance, yes, you can find one that cost 10,000, but this doesn't make it even sounds two times better.....so does it worth? Just my two cents, I know that you will find some members that maybe will disagree, so please, just listen the particular device, and make your own conclusions, at the end is your money, and you should justify the investment with your ears satisfaction.