[J-Pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiBurning /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's troubling me now is that I might get a decent CD player, and then find that the weakest link is redbook audio.

This used to bother me as well, since high end vinyl playback always sounded better than even the best redbook. But I came to accept that there are thousands and thousands of CDs out there, that redbook will always be a very important part of my system.

 

[CDS2]

I am of the "old school" using Naim CDS2 CD player (£5K GBP with PS), 52 preamp (£5K), Supercap PS (£3k) and 250 power amp (£2K) finally new Kudos C20 speakers (£3K)

I find after getting the recent Kudos speakers, headphones are a compromise but very much more conveniant - having 2 young children in bedrooms above my lounge!

Hate to admit that an Ipod + Sen CX earbuds still give me a buzz

About to buy some Denon D2000's to replace my old Beyer DT511's

Source not a problem with a CDS2 (can get for only £1K now S/H)

 

[milkweg]

Well, if you know anything about sources then you would be using a computer HDD and not an optical disk player as your source in the first place.

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, if you know anything about sources then you would be using a computer HDD and not an optical disk player as your source in the first place.

They not have any concept of sounding rude and crass in that alternate reality you live in?

 

[mark_h]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif They not have any concept of sounding rude and crass in that alternate reality you live in?

Hilarious!

CDPs I would love to hear are The Sony CDP-X779ES c.1991 and the Restek Concret c.1994

 

[Currawong]

I must chip and and say:

Cheap but good vintage Stax rig: $400
Northstar M192: $2500 ($800 from the forums)
Result: Bloody awesome.

mark_h: With that Sony, could one say "I've got wood!".

 

[Audio-Omega]

Sony used to make good cd players many years ago.

 

[vcoheda]

there was a Cary 306 SACD Pro listed on audiogon this morning for $4200, which seems like a very good price (original owner, 8 months old). if i hadn't just purchased a non-Pro version, i would have jumped on it. it was gone an hour or so later. so someone just upgraded their source.

 

[earwicker7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, if you know anything about sources then you would be using a computer HDD and not an optical disk player as your source in the first place.

I understand your signature now, because you're obviously taking huge amounts of drugs if you think this way

.

Unless you're talking about the Sooloos, a computer is not an audiophile source.

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by earwicker7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Unless you're talking about the Sooloos, a computer is not an audiophile source.

Stereophile likes a few other computer solutions, Earwicker. Are you sure those aren't audiophile sources, too?

 

[ghostmusic]

I agree with Sherwood's comment. I think if a component deals with the jitter in the digital signal effectively as to make the D-A conversion as flawlessly as it can, then it's an audiophile solution. Some DACs, like Wavelength Cosecant, use asynchronous topology to actually control digital information at the DAC level, and not at the computer level... John Atkinson at Stereophile really seems to dig the combo of Macbook/Cosecant.

And a lot of audiophiles use a good soundcard like Lynx to interface their PCs with high-end DACs, too...

 

[Sherwood]

A disc drive (or better yet, a solid state disc) has effectively zero read errors, unless it is broken, which makes it an inherently more accurate technology.

Any CDP that utilized an SSD instead of a platter and an optical disc would be a better unit. The best transports available are the ones that, through clamps, rigidity, etc. emulate a hard disc the most closely.

The hullabaloo about computers is silly anyway, though, as every cd player ever manufactured is a computer. It is simply a purpose-built computer, which is no different than what many audiophiles have constructed.

 

[purk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif there was a Cary 306 SACD Pro listed on audiogon this morning for $4200, which seems like a very good price (original owner, 8 months old). if i hadn't just purchased a non-Pro version, i would have jumped on it. it was gone an hour or so later. so someone just upgraded their source.

Certainly a nice sounding CD player. I had the non-pro version of the Cary 306 SACD for about 4 months and was very impressed by the sound. It is a bit forward and bright for my liking which doesn't really work well for my R10 and HE90. Still I found the bass notes to be extremely tight and revealing. Imaging and details are also very impressive. Of course, I had to sell it b/c I prefer the sound of my Exemplar 5910 and heavily modified Sony SCD-777ES to it. I have yet to hear better redbook player than the Exemplar 5910. My modwright/kern SCD-777ES still reigh supreme in SACD playback.

 

[earwicker7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif Stereophile likes a few other computer solutions, Earwicker. Are you sure those aren't audiophile sources, too?

I'm sure there may be a few here and there; my point is that the "typical" computer setup isn't an audiophile source. Even the best computer is going to have processing "hiccups" from running other stuff that slow it down here and there. I also don't think you can compare a SoundBlaster card (I'm not a hater, I actually own one) to a high quality output of a dedicated CD player. If something isn't dedicated to playing CDs 100% of the time, it won't cut the grade for me.

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by earwicker7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also don't think you can compare a SoundBlaster card (I'm not a hater, I actually own one) to a high quality output of a dedicated CD player.

This statement is a lot more sensible than your previous one. I agree that many computer setups are inferior to a good standalone, but in the upper echelons (and even some lower echelons) computers have the potential to be even better than CDPs, especially considering the trend toward high-quality outboard DACs.