[music_man]

Their demographic is wealthy middle aged to older males. Of course not everyone cares for them. The truth is like them or not, to this day they are building good amplifiers etc. So I find it odd of all companies they must subscribe to "CD is dead". Or they are laughing.

The reason being that in the past they made some very nice CD players/transports. In 2018 every unit is the same twist on a theme. Every unit has the same all off the shelf parts including a bone stock Dennon transport. The transformers, everything off the shelf. Can buy at Mouser. The FL Display driver boards they simply grabbed from another product.

So I do not know what they are thinking or if they are laughing. Nonetheless there are a lot better choices left for $3,500-$6,500. However CD is going away like it or not. So if you have a big collection and do not currently have a good player 2018-2020 may be the last chance to invest in one. Just right now it is looking like MCintosh is a terrible value. Just their CD units. IMO your money would be better spent elsewhere. Since you can get a similar unit from another company for less than $500. Sans the fancy glass face/fiber optic lighting. In fact The last OPPO should be at least on par. Cambridge or whatever. I do not suggest to spend $$$ on this unless it is simply to match a MCintosh system.

I was just letting anyone that might be buying one and unaware know of this. If this does not interest you(most of you) just disregard it of course.

 

[Redcarmoose]

My CD player has out-lived many dogs at this point, your right time to get some retirement CD players!
https://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/634/index.html

Did you see the new amp this year with green LEDs under the tubes?

 

[erein1982]

That's an awesome looking amp.

 

[music_man]

It is but I would rather have enough current on the plates that the actual tubes are glowing lol. Their stuff is cool but I think they just gave up on CD. I am betting by 2020 they are out of it. The Mark levinson one is awesome but 20 grand. Better than 3 box DCS though imo. The CD units are not even that much money. I mean relatively speaking. The issue is they are all just a $1,000 OPPO inside. Not actual OPPO per se, more like Denon! that is no surprise as the same company owns both of them. Well they did, enough time to get the CD guts. The 275 amp is awesome. Their older CD players were awesome. Now it is just way overpriced for what it really is. That is a shame. That indeed is also the answer. Buy 15 year old stuff. You get $10k units for $500 and they do last forever mostly. At least MCintosh keeps parts too. One thing is they are loyal to their owners. Much better off to even get like MCT-1000. Cost you $1,500 now clean. Will blow away the current MCT-550. It is strange since they cater to the mature crowd mostly. Many of us have tens of thousands of CD's. I can't possibly go rip all that. Just rather spin them. Like vinyl it depends on the spinner. Redbook can be fantastic. Run that into say DAVE or Directstream which upsample and sounds terrific. I am just saying what's up with offering a $1,000 CD player for $6,500 now? They tend to be very fair and upfront. I do not understand this. I guess this was like a doorstop until the end. It is a shame. Luckily you can get old stuff and cheap too. Unless you want like new Esoteric. OH, they are making CD players! Let's see how long until they are out. It may resurface as a niche market just as vinyl did. Man, did you have to go with the dog analogy? My beloved pooch passed away Tuesday. I am being serious, he died but I am joking about you going there

Edit: OT, Redcar, you need to get a custom silver or silver/gold cable for the Sony's! You can get it not more than the MUC. It totally transforms them into some of the best headphones ever made. Sticking with Sony I prefer them to R10 and 010. Take 500 hours to break in in case you haven't. Then the cable takes like 2-300 hours. With the cable these things are off the chart imo.

 

[Redcarmoose]

What do you mean a new cable. I’m hoping to fully digest this trend of how things look with green glowing tubes. I’m thinking by this time next year, I won’t even need to listen to my system, I’ll just turn it on and simply look at it in transcendent tears.

 

[Redcarmoose]

On a serious note, I’m thinking that players like Sony 1Z May come close to digital transports. I’m still waiting on an upgraded USB cable before going and testing side by side a 1Z and CD transport.

 

[Redcarmoose]

@https://www.head-fi.org/members/music_man.26786/


Naw.....I’m all finished. Couldn’t ask for more. Don’t need a thing. And I have heard a bunch of stuff. Don’t need any of it. All done. Typically I run from more silver/gold than I use.

I’m into other stuff than audio, just need it to sound like it does. I’m still doing configuration with the gear I have. My next upgrade will be simply rotating in my gold ribbon AC cords. I should then be done. Thanks for the tip, I just don’t see a $600-$1000 headphone cord in my future at this point, no matter how it sounds. I’m pretty happy with the MUC. Plus I scored my MUC for free, didn’t pay a penny for it, it was a gift from Sony.

 

[music_man]

Okay cool I understand.

 

[rgs9200m]

I still have my EMM XDS1 that sounds awesome. It's different from my DAVE and is really amazing with SACD.

But I admit I usually sit at my desk and listen to my ripped CDs on my DAVE.
But I can't bring myself to part with the EMM player because of its uniquely lifelike sound. And I can use the EMM as a DAC also.

The EMM makes my Oppo 105 sound completely broken for audio CDs. I just use the Oppo for an occasional DVD.

For some reason, the EMM player is great match for my Sony Z1R headphone. Not sure why exactly, just some sort of synergy there.