CDP/DAC Recommendations

[Q00 0]

This reminds me again of Lengcm's Consonance cdp 1.1 that's been upgraded with upsampling (24bit/192KHz)... here

[Mackie 0]

Also, pardon my ignorance, but what exactly does "unsampling" do?

 

CDs are encoded at 16bit/44.1KHz and upsampling increases resolution via 24bit/96-192KHz.

 

The X-ray cdp seems to be a good deal at that price. It does HDCD and if I remember correctly the circuit is quite similar to the A3 series.Anyone can confirm this? 

 

Negative. MF A3CD is closer to E624 design.

[Absolute0 0]

Absolute0,

 

It would help if you could tell us your budget. Otherwise you'll get recommendations that are off the mark.

Thanks Rameish, I mentioned my budget in the first post. It's $600-$800.

 

Is there any difference between the original and V2 versions of the MF X-Ray? Barradio, YGPM on this player.

 

 

[Mackie 0]

Is there any difference between the original and V2 versions of the MF X-Ray? Barradio, YGPM on this player.

 

I'm not sure about V2 but according to MF official website, X-ray is a 24bit cdp.

 

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/mf/en/Produ...ve.jsp?pid=3288

 

Manual

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/mf/Download...urce?resId=3293

Edited October 15, 2004 by Mackie

[Blues 0]

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/mf/Download...urce?resId=3551

[Rameish 0]

Absolute0,

 

It would help if you could tell us your budget. Otherwise you'll get recommendations that are off the mark.

Thanks Rameish, I mentioned my budget in the first post. It's $600-$800.

 

Is there any difference between the original and V2 versions of the MF X-Ray? Barradio, YGPM on this player.

Getting old

 

I would look out for a used Rotel RCD-991 AE.

 

http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_read.asp?ID=1172

 

I have one and have begun upgrading the parts and frankly there's not much to upgrade except for the op-amps and some non esential elect caps.

 

It already uses top-of-the-line Muse KZ, Muse Fine Gold, Wima FKP (Polyprop), Wima MPK 10, Black Gates everywhere etc. Also uses the Sony CDM-14 transport.

 

It's also big player and weighs over 16 pounds!

 

The 8 dither settings are nice.

 

If like me you are a fan of the Non-Oversampling analogue sound you'll like it.

 

I have to agree with Mackie here. Dont go the DAC route. It can be more problematic than worth the trouble plus your Marantz doesnt have a fantastic transport to begin with. It's okay but not worth the trouble IMO of course.

[Absolute0 0]

Thanks for all the input. Getting a used player might be more economical, but it's difficult to get my hands on one, especially those rare and good-sounding players which owners are reluctant to let go of. Anyone has any suggestions for current models available in the market? I might be able to stretch my budget a little, but I would prefer not to.

[av98m 0]

I second the reommendation for the Rotel RCD-991 or 991AE. A very significant upgrade over my previous NAD 541i Like Rameish only the opamps and some of the elec caps not in the signal path will be replaced in mine. The player is well laid out and heavily populated with high end parts. Built like a tank too. I bought mine off an ex-colleague.

 

Nice used players show up on echoloft regularly. You might want to keep an eye on their classads.

Edited October 16, 2004 by av98m

[hacknet 0]

food for thought...

 

 

i completely bypassed my opamp buffer stage and was kinndly stunned by the level of detail and the quality of the highs.

[Mackie 0]

Thanks for all the input. Getting a used player might be more economical, but it's difficult to get my hands on one, especially those rare and good-sounding players which owners are reluctant to let go of. Anyone has any suggestions for current models available in the market? I might be able to stretch my budget a little, but I would prefer not to.

Yes, it difficult to get your hands on a good cdp immediately but all good things come to those who wait. I'm afraid choices are far and few on cdps costing $600-1000 unless U take an interest in Chinese makes. Also, I'm quite confident new models within this price range may not satisfy U enough.

 

In my opinion, I will give serious consideration to MF X-ray (used) and Marantz CD17MKIII (recommend Clarence at KEC, Adelphi..............shop on weekdays). KEC also sells Rotel 1070 which U might wanna audition too.

[Charismatic 0]

Hi Absolute0,

 

KEC is selling the Marantz SA8400 also, price was 980 before GST about few months back. IMHO, the CD playback is quite different from a typical marantz cdp not warm but clean and detail, sounds more like Sony/Denon. The SACD playback has the marantz signature sound. Hope this helps.

 

 

[Absolute0 0]

Thanks Charismatic, I might make a trip down soon for an audition. But I was wondering if redbook playback of this player is comparable to other players, such as the CD-17 mkIII KI, since that's my primary concern.

[Charismatic 0]

Thanks Charismatic, I might make a trip down soon for an audition. But I was wondering if redbook playback of this player is comparable to other players, such as the CD-17 mkIII KI, since that's my primary concern.

Guess you can only know that when you carry your PC, amp, I/C and hp down to the shop to try it out. Have fun!

[Mackie 0]

If it's anything to go by from Charismatic's comments on redbook performance of Marantz SA8400 ie, closer to Sony and Denon than the usual Marantz house sound, expect a clinically clean but dry sonic signature. I really don't advocate purchase of a SACD player if one has no intention in starting a SACD collection. Nonetheless, it's worth an audition since KEC sells both SA8400 and CD17MKIII. Remember to go on weekdays and before 7pm.

[kahchun 0]

Just to add on my opinions, I used to have the CD17MKIII, personally, like the CD17MKIII over the SA8400 in Redbook playback, the CD17MKIII have a very rich and fluid mid range. Since the CD17MKIII, I have played or owned a few other cdps which is much better than the CD17MKIII, that is, if you don't mind second hand.

 

CD17MKIII has some problems, the highs are pretty harsh and cutoff and lows are cutoff too. It's a very musical player with vocals and slow jazz music. However, big orchestra and fast dynamic jazz music may not be as good as seperation is an issue. Nevertheless, for around $950 new, this is by far the best you can find.

 

I have also owned or compared the CD17MKIII with the Philips CD880 (around $450 for 2nd hand), Arcam Alpha 5+(around $350 for 2nd hand), Marantz CD85 (around $350 2nd hand), Sony CD3000 (around $750 2nd hand). All of them have better transport than the CD17MKIII. However, you will not be able to find parts for the CD880 or CD85 as they are already very old (around 10 years). On the other hand the CD880 and CD85 are having the best transport mechanism of the lot and is said to be able to last more than 20 years (the transport is made of die cast metal while CD17's is full plastic.)

 

The CD880 and CD85 is actually the same player, just that it's from different brand. The CD880 is tuned with more bass and the CD85 is tuned with more highs. Both are excellent in vocals(in fact the best of the lot, especially the CD85) that even the CD17MKIII can't beat. Since I like the Marantz house sound, I favoured the CD85 more. However same as the CD17MKIII, it's not very dynamic sounding(the CD880 is better in this area) though it is better than the CD17MKIII.

 

The Alpha 5+ is a very good player. Very dynamic and lot's of bass, vocals is as good as CD17MKIII. It is using the Philips CDM 9 transport mechanism which is also better than the CD17's. However it has a noiser background compared to CD17MKIII and the highs are pretty cut of. One plus point is you can still find the mechanism in Sim Lim Tower if it's spolit.

 

The Sony CD3000 (not sure I got the model name correct) is a very fast and dynamic player. Vocals are smooth but lean compared to CD17MKIII. Seperation is good but it's bass doesn't go down. Nontheless, it's still a very enjoyable player and the top feeding mechanism is very cool. It's the youngest player of the lot.

 

I will go for the Arcam or Sony if age is an issue. If not I will definitely choose the Marantz CD85 over the CD17MKIII anytime.

 

Above are just my comments.

 

Think I saw some of the mentioned players on sale recently.

 

Marantz CD85 - in Echoloft buy sell section for $330

 

http://www.echoloft.com/cgi-bin/buysell/Ya...&num=1098279736

 

Philips CD880 - SecondBeat in Adelphi 3rd floor for $550 (very expenisve I would said)

 

Arcam Alpha 5+ - MemoryLane in Adelphi Basement, price not sure though, they also have a Marantz CD63SE for $160 if you are interested.

 

If you are interested in DAC, you might want to try the Audio Research DAC 1 at Audiophile Triangle in Adelphi Basement, heard from a friend that it's a very good DAC but it's very old. Price is around $900. Alternatively, you might want to keep a lookout for Audiolab DAC, usually aound $400. Try it with all the above mentioned player, it add speed, smoothen the high and mids if all the player. I used to owned it with the Alpha 5+, it sounds fantistic, even better than most new sub $2000 players. Later I paired it up with the Teac P700 dedicate transport(which I'm selling now), it sounded even better than the Alpha 5+.

 

 

These are all my experience, hope it helps. Super long post though. Haha