high-end CD player .. worth it? - Page 5

Originally Posted by Dave1027

My 2 cents,

When I upgraded from a Yamaha CD changer to a Denon the difference was night and day. Smoother bass. Clearer highs. I gave the Yamaha away.

Originally Posted by geekhd

It would help to read the thread from the beginning.

Originally Posted by lefthandluke

if the recipe calls for a cup of sugar and i put in two, i've deviated from the intended result. others may like the outcome. others may find it unbearable. still others may find it delicious until they find out the original recipe was bastardized in some way...then they find it reprehensible

Originally Posted by lefthandluke

we all "like flawed sound" to some extent...

no system is perfect...all are compromised in some way. every system produces distortion in varying degrees.

to state that one system measures better than another and have stats to back it up is one thing...how we react to those differences is another matter

I am going to try my own test. Having purchased the Sony CE-595 for $118.00 recently I just ordered the Sony XA-5400 for $1,149.00. I have original copies of specific CD's like Dark side of the moon, Who's Next, Eat a Peach and Brothers in Arms and others, as well as new "re-mastered, hybred, SACD etc..." of the same cd's. I have a friend that will deliberatly attempt to confuse me between the two Sony's and my Yamaha HDCD player/recorder. I won't know which cd is in what player I.E...new old etc until after I make my choices. I will be the first to admit that it is not a scientific test but it will satisfy me one way or the other.........Either I spent way more buying the XA-5400 when I could have just used either of the other two or I will feel justified.

Originally Posted by penngray

All those guys with Large $$$ systems and golden ears tend to lack proper room treatments and any measurements....

As I understand the subject of this thread what I am going to try to determine for my own satisfaction is if I can tell the difference between the players or not.

Originally Posted by Dave1027

You can read what you want from my post. I have no experience with high end CD players. All I know is there IS a sonic difference between between players. I would assume that as you get into the higher dollar exotic units, you get into a situation of diminishing returns. I always search for the sweet spot.

Originally Posted by RUR

Sweeping generalizations add nothing to the discussion, and are inherently false. Most of the folks I know with $20-50K+ systems do use room treatments, selected and placed in order to optimize room measurements taken.

Then perhaps oh great and wise Mcnarus you could enlighten me with your vastly superior wisdom. what would you propose?

Geez some of you out there are just plain visious jerks. I thought that this site might be a good place to trade ideas and pick up useful information but guess I was wrong. Most of what I have observed is a few know it all pompus a$$es looking down their collective noses at everyone else.

Originally Posted by Corybud

You missed what I said, my intent will be to play the same disc's in each and judge them objectivly since I won't know which machine is playing. I want to see if there is a difference in playing both old and new in the entry level player and the upscale player. As I said earlier the reviews I read stated that the upscale Sony is supposed to bring out more of even old standard CD's. If so than I would judge an upscale player worth the extra money. Also at least twice I stated that this was by no means a scientific test.

By the way you don't have to worry about booting me out. I am outta here.

Enjoy your exclusive little club.

You missed what I said, my intent will be to play the same disc's in each

I have original copies of specific CD's like Dark side of the moon, Who's Next, Eat a Peach and Brothers in Arms and others, as well as new "re-mastered, hybred, SACD etc..." of the same cd's. I have a friend that will deliberatly attempt to confuse me between the two Sony's and my Yamaha HDCD player/recorder. I won't know which cd is in what player I.E...new old etc until after I make my choices.

Originally Posted by Frandy

Fascinating thread for many reasons. I lurk on this forum and, as you can see, have a minimum of posts. I know very little, but I do like to listen to music. So, I was looking for a thread to ask about two CD players (actually one CD and one DVD) to determine if it was worth swapping out my 21 year old Denon DCD CD player for a Denon DVD-1940CI DVD player. This is for stereo music listening only using the following setup:

• Vandersteen 2C speakers
• NAD C272 amp
• NAD C162 pre amp

Okay, I'm no audiophile, but this is what I have and what I can afford.

Here is what I was assuming: That digital technology and components have improved so much since I bought the 1520 that the newer Denon, despite it being a DVD player "first" would sound noticeably better. I wanted to ask here if there was some logic in that assumption, but from this thread I've concluded (I did watch the Audio Myths workshop) that without at least an attempt at some careful testing or comparisons, I probably would conclude whatever I wanted to. Guess that's the best I can do.

Of course, my "uneducated ears" love the sound of my current setup, so checking out the 1940 no longer sounds all that important. If anyone has anything instructive or insightful about this, I welcome your responses. If not, I'll just keep enjoying my music and maybe check out the 1940 on a day that has much worse weather than this splendid day in North Carolina.

Originally Posted by Frandy

...to determine if it was worth swapping out my 21 year old Denon DCD CD player for a Denon DVD-1940CI DVD player.

Originally Posted by Corybud

...I thought that this site might be a good place to trade ideas and pick up useful information...

Originally Posted by Lhasa-lover

So, can you please read through this and offer an opinion as to what it might suggest?

Thanks,

http://www.matrixhifi.com/contenedor_ppec_eng.htm

Originally Posted by commsysman

A great CD player is essential for a great system. What most of the inexperienced people posting here don't seem to comprehend is that only if the sound comes out of the SOURCE component with low distortion and high accuracy can it be that way at the end.
I have been an audiophile for 30 years and have built up an awesome system; I know what makes a difference. I have spent thousands of hours listening critically to various components and how they sound with different kinds of music, and my ears tell me which components make the cut. My system would make most people's jaw drop; the low overall distortion actually gets you very very close to the sound of a live performance (even at concert sound levels). MOst people simply do not appreciate what IS possible with the right stuff.
Another thing that people do not understand is the importance of a quality amplifier. Most amplifiers priced under $1000 have GROSS amounts of distortion when playing actual MUSIC (despite the silly published specs using a test tone). NAD and Cambridge DO make some amps that have fairly good sound for under $1000; they are the only exceptions to the rule that I know of.
It is pretty obvious from some of the ignorant garbage posted above that many of these people have never heard a system with a really good amplifier. Without a good amplifier that truly has low distortion it is impossible to tell what sort of sound a CD player is putting out. Trying to tell which CD player is better with the average crappy amplifier is like trying to tell if a blu-ray player is better than an el cheapo $39 DVD player when watching both on a 15" TV set that cost $69 in 1990 (duhhhh...they are all the same....duhhhhh).

I made the mistake 30 years ago of spending some fairly big bucks for speakers, and then feeding them with a mediocre CD player and amplifier; it basically sounded pretty bad.
The fact is that a pair of well-selected $300 speakers can sound very very good with a quality CD player and amplifier, but $3000 speakers will sound like **** if the CD player is a cheap unit.
Anyone who thinks that you should spend a lot of money on speakers first is ignoring the fact that they will give garbage out when you put garbage in! It is a stupid mistake that lots of people make when they don't know better. A quality amplifier is the essential first step to building a good system.
I just improved my $30,000 system by replacing my $6000 Ayre C5 SACD player (rated A+ by Streophile) with a $1500 Sony SCD-XA5400ES SACD player. I think the Sony is the best unit you can buy for under $10,000; it really is THAT good.
I know most people are not going to invest the time or money that I have in my system, but a budget of $2000, if used INTELLIGENTLY, can get you a system so much better-sounding than the average that it is very nice to listen to. If you spend about $600 each for a NAD amp (C355BEE), a Cambridge CD player (550C), and some EPOS speakers (ELS8), for example, you will have something very nice to listen to. That NAD amp has low enough distortion that you will be able to accurately evaluate whatever you hook up to it.
See my detailed comments on the sound quality under "Sony vs Marantz" below.

Originally Posted by commsysman

A great CD player is essential for a great system. What most of the inexperienced people posting here don't seem to comprehend is that only if the sound comes out of the SOURCE component with low distortion and high accuracy can it be that way at the end.
I have been an audiophile for 30 years and have built up an awesome system; I know what makes a difference. I have spent thousands of hours listening critically to various components and how they sound with different kinds of music, and my ears tell me which components make the cut. My system would make most people's jaw drop; the low overall distortion actually gets you very very close to the sound of a live performance (even at concert sound levels). MOst people simply do not appreciate what IS possible with the right stuff.
Another thing that people do not understand is the importance of a quality amplifier. Most amplifiers priced under $1000 have GROSS amounts of distortion when playing actual MUSIC (despite the silly published specs using a test tone). NAD and Cambridge DO make some amps that have fairly good sound for under $1000; they are the only exceptions to the rule that I know of.
It is pretty obvious from some of the ignorant garbage posted above that many of these people have never heard a system with a really good amplifier. Without a good amplifier that truly has low distortion it is impossible to tell what sort of sound a CD player is putting out. Trying to tell which CD player is better with the average crappy amplifier is like trying to tell if a blu-ray player is better than an el cheapo $39 DVD player when watching both on a 15" TV set that cost $69 in 1990 (duhhhh...they are all the same....duhhhhh).

I made the mistake 30 years ago of spending some fairly big bucks for speakers, and then feeding them with a mediocre CD player and amplifier; it basically sounded pretty bad.
The fact is that a pair of well-selected $300 speakers can sound very very good with a quality CD player and amplifier, but $3000 speakers will sound like **** if the CD player is a cheap unit.
Anyone who thinks that you should spend a lot of money on speakers first is ignoring the fact that they will give garbage out when you put garbage in! It is a stupid mistake that lots of people make when they don't know better. A quality amplifier is the essential first step to building a good system.
I just improved my $30,000 system by replacing my $6000 Ayre C5 SACD player (rated A+ by Streophile) with a $1500 Sony SCD-XA5400ES SACD player. I think the Sony is the best unit you can buy for under $10,000; it really is THAT good.
I know most people are not going to invest the time or money that I have in my system, but a budget of $2000, if used INTELLIGENTLY, can get you a system so much better-sounding than the average that it is very nice to listen to. If you spend about $600 each for a NAD amp (C355BEE), a Cambridge CD player (550C), and some EPOS speakers (ELS8), for example, you will have something very nice to listen to. That NAD amp has low enough distortion that you will be able to accurately evaluate whatever you hook up to it.
See my detailed comments on the sound quality under "Sony vs Marantz" below.

Originally Posted by gbaby

This answer says it all and he's right on the money.

Originally Posted by gbaby

This is the answer that you should follow. It says it all, and he's right.

Originally Posted by geekhd

He was shill-ing for those (likely himself included) who sell boutique electronics. That's exactly what people shouldn't follow because he is wrong.

Here is what you should follow gbaby.