Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Dedicated Stereo setup

You guys are really experts (I'm not) and I need your help here.

I've been playing stereo cd music out of my Pioneer 563 and a very old Technics 5 cd changer. From reading various sources, I have gleaned that I can improve my stereo cd sound by getting a better player - one dedicated to cds.

Specifically, I am running NAD surround receiver attached to two Outlaw Monoblocks. I think it works very nice for home theater and 5.1 music.

I have also gleaned that I would get much better stereo cd sound with a dedicated amp/cd setup. True?

There is a deal on audiogon for a NADC372 amp and NAD CD542 for $1,050. Is this a better option than getting, say, only a $1,000 cd player like the Musical Fidelity A3.2 CD and attaching this player to the surround receiver (also a deal on Audiogon as well for $1,000)? Or, I could buy the NAD C320BEE and the NAD CD542 from an authorized dealer. I have a budget of about $1,000 to spend.

I would greatly appreciate any insight the forum might have. Please help!

NAD T743 (for rear and center)
2 Outlaw Monoblocks (for fronts)
Technics 5 CD Changer
Pioneer 563
Axiom Epic 60

i have the 563A, and i think its a pretty good player. now, i dont know how precise your ears are, but i dont think there would be THAT much of an audible difference from the 563A to the NAD combos you are speaking of. i mean, its a $1000 bucks, and i just dont think it would make that much of a difference in the sound?

do i know what i am talking about? probably not.. and i am sure some will chime in and tell me so. these are just my opinions, but i just dont see it making a difference that is worth that much money..

bigjohn

I searched the forum about cd players. Most people here seem to be of the opinion that a cd player makes no difference. I don't understand and haven't really read anything convincing. Maybe I'll check to see if there is something Alan wrote about cd players.

Why does NAD make one that costs $200 and one that costs $400? Why are there various cd players that cost $600 and above? I work in IT so I understand the concept of 1s and 0s.

Because they can?

Presumably, they use more expensive DACs. The transport only devices are the ones that confuse me...

On the other hand, there could be something I just don't understand about CDPs.

Go to your local hi-fi shop and listen to the difference between cd players before spending any money. It really depends on your ears.

I personally listened to a cd played on a Denon 2200 through a Rotel receiver, and then switched to the same receiver, and a very pricey Linn cd player and the difference was quite noticable.

These players all use a sony or phillips transport so it can't be because of that. why do so many people buy a high end cd players? and why do I keep reading that for best cd playback, I need a dedicated system?

keep in mind what brought this on. once I heard SACD sound, cds sounded worse than ever before to me.

always good advice Spiff. however, in Pittsburgh, I have been disappointed in our hifi shops. small and not a lot of stock. I'll try them again though. also, they all (only 3 of them) seem to only want to concentrate on the big home installations.

CD Players are funny. I bought a Cambridge Audio D500SE and hated it. Sold it to someone who liked it. I had a JVC XM504 5 disc changer which has a garage sale value of about $10. I love it, sounds much better than the D500SE I had sounded. (BTW, the difference in sound was NOT subtle - bass control, airiness, and general fidelity) I have an Ah! 4000 (tube output CDP) and it sounds great, a Toshiba SD9200 - Philips SACD1000, all sound excellent (prefer the Philips for redbook, but both are excellent).

See if you can do an in home audition and compare some CDPs in situ.

Riffman, I don't want to belabor the obvious or insult you in any way, so please understand I'm coming at this question not having complete context.

I always understood that, if a CD player is hooked up to a receiver (or pre/pro) via a digital connection, that the DAC's in the receiver do all the work that could possibly impact sound quality. I mean, if the player is just spitting 1's and 0's to the receiver, how can one player sound different than another?

If, however, you are connecting the CD player to the receiver via an analog (RCA) connection, then you are listening to the DAC's in the CD player, and would certainly expect to hear differences between players.

Am I making sense? Helping at all?

CD players really do sound different when used through analog outs. I recently purchased an Onkyo 6 disc cd changer DX-C390 (refurb $99 at J&R)and a Denon DVD-555 dvd player (same as DVD-1710 refurb from E-Cost $94). The Onkyo is great, I am using the analog outs in a 2 channel system with the Rocket RS250 MK2 and Onix A60 integrated amp. The convienience of having 6 discs is great. Having said that the DAC's on the Denon seem a little smoother but of course I bought that for my TV upstairs so it won't work out too well for the 2 channel music system.