CD player to compete with my vinyl rig?


Greetings,

I find that I have stopped buying CDs, which I regret because there is so much great new music out there.

My player is a Cambridge 640c and listening to it just doesn't do the 'suspension of disbelief' thing. It has all the right stuff: black backgrounds, dynamics, PRAT, detail, air, frequency extension, but as soon as the orchestral strings well up or the horns start, I want to turn it off. The timbral qualities are weird (especially massed strings, voices) and the sense of real people playing instruments isn't there. There's a sheen and confusion to the soundscape. My vinyl rig offers by far the more realistic experience. I have multiple copies of Mahler's 2nd Symphony on both CD and vinyl, and I never listen to the CDs any more.

I would like to find a CD player that makes me want to listen to CDs as much as vinyl!

I'm looking at reviews of the Rega Apollo R, the Teac PD H600, Audiolab 8200CD and the Decware Zen triode player. (Yes, around $1000 budget).

My rig: Pro-ject 2 Xperience/Shure V15-IV, Jico SAS, Cambridge 640c, Rogue Cronus Magnum/KT120 tubes, LS3/5a speakers, Kimber, Zu cabling.

Music tastes: Sibelius, Mahler, Bruckner, Bach, fifties torch singers.

I would love to hear suggestions from members!
Thanks
sumaato

Showing 2 responses by tgrisham

I liked my Jolida alot. It couldn't compete with my MMF-7/Eroica/Graham Slee though. I think $1000 won't really do it. Another thought is to find a DAC for $1000 fed from your Cambridge CDP. Then you can have streaming and a variety of inputs. Getting a tubed DAC may get you closer to your vinyl. I like the Eastern Electric DAC but there are so many to choose from. I think you will have to spend considerably more than $1000 in a CDP since you are used to vinyl and know what you like.
My Jolida was a wonderful player, but early in my quest. It was pleasant, musical, forgiving and easy to listen to. I have gone through the phases of wanting articulation/precision to musical/romantic. It lies more to the romantic side. These days I prefer to let the analog signal from the LP play or try to make the digital signal sound as close to analog as I can. That led me to find a DAC that transforms the digital signal from the HD into a sound that mimics my LP version. I'm still looking. It is sort of a Don Quixote quest. It is a case of trial and error until you find the sound you like. Buy used and sell and buy until you are content.