My Phish is Dead Cary it or Proceed to new Planet


I need some help, I am in the market for a used CDP in the under $1300 range. I listen the Phish, the Dead, bluegrass, lots of jazz and me and my boys rock to the Rachmaninov.

My current system is;
B&W 805: speakers
Classe CP35; preamp
CAL DX2: CDP
Anthem AMP1; amp
Tara & Kimber cables

I'm looking to start rebuilding the whole system starting with the CDP and I am looking for input. I am looking at a Cary 303-100, Musical Fidelity A3, Proceed CDP, Rega planet 2000 or Jupiter, Classe CDP1 and the Adcom GCD-750.

Guide me oh wise ones who have the priveledge and experience

Thanks SUKO
suko
Hi Suko,

Very creative tag line. I myself am a Dead/Jam Band fan and am having a very good time with a Musical Fidelity A308cr CD Player. I find the Musical Fidelity CD Player lineup to be more detailed than the Cary, Rega, or Adcom CD Players. More bass extension, more treble extension as well. That is not necessarily a good thing for those of us who prefer lush.

I owned the Classe CDP-1 and loved it for quite a while a few years back. At the time I thought that it was close to equal of the more expensive Classe DAC-1/CDT-1 transport. It was state of the art in its time. Very nice machine.

If you have not done so already, check out the live String Cheese Incident disks. Great band, good recordings.

Good Luck,
Drew
Drew,

Greetings from Eugene Or. It's about 5:30 a.m. and my 2 week old needed to hear some Gershwin, amazing thing hears music and settles right down. Anyhow, my main concern with a new CDP is live recordings of older and busy/complicated material. Do you ever feel like your Fidelity is too clinical? Plus if you had to choose either the Fidelity or the Classe which would you pick?
Oh yeah, just got to see String Cheese for the 2nd time in the fall of 02. One of the best shows I have seen in a long time, All smiles but I haven't gotten around to getting any live CD's, any recomendations. Thanks Suko
What in the world are you doing up at 5:30AM, and why in the world are you in Eugene of all places. Anyways, for some good ole' cd players are ARC CD-1 and CAL Delta/Alpha. If you want to buy new, I was told by a CAL owner that Music Hall CD players offer simillar performance to his Delta/Alpha.
Hello,

When I bought my Cary 303 I did a direct A/B comparison to the Rega planet. It wasn't close. The Cary was more well defined, had a bigger sound stage and a tighter and lower bottom end. I also compared it to the Linn and Rotel products but not in a direct A/B comparison. Very good deal used and with HDCD as a bonus.
Viggen,

Ever have a 2 week old? Trust me it's not my hour of choice, But hey cup of Joe, Audiogon then off to work and ever been to Eugene? It is a bit different but that's alright by us. Thanks for the input I'll check them out.

Goose,

Thanks for the input. Does your Cary ever sound too revealing on some recordings. Basically is it pretty uniform for all CD's or does it have a particular few. Plus what kind of system do you have it in? Thanks again.