Ruminations On CD Players


After multiple factory rebuilds, I'm ready to replace my twenty year old Arcam CD-73 CD player.  I've looked through lists of recommended CD players in the $2000 range, and have noticed that some are all-inclusive while others have separate transports and DACs.  Other than ease of replacement, what are the benefits of having the transport and DAC separate?  Any recommendations on CD players in this price range?  I only have music CDs so don't need anything that can do more than that.

 

Thanks,

John Cotner

New Ulm, MN

jrcotner

@mbmi ah, no.  Maybe that's a generational thing but I only search by artist then CD.  Hit play.   Listen.  If I like it I add it to my "virtual" collection.  It's like having a free pass to an infinite record store for less than the price of 1 CD per month.  FLAC quality and I can't tell difference from the disc with a transport and separate DAC.  

jrcotner

I will describe to you my experience, not what I had read or heard from others. I bought Denafrips Ares II and utilized Arcam CD192 as a transport, it was great improvement, then I replaced Arcam with Cambridge CXC transport that was very noticeable improvement over Arcam transport section. I did go further up the ladder since. I have learned from my own experience that dedicated transport matters.

P.S. 

I do not understand why whenever there is a discussion about CD medium, there are multitudes of posters joining in on bandwagon trying very hard to "persuade" how antiquated this concept is and the streaming is the ONLY way to go. 

Then there are others coming up with ideas of an equipment with price tags severalfold  exceeding clearly stated OP's budget.

Just my three cents.

Cyrus makes some nice stuff, I have their transport. Also have a Marantz hdcd-1 which is a good cd player as well as a transport.

soix

7,193 posts

 

 

 

Call me a "dinosaur", a "nostalgist" or even a "nostalgic dinosaur"; I enjoysearching shelves for a CD, pulling it off the shelf, removing it from it’s case and placing it into my Jay’s. Perhaps there’s a ritual aspect to it -- I haven’t psychoanalyzed myself in this particular regard but it’s physical media for me!

@stuartk Well, that’s fine if you enjoy the “ritual” and playing the same stuff over and over again.  But what you’re really missing out on more than anything else by not embracing streaming are the thousands upon thousands of new songs/albums you’d have access to (a lot of it in hi res BTW) for the price of just one new CD per month.  Finding and enjoying new music is infinitely more enjoyable than living Groundhog Day over and over. Once you experience discovering worlds of new music, going back and spinning the same CDs seems downright stifling and Neanderthal.  That’s been my experience anyway, and I very rarely spin a CD anymore and don’t miss it in the least.  But, to each his own. 

 

Plus he doesn't get the joy of ripping off an artist with every stream!! Good times!!