When I was replacing my damaged speakers and cd player that stopped working, I auditioned them at the time with a streamer and a sacd/cd player, both from Esoteric Audio. My experience with streamers was limited at the time and upon hearing the first music out of it was surprised just how good it was; the dealer (I know these guys well) even attached a Rubidium ( basically an atomic clock) based clock component, the size and impressively priced I might add to the rest of the components they make. That took Mahler's Eighth to another level. But the problems quickly showed their evil head. Maybe two or three other bits of music were as good as the Mahler and even other symphonies from the same Mahler series were sonically different like sourced from a lesser quality source. The sacd/cd player on the other hand made everything sound fun and I mean everything. When I came back on another day to get the speakers I brought cd's that I love, not audiophile stuff but things that I had purchased since the eighties and just love to listen to. I guess I show my age but I have no problems preferring cd's, Lp's, sacd's, and even the occasional cassettes I made back in the eighties and nineties. And with some of what I have read about some of the newer digital recording technology being suspect, buying a new transport is a safe investment. For me streaming would be more of a background listening thing and I like radio for that. I hear enough new or unknown music to keep me engaged.
And as a side note, I recently acquired a Magnavox( Philips) 560 cd player, about the earliest Philips TDA5141 chip based player, built-in august 1986 and made in Belgium. This looks like my first machine; a modified version that was made by "The Mod Squad", at Music By The Sea, a former Steve McCormack company. This though looks like it was sealed in a time capsule and in perfect or is as near mint condition that I have seen in the last few decades. Even has the remote that looks unused and some original literature that came with it in near flawless shape. I always loved that/this machine from the Mod Squad until it stopped working twenty-five years ago. The possibilities to improve it; discrete opamps, output caps, passive and active power supplies, etc., are endless but I'm keeping it stock. I'll cleanup all the contacts and conectors and replace the (C7?) power cord with something better. When I make some room on my equipment racks, I will place it with the rest of my main system, giving it the respect that I think it deserves. I still can't get over just how clean it is.
