Just for fun I configured a Dell laptop with Windows 7, 4 GB RAM, 500 Gig SATA hard drive, CD/DVD optical drive. Adding a Cambridge DACMagic the total is ($440 + $400) $840. I am curious as to which stand-alone CDPs would be better than this for $840. Pushing the cost of the DAC up to $600 for the PS Audio Digital Link III would be $1040 and I have compared that to several CDPs and it is definitely better. That is why eventually all music will be downloaded (because it will cost less) and stored on computers while CD players will die off or be the multi-thousand dollar players for those that want and can afford them. I think it is amazing what you can get for $1000 for music playback these days.
Why are server setups so costly relative to CDP's?
I have a Rega Planet cdp that makes great music. It was about $1k new. Why do server setups cost so much more? A cdp must read a digital medium, correcting for errors and so forth, convert it to analog and put it out to an pre- or integrated amp. These are all things that a media server or some other digital solution a la Sonos-DAC must do, yet it seems that to match my cdp quality I have to spend a lot more. I figure there is a logical explanation for this and my ignorance is preventing me from seeing it. Can anyone help?
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- 23 posts total
- 23 posts total