2. digital
  3. 126291-87346

Last CD player?

Earlier this year, I bought a Bryston 4BSST2 power amp and a Bryston BP26 pre amp.  Recently I purchased a pair of PMC fact 12 speakers.  Both produced a marked increase in sound quality.

My source at the moment is a Meridian 588 cd player, which is about 12 years old.  The transport was repaired about 2 years ago, and some capacitors replaced.  I play only redbook cds, but I may look into downloading hi-rez files later.

I am wondering if buying a new cd player would produce another big improvement in sound quality.  My budget is between £5,000 and £10,000.  I have read glowing reviews of the Moon 650D and the Esoteric K05x and K03x.  The latter is rather at the extreme end of my budget, and I am curious if it is hugely better than the K05x.

I am trying to build a see-me-out system, so durability is important.  The gear I bought earlier has a 20-year warranty, which inspires confidence.  Esoteric products have a warranty of just 1 year.

I would be grateful for any opinions or suggestions.

Thanks,
Paleo12
paleo12
melbguy1
1,438 posts
 
There is a guy selling an Accuphase DP-600 here for $6.5k which would be a very nice, reliable & great sounding player for a long time, however the seller has no f/back on A’gon, and does not specifically state if this example is a local or grey market example. I would recommend only buying an example purchased an from authorized US dealer.

Personally my favorite accuphase spinner is the vintage DP90 + DC91 transport/dac combo. Even today, that is a great sounding player.


paleo12 OP
45 posts
 
Due to the £ falling against other currencies, the price of the Bricasti shot up by about 15%.  I've put that idea on the back boiler for now.

I tried out the T + A PDP 3000 HV for a week.  That was very interesting.  This machine oozes quality.  It is very meticulously built, and has all manner of unexpected enhancements over other machines, such as two power supplies, and therefore two power leads.

To my surprise, to my ageing hearing anyway, it only sounded marginally better than the Meridian 588.  The sound was certainly a bit smoother.  I decided not to buy it for a few reasons: I could hear the transport whir during quiet parts of music, the remote only worked when I stood directly in front of the machine, and not at an angle from my listening position, but mostly because I felt I could not justify the price in view of only a marginal improvement in perceived sound quality.

In the near future, I hope to compare a MacIntosh MCD 550 with the Esoteric K 03x.  I will also listen to the Moon 650D.

I am still hoping that by buying an expensive, modern cd player, I will achieve a big improvement over a relatively cheap, 13-year old machine. 

ptss
1,964 posts
 
Check out Spectral.
jafant's avatar
jafant
20,167 posts
 
2channel8-

the Esoteric will cruch the Oppo, especially, in its SACD playback.
Keep me posted and Happy Listening!
jafant's avatar
jafant
20,167 posts
 
Yep, Accuphase is on my must-demo list.
More to discover