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Crazy to buy a 17 year old CD Player?

My ARC CD2 just died...I think the laser finally gave up the ghost.  Any how I've got thousands of red book CDs in my library and need a replacement player.  I'm thinking an ARC CD 3MKII or the Mark Levinson 390S.  Am I crazy to be thinking this?  Got a budget of around $2000.00.  My system, though dated, is made up of higher end stuff: ARC 25 pre amp, ARC VT 150 mono amps, VPI TNT IV, Wilson Witts, all running through Transparent Reference (Balanced).
cmcdaniel5
whitestix
709 posts
 
Let me be the last in the thread to suggest an upgrade to an Oppo CD player.  I have had the 103D for several years and with a $375 upgrade from Stereo Dave's Audio Upgrade (which was without a doubt the most efficacious tweak I have ever had done to an audio component in my system), it is an excellent CD player.  I have run the Oppo signal through several different DAC's, including the Schiitt Gungnir and Channel Islands Audio VDA 2, and hear no improvement in SQ compared to running the Oppo straight into my preamp.  To my way of thinking, Oppo CD players offer unbeatable performance for mid-fi prices.  
creekp43
1 posts
 
Sony XA5400ES
Modern technology w/classic analog sound
Yet pay around $750 on Ebay
2psyop's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
2psyop
1,558 posts
 
Creekp43 - that is a great bit of advice. Sony makes tremendous CD players that are built like tanks. That XA5400ES is a fav among CD spinners. I have an older XA20ES that I use as a transport for a newer DAC. The player is great and weighs about 13lbs.
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rikkipuu's avatar
rikkipuu
271 posts
 
I found playing a CD from a SSD music server smoother than from a CD player (and easier).  I would try to spend about a thousand on a music server and a thousand on a DAC. You can upgrade either in the future.  Maybe add DSD or MQA if they are around in 5 years.  Also you can download hi rez. and raid all you buddies CD libraries.  
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