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CD player just tanked.

Brief introduction: I just recently inherited a hifi system (Audio Research LS16 pre-amp, Proceed HPA2 amp, Aerial Acoustics 7B tower speakers, Arcam CD92 CD player). I'm new to this audiophile stuff but am enjoying the system and learning about it.

Was listening to Dark Side of the Moon CD tonight when suddenly it sounded like the music was coming out of a can. Put in another CD, same thing. My only other source of input is iTunes via a head phone jack/RCA Y cable into the pre-amp. That sounds fine.

So I'm assuming it is the CD player but it seems like an odd sort of issue. I think this CD player is probably 15 years old but I see similar models on eBay for $300+. Wondering if it is worth trying to repair or if that is even possible. I'm also wondering if this could be a problem with the CD input 'channel' on the pre-amp. I guess I could plug the CD into the Aux input on the pre-amp and see.

Any thoughts appreciated.
n80
n80 OP
2,117 posts
 
No. The Arcam is still at my cabin...where my daughter and her husband are living while their new home is being built.....

And now my son and his girlfriend plus two dogs and a cat are living in my home because of the hurricane so I effectively have no listening room!
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
CD and sound quality are mutually exclusive in my view. Vinyl, while being high maintenance is really much better format at least until DSD becomes more of a mainstream thing. You can get a decent vintage turntable for a few hundred dollars, and a good cartridge for another couple hundred. 
n80 OP
2,117 posts
 
Not interested in vinyl. Too much of a fetish to me. Too fiddly. Too precious. And quite frankly, while I can hear the difference between vinyl vs CD on a good system, I'm hard pressed to say one sounds better than the other. So certainly not worth spending the money for me.

Went to the local record store yesterday. I did not see a single LP in there for less than $30. I had purchased Van Morrison's Astral Weeks on heavy vinyl there last month for $25 and I think it was the cheapest piece in the shop. Its just not for me. Sorry.

(This is not intended to start a vinyl vs CD war. It is just my opinion for my needs and means.)
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