Please help me figure out what I need to do this. My head spins with tech talk..
Hey abstract, what is the rest of the system? I am a dealer and do have a demo North Star Blue Diamond available but I’m not sure it will fit the system and your taste. I have a feeling the old player was adding a lot to help the Plinius give you that lush sound. For on the cheap the older Jolida JD100 gets consistent praise. |
OP i listen to Classical Music exclusively so perhaps my input may be helpful. As others have explained here, yes you need a separate DAC? Are you sure, however, that you don’t want to listen to SACDs and/or Blu Rays? When I last looked, there were over 2500 classical titles on SACD, and several hundred Blu Rays. I own well over a 100 SACDs, on labels such as Pentatone, Channel Classics, MDG, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra House Label, the Chicago Symphony House Label, and others. Most SACDs sound better, both in 2 channel and in Multichannel, than Redbook CDs. I bought a Bryston BDA-3 DAC because it will accept the DSD from SACDs over HDMI from my transport. I know that you didn’t care for Bryston before and I get what you are saying but I wouldn’t describe the DAC as sounding like that. The Bryston also sounds excellent with Red Book and Computer Audio. I would seriously consider a one box player that can play SACDs as well. Marantz still makes some and you might like the Marantz house sound, which tends to be warming. Onkyo is rumored to be coming out with a Universal Player and there are others at a variety of price points |
Audiothesis: |
+1 on glennewdick comments. I ripped all my CDs onto a HDD and use a streaming device for Tidal and Spotify. That enabled me to keep all my bought music and explore all the new music Spotify and Tidal have to offer. I may even buy a year membership to Roon. I did this with less than $1000. I have my Macbook Pro for a ripping device, bought a Western Digital MyCloud with plenty of storage and use a Bluesound Node 2 for streaming and access. The Vault 2 can do ALL OF THIS, but there are other options. Although I like my two CD players, I don’t trust them as they are older now. Investing in an expensive CD player seems very limiting to me. The very biggest surprise in my journey is how good MQA albums sound on Tidal! Just an added bonus. I hope? Tidal does not fold and go out of business?!? |
Perhaps this could be your end game: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649456868-amr-cd77-reference-cd-player-one-of-the-best/ It isn't cheap, but it wasn't cheap to begin with. |
