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Cambridge Audio CD Player Has Died

I have a Cambridge Audio Azur 840C CD player that is roughly 15 years old. A year ago the left channel went dead & was subsequently repaired. However, yesterday the audio output completely died (no sound whatsoever). Although the unit has served me well, I am reluctant to continue to put more money into repairs of an older unit.

That being said, I have a question for those of you who have more expertise than I. Is there a discernible difference in sound quality between high-end CD players & those more moderately priced? Although I do have a high-quality audio system, I would prefer not to spend a lot of money on a new CD player unnecessarily.
Thank you so much.
Kit
kitjv
jl35
3,977 posts
 
I have always found a DAC to need break-in even if purchased used   
jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,617 posts
 
Congrats on your new purchases!In my limited experience pretty much every new component and cable begins to show it's true colors between 25-50 hours.After that improvements are more subtle.I'm burning in a new dac right now myself.Since everything has tubes I play something on repeat at a very low level for 3-4 hours then sit down and listen for changes for 30minutes or so.At the 50 hour mark I decide if it will stay or go.
kitjv OP
69 posts
 
Thank you  for the information.
brayeagle
362 posts
 
Before getting a Bryston BCD-3, I used a CXC with a BDA-2 DAC. More than satisfied  with the SQ of my classical RedBook CD collection. 

IMO, the CXC output is excellent, and the SQ is determined by the DAC you use. 

Just a thought.
mesch
3,476 posts
 
Kitjv, Thanks for the feedback.
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