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Why does my old CD player sound so much better than my new streamer?

Earlier this year I upgraded my system. Briefly, new Prima Luna Dialogue Premium HP integrated, new Lumin D2 streamer/DAC, kept my Tekton speakers, bought a 10 year old Muse Erato CD player, new Nordost Red Dawn cables all around.  After plenty of break in, the Lumin D2 streaming Tidal, even 24/96, does not sound close to as good as the Muse Erato.  I understand the Muse was about $10k new years ago, I paid $650 for it on Audiogon, is that the difference? It replaced my Naim I had for 20+ years and I bought it on the chance I want to listen to something not on Tidal, but now I'm going to CDs when I want to sit and listen instead of streaming. I considered upgrading to the Lumin T2, but will that be more of the same Lumin sound, which is accurate but thin and a little cold compared to the Muse.  I like the Lumin when just letting Tidal shuffle music as I move around the house, but from the opening note in an A/B test the Muse just sounds so much warmer, live and simply more enjoyable. Any thoughts or suggestions?
fsgattuso
chirawatm
1 posts
 
I believe most of old CD player and old DAC will have a superior matching sound stage output when playing a cd 14.4K red book format. The design concept is to achieve smooth musical soundstage and reduce hearing of micro details which to reveal errors when playing cd 14.4k format.

A new, modern DAC does not design to get best quality from 14.4k format but a high def, DSD, or other super high quality format which will give much more detail and soundstage providing that you got those high definition sources. Using of this modern high quality DAC to play 14.4k CD format will give you annoying, too much revealing details, which is not a pleasant listening.

I have both old legacy dac and a moderm DSD DAC, both serve its purpose well and it cannot beat each other. 
jafant's avatar
jafant
20,352 posts
 
fsgattuso

There is something to be said about a player retailing for $10K. 
Ayre, Muse or Naim are all excellent within their own design. If you own a sizeable CD collection, this is your best option over a server/streamer option.

Happy Listening!
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
I like the sound of my streamer/DAC combo better than my CD player. My CD player is a Cambridge Audio 851-C. Although I would suspect most here would not regard that player as being really that good.
jafreeman's avatar
jafreeman
693 posts
 
Is Audioquest a high-end HDMI cable?  I got one of theirs for $400 for my DVD player--was told the image would have more depth.  Hard to quantify, but it does look good. Is there a USB or ethernet equivalent for computer/DAC-based front ends and streamers?  Seems to be lots of tweaks for headphone systems, must be for the above.     

I'm a throwback for CD players, I have to say.  I like big power cords and connectors, good XLR connections and interconnects, high-purity copper, heavy platters, big power supplies, heavy platforms, complete isolation from vibrations, and the CD itself--big and heavy, that's where the sound is for me. My audio retailer, who has a MacBook set up into a number of  DACs as well as featuring players in his showrooms, once said stored files may not be as good as the CD from which they are derived--I know little that or about file-based audio but would just say try to optimize connections and reduce vibrations. 
mike_in_nc
1,185 posts
 
@fsgattuso : I read your post too quickly & neglected to look up the D2 until now. It is quite possible that a Muse Erato might have a better-sounding DAC than the D2. Kevin Halverson of Muse was some kind of digital genius (may still be, don't know his whereabouts now). His Muse gear of Erato vintage persuaded me to give up my analog front end. Keep yours as long as it runs!

In any case, I agree with another poster that, to do a fair test, you need to rip a few CDs and run them through the Lumin. Some of us find that audio quality from the streaming services can be variable.


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