Yes, indeed. My old player was a heavily modified Rotel RCD 991 with Burson discrete op-amp replacements, a Dexa clock, and some upgraded caps and resistors and damping added. I had an audio grade fuse in there as well. Very relaxed and smooth sounding. Overall, not bad. That player finally quit, hence the Hegel. The Hegel is in another performance category altogether. Bits may be bits, but the timing of those bits is more important than I would have ever thought. The Hegel has greatly improved my enjoyment of CD playback. The only clear advantage the Rotel seemed to have was better sound on the small number of HDCDs that I have. Although it certainly never caught on in a broad sense, HDCDs sound quite good compared with the "normal" Red Book versions. Otherwise, the Hegel player is superior in almost every way. As it should be at more than three times the cost when new. However, I do think that the bass performance of the Rotel was slightly better- More tuneful and with greater weight and authority. The Hegel by comparison is less impactful in the low-frequency range from what I am hearing. Overall, the Rotel player was the least capable component in my system in my opinion and I am happy to have the Hegel player.
The Thiels arrived from Coherent Source Service by truck freight and I was able to get them into the house, but they are large and heavy. I am taking a break to get the 3.6es out of the room and then unbox and install the 3.7s. I am so much enjoying the 3.6es (the entire presentation is so much better with the new player) that I do not feel any urgency to switch them up. I would like to say a long goodbye to the 3.6es that have given me so much joy over the past twenty-plus years.
Next up, the last revisions to my amp (McCormack DNA). It is scheduled for upgrades in January with the addition of the new Gravity Base system. I really do not know too much about it, but this is the last major investment I plan to make on the amp. I will be retiring in July, so my plan is to stay at home, sit back, listen, and enjoy.
