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Upgrade my CD player or futile effort?

I would appreciate you guys input. I listen to 90% vinyl  and 10% CDs due to a lot of new music I get into only comes out on CDs. My analog system sounds fantastic to my ears but unfortunately my digital falls short. My analog system consists of:
-VPI Classic 1 TT
-Lyra Kleos cart
-PS Audio Stellar phono preamp
-Prima Luna 100 preamp
-Parasound Halo A21+ amp
-PBN Montana XPS speakers
-Dual Rythmick
F-12 subs
My CD player is a Marantz CD6005 running through my analog system.
Compared to my vinyl, overall the sound from my CDs lacks the depth and definition in bass, comes short in the soundstage and overall space in presentation and does not have the
same clarity in treble.
If I rate my analog sound a 9, I would rate my digital CD a 7.
My question is, would I benefit from a better CD player, even so the CD6005 is no slouch, or am I gonna end up in a goose chase?
I realize my CDs may never sound as good as my vinyl, but I would try to improve it if you guys think it would be worth the effort. Are there really some outstanding CD players out there that can measure up to vinyl? Personal experiences only please, do not need sales pitches by equipment associations you may have never listened to. Also all my cabling and room setup is a 10 to me with the analog so I wouldn't change any of that for my CD player listening.  Thanks.

128x128baylinor
bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,236 posts
 
My Hegel 590 has an excellent DAC built in.  It's one of the reason I choses Hegel.  My CD transport is a Audiolab 6000 CDT.  Retails in the U.S. for about $450.  Don't let anyone say you can't get quality at a low price.  The combination sounds fantastic.  Oh course, the heavy lifting is being done by the DAC.  If you are inclined to spend a bit of money, read the reviews on Hegel's Mohican CD player. 
 https://www.stereophile.com/content/hegel-music-systems-mohican-cd-player
audio-union's avatar
audio-union
179 posts
 
I would consider something like a CEC CD5 player. It has basically the  guts of a TL5 and a DA5 in the same box with digital I/O. You can play your CD's and stream your digital collection to the DAC in the CD5. You can find more details here https://audio-union.com/product/cd5-cd-player/

I think it would be a good CD player to add to your system based on the equipment you have. You would enjoy the musicality of the CD5 in your system. See reviews.

PS CEC makes CD players and transports for other brands including your present CD player.
alucard19
364 posts
 
You might want to try the Rotel RCD-1572 Cd player for around 1k very good reviews, and i also own 2 of them along with a Simaudio moon 360 d which you might be able to find for just under 2k if you look.
x5owner1
20 posts
 
With the rest of your gear I’m not sure why you think a Topping D70 would satisfy you. The Topping D90SE gets much better reviews and is still around $900. And there are SO many more but it sounds like you are just trying to “dip your toe in” to modern digital which may not satisfy you. But here is an option that would let you listen to your CDs, get a modern DAC and even dip your toe into streaming. Get yourself a Bluesound Vault 2i and each time you want to listen to a CD you rip it instead to the Vault’s hard drive. Then you get a Topping D90SE or equivalent as an external DAC for the Vault. Assume you have a WiFi connection the side benefit is you can try one of the “hi def” streaming services on a free trial (AmazonHD, Tidal, Spotify Premium when it comes out in CD quality later this year). Win, win and win from a tad over $2,000.  And there is a very active secondary market in these so if you don’t like it, you can sell it all and start over for not very much out of pocket. And if do like it but want more there are infinite upgrade paths from there. 
x5owner1
20 posts
 
And I agree with an earlier post, don’t use the optical output of an old CD player and expect great sound even with a new DAC. You will be disappointed and think you made a mistake going down this path. 
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