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Law of Diminishing Returns - CD/SACD Players

I've been surfing through Audiogon reading many of the posts regarding the sonic qualities of some of the top tier cd/sacd players. Some brands/models that seem to be mentioned often are EMM Labs, dCS, Meridian, Esoteric, Audio Aero, etc. These players, however, are in the tens of thousands of dollars. I would love to own one of these machines some day, however, finances do not currently permit.

For those of you that have evolved to owning a top tier player like those listed above, what players can you recommend that would give 95 percent of the performance of a top tier player, without having to pay the price of a top tier machine? What does one have to pay to get that 95 percent performance? Does a Rotel 1072 give us 95 percent of the sound? Can a $1000 player like the Rega Apollo compete? Or does one have to move up a more costly player like the Resolution Audio Opus 21 or Ayre Cx7e to obtain the 95 percent? ...or perhaps one has to move to the $5000 - $6000 category of player like the Cary 306, Ayre C5xe, or Bluenote Stibbert?

Unfortunately, I have not heard any of the top tier digital players. I would love to hear from those who have had the opportunity to own or audition the very best. We all know that extracting the last 5 percent of sonic nirvana is extremely costly! What is the best "bang for your buck" to obtain 95 percent of the sound of a first class player?

calgarian
calgarian5355
bartokfan
664 posts
 
Cal good post and reflects my POV. There is a point of diminishing returns. Not to say the super expensive players are not woth the "bang for the buck". If I were spending over $5K I'd look for a used Jadis DAC. But as you say if you can get 90% of the sound quality from a lower cost unit , then why not, especially if you have a tight budget. I had a Rotel and a NAD cdp. Then I went with a Cayin 15. Blew out the water the NDA and Rotel. Here we can't compare on a % ratio, the Rotel and NAD were not even in the same league.
Then I went with a Cayin 17, which can be compared to the Cayin 15, both in the same league. The 17 offered 10% improved sound quality. 10% doesn't seem like alot but in audio terms 10% is a nice gain, IOW a justified upgrade. If another tube player comes along that I feel can best the 17, I may go for it. As long as its areasonable asking price. I pd $1K for the 17 so am willing to fork out $2K if I can get another 10% better resolution. But that 10% gain is doubtful, 5% may be more like it, and that may not be enough to justify spending another $2K.

Does the Audio Aero Capitole present a 8X's(800%) better musical image vs the Cayin 17? All I know its 8X's the price.
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martykl
3,578 posts
 
It's interesting to see some of the experiences here. A year ago, when I contracted for a new home, I - as you might expect- began the search for some new equipment. Specifically, I wanted a second turntable and a pair of speakers. During the course of that research I saw a used Shanling CD player at a very low price. I asked the dealer to switch out the Esoteric CD player he was using for the MBL demo and use the Shanling instead. I've always been a bit skeptical of differences among CD players and would not have been surprised to hear little/no difference. Instead, the difference was dramatic. That started the process of looking at current players which I partially described in my post above.

Overall, I did not hear vast differnces when I was A/B ing similarly priced players. I found Ayre vs ARC, Esoteric vs Accuphase, Cary vs Musical Fidelity (etc) sessions inconclusive. However, I also tried to include one cheaper player in every A/B session. The differences were always audible - and usually pretty convincing to me. The new Rega fared best of the cheaper units. I hope this provides one more data point for you.

Marty

PS - I ended up buyinng 2 players: A Rega for my den and a Cary for my listening room.
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audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>Does the Audio Aero Capitole present a 8X's(800%) better musical image vs the Cayin 17?<<

Of course not but it is clearly superior in all respects. As Tvad points out the ancillary components must be complementary. I suspect the chance is quite high you would not hear the difference in your rig.
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