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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
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.
bartokfan
664 posts
 
Tvad raises a good point. I've heard a big famous tube amp , $$$, and really colors the sound. It wouldn't make much sense to have a $15K Jadis DAC/trans combo hooked up, nor a Capitole. I've also haerd speakers that posses their own strong distinct coloring. A good player can only play "clean' if the other 2/3's of the system has purity.

Marty, you might not hear the differencec in those $2K-$4K mentioned, but its there. On the right system you can hear the difference. Small, but significant when you consider listening over an extended period of time. After a few days you'll know which is the A, the B, the C player. Maybe personal taste comes in on the judgeing, if slightly. .

Bob if you can't feel the $2200 player is the much better investment over the $450, then maybe your Arcam is overpriced?

saxo
98 posts
 
Many audio dealers say that the quality of your source will bring the biggest difference in your end result. I don't know, as I certainly hear considerable differences between DACs.

Further, people say a great transport makes a huge sonic difference. This claim is based on the fact that if you loose information (bits), or the bits get altered in some way, this info is gone forever.

A great transport, by definition, should be rock solid, built like a tank, eliminate any vibration, pickup the information with precision, and have the smallest jitter. If you look at so many transports in high end players, they are cheap, run of the mill, plastic, flimsy affairs. It bothers me that any player at or above $2,000 is built this way, and I see it as greed. Spend the least on parts, and charge the highest amount.

So, I hope more audiophiles will bring some enlightenment to this difficult topic.
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