Best CD player from this list


Hi all,

Question 1: Which is the best sounding CD player from this list:

1. Cambridge 840c

2. Cambridge 851c

3. Ayre CX-7e MP

4. Bryston BCD-1

5. Meridian 508.24

6. Rotel RCD-1572

 
Question 2: Which player in this list will sound best with a Levinson 383 integrated and Revel F30 speakers?  I would be using XLR connections. My cabling is Harmonic Tech pro 9 reference biwire speaker cables and pro silway II interconnects. I can swap out interconnects if there is a better match. Power cables are Audience Powerchord for both amp and cdp. I’m not looking to go with separate dac and transport as that adds more cost for additional cables, etc. My musical tastes are primarily pop, rock, electronic. 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

jsbach1685

 Which player in this list will sound best with a Levinson 383 integrated and Revel F30 speakers?

 

hard to recommend a player since none of us know how your system sounds?

i have the Ayre cx-7 model , no MP and i am happy with it and have had it for a few years now.         only thing regarding this player is should i add a dac or not ?   i have inquired about this and i seem to get the same answer , is that they arent sure a dac will make much of a difference in sound .      i am sure there is a dac that would, but at what cost?

you have been in this hobby long enough to know that if you get something and you don't like it, then you turn around and resell it.

Own No.2 and have heard 1 and 6. Can’t speak for the others but I don’t you can go wrong with any of them. The Meridian was definitely a well respected player in its days, at least in the magazines but unless you can get a laser head I’d probably look on. Between, 1, 2 and 6 I preferred the 2, the 851C as it’s more refined, accurate than the other two, but if you need help with poor recordings you might prefer the 840C. The Bryston and Ayre are probably great players too. I’d be tempted to try my luck on the Ayre personally, although the Cambridge players do allow for digital in as you might want to add a streamer later. The DAC in the 851C is pretty good. 

I haven’t heard any of these players.  I do have the Bryston DAC3 which uses the same DAC as the BDP1.  I also have a Cambridge Audio streamer which uses at least one of the same DACs as one of the CA players.  The Bryston has by far the better DAC