2. digital
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Will a new Dac improve the sound?

I have an older CD player( Cary CDP1) . It sounds good ,but would a new or used Dac in the line improve the sound? Looking at Dacs in the $600 - $1200 range. I know the other equipment would also matter in the outcome, but as a general question......do you think this would be an upgrade to the sound? Or should i go another route?

GP

garypick
jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,612 posts
 

op

if you want a serious, semi-informed answer from the rest of us here, you need to say alot more...

posed as it is, it is like asking, in general, will my food taste better if i add salt?

impossible to answer...

garypick OP
6 posts
 

Fair enough jjs49

 I have the Cary CDP1 , Acoustat amp Trans nova Twin 200, Acoustat pre Trans Nova, and an older Pioneer TT. Being rather new to the Acoustats , i guess i'm wondering what would be a good fit to bring out the best sound possible with a digital source.

GP

tweak1
3,685 posts
 

@garypick 

I just came out the other end of what you're asking. I used players as transports, the best was the Pioneer PD65, but it was quite old and the only output was toslink, a low resolution data transfer medium. When it died I replaced it with a Marantz HD CD-1 to use as a transport, but, have as a back up player. It too died. Ultimately a CD players transport will not live up to even a relatively inexpensive Audiolab CDT 6000, which I bought and am shocked at how good it is even though the MSRP is "ONLY" $600 (Audio Advisor). There's a GREAT written review on line where he used very inexpensive dacs and worked his way up to ~ $2500 dacs. Each upgrade was readily heard, SO, you could get it, and start with a dac you can afford and work your way up

HTH

 

soix
10,034 posts
 

i guess i'm wondering what would be a good fit to bring out the best sound possible with a digital source.

Holy crap!  You’ve now been asked twice what would represent “improvements” to you.  Better soundstage, more detail, etc.  What are u looking for???  Without this info this post is near useless and will just give u individual opinions that may or may not coincide with yours.  If you can’t elucidate what specifically you’re looking to improve, this post is near useless. 

jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,612 posts
 

gary

1.  what speakers are you using?

2.  when you think about improvements in sound as played by your system, what are the first few elements that come to mind?   (i wish i had deeper, more well defined bass... or a lot of the time many cd's sound harsh and gritty... i feel like all the voices and instruments are on top of each other, in one big mish-mash... and so on...)

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