CD Player with digital input?

Jimmy, there are a few of us reading! :-) Interested in your Cambridge assessment.

Jimmy,

Do yo find the dvd to Benchmark sound "flat" like the Sonos to Benchmark? If so, try to borrow a different DAC. I like the Benchmark, but IMHO it is on the "lean" side. You might try a tube DAC unit for comparison's sake.

Good Luck

Marty

Jimmy, tell me what you liked about the SA-10? I understand you need the digital input so this sort of ruled this player out for you, but you commented that you really liked it. What did you like about it?

FWIW, while I think the B&W speakers you run are excellent speakers, I find that they are somewhat forgiving in the sense that they make other changes in equipment etc. . . less apparent. I used to own B&W speakers and found that they are very good, but did not exhibit as noticeable of a change when I would swap out other components (as compared to other speakers I have owned). Based on this, my feeling is that you must audition any new equipment through B&W speakers (preferably your own system) and decide from there. This "kind" nature of the B&W speakers, in my opinion, negates overspending on other components and cables as improvements by such changes are not as significant.

Cary CD 306/200

Ckoffend -
I am new at this so I am not as articulate as many.
What I noticed with the SA-10 was what I would describe as greater extension and more air in the highs. Cymbals seemed to trail off longer for instance. My best description would be to say that compared to dvd-player to dac1, the SA-10 was like someone had taken their foot off of that second pedal on a piano (the one that muffles everything) or that a guitar player had taken his pick hand off of the strings. It was quickly and unmistakably noticeable and likable. Not one of those things that one is pretty sure they hear after a long listen. I ran generic balanced interconnects from the dac1 and the esoteric into the MA6900, qued up the same song on two burned disks and flipped from one to the other. I am sure that my methods were not scientific, but it seemed clear enough.
By contrast, when I did the same thing with the Resolution Audio player, I could not tell the RA and the DAC1 apart. Not at all.

At the moment, I have a Cambridge 840c on order. What the heck. If it isn’t the best choice I can return it. I will also buy a used AYRE C7xe to try. It doesn’t have my digital input but it can also be had used for a lot less than the Esoteric or the Resolution Audio. And it looks like 4 or 5 of them sold on this site in the past week so I don’t feel like I would be sticking my neck out that far if I didn’t like the player.

I had contemplated going to visit the nearest Ayre dealer, but he is 75 mi away and I would have to bring my speakers and the Cambridge player to compare and at the end of the day I wouldn’t spend the money on a new one anyway so it all seemed a bit dishonest.

We will have to see. The Cambridge gets here next week. I figure I will give it another week to run in a bit and by then there should have been some more of the Ayre players listed for sale.

If the Esoteric turns out to be the best choice for CDs, I will most likely go find one. It just seems like a big decision to me and I want to hear a few others before I settle.