Older Cd Players vs. new ones

I have a Pioneer PD-65 in my 2nd system. It has been an extremely reliable and well built unit that has always worked flawlessly. It feeds a mid 90's Audio Alchemy DTI PRO/ DDE V3.0 d/a converter. I have kept all of the above, because nothing I have tried in the past 3 years at a retail price of $1500 or less has been any better. I have the output of the PD-65 feeding one input on my preamp and the Audio Alchemy feeding another. While the PD-65 sounds decent, the AA gear sounds much more natural and real. The PD-65 is a good transport. I recommend you consider a good D/A converter that caters to your sonic requirements and use it with the PD-65

"For what it's worth, not to long ago, Stereophile released a list of what they felt where audio equipment classics."

Stereophile was in a fog during the 90's. Get some back issues and read them. I almost lost faith in hi fi from their antics of the 1990's.

FR

In my experience, newer ones sound better, but older ones are a thousand times more reliable.

"....but the old ones are a thousand times more reliable".

I bought a Sony 101 in the early 80's. Last I heard (2002) it was still up and running. Couldn't begin to believe how many folks have probably lost their hearing listening to it! :-)

Yep, new ones do sound more refined/resolving and balanced than the old ones. Even my old Cal Alpha/Delta (which I love with jazz) is very dated and different from my newer BAT, Raysonic, and Wadia CDP's, but mechanically its still chugging alone w/o the need for transport repairs.

I don't know about mid-1990's vs. today, but, it is not necessarily the case that newer stuff beats older. First, the simple, and I suppose one could say primitive, technology of the Audionote and Zanden approach delivers fantastic results. I would take the oldest DAC-5 over just about any other current non-Audionote DAC out there now.

The other issue has to do with current chipsets and transports. Aside from a few companies that make proprietary transports and D-A and filter chips, manufacturers have to rely on what big makers of OEM parts offer to the market. D-A chips, in particular, serve a variety of functions, so many new chips are designed to serve multiple function, and are not necessarily issued because they are superior in performance.

Some premium manufacturers, like Naim and Zanden, have horded "old" no longer manufactured chipsets, because, in their view, they offer superior performance. Examples would be the Burr-Brown 1704 chip. So, it is possible that a newer model from a particular manufacturer will have inferior sound to a prior model because a superior component is no longer on the market.