Which tube cd player do you like

i would strongly disagree on the conrad johnson player and suggest instead the audio research ref 7, the lector 7 (original), not the mk 2 or ml 3 and the amr 77.

i had the opportunity to purchase the cj and would not buy it.

The DAC is where it's at? I'm not so sure, IMHO. I see a lot of convergence in the leading brands (Crystal, Wolfson, etc.), and actually I think it's the all-too-often-forgotten analog electronics--particularly the output stage--that could do with some more attention from a lot of makers.

As good as the Cambridge Audio 192 upsampling may sound, it's certainly not night-and-day compared to 96 upsampling chips.

(And in an unrelated side observation, weren't some of the upper-echelon Sim Audio CDPs doing 192 well before Cambridge...?)

Mrjstark, you're right, that was one of my weaker posts. I probably meant to say that DAC and clock development has come so far that you can buy now and stay very happy for many years because further development will yield increasingly small returns in sound quality.

Also, the development has come so far that the nasty glare and congestion of digititus is gone, at least in the best units. That nastyness compelled music lovers to constantly seek more musical players or drove them to their TTs or SACDs and DVD-As (my case). Now that I'm as happy with my digital as my analog, I think that I'll be less compelled to seek. Removing the digital nastyness is huge for me.

BTW, this Wednesday I had to briefly audition a couple of "ordinary" $3000 to $5000 CDPs before I compared my Playback Designs MPS-5 to an Emm CDSA-SE (see my PD review if you're interested in details). After months of listening to my PD, I could only take a few minutes on those lesser machines. Both had that glare (one actually had a tube also) that can make digital so unpleasant.

Dave

I do not recommend the Audio Research player. Overpriced for what it delivers.

hi stevecham:

regardless of price, which tube cd player do you prefer instead of the audio research ?

do you consider your favored player, whatever it is more tube-like ?