Audio Research Ref: CD8

This is like having an entirely new CD collection. Now I'm thinking ... Do I dare sell this player and get the CD-8? I'm kind of thinking, if, as my contact at ARC says, the modded CD-7 gets you 25% of the way to the CD-8, and I get the CD-8, will I ever leave the house again? Will I sell all of my thousands of records, dump the turntable and phono-stage ... and just be done with the whole vinyl thing?

Save me! I'm lost!
Oregonpapa

To me, CD8 is one of the best sounding one-box digital players, remarkably better than already very good CD7. I used to write my views for CD8 under this forum topic. I also wrote as "it reduced the gap between my analog and digital sources, it is that good." But I would not sell my analog equipment and my records for CD8. My analog source is still my reference in terms of getting maximum satistaction. In terms of soundstage, seperation of instruments, inner texture and timbre, air and definition of high frequencies, a good analog is still superior, but it is nice to hear newcomer digital sources are closing the gap.

CD8 is a CD7 with different chip and a fixed Power Supply. As ARC does not use the opition of upsampling this chipsets offer all you hear is a Brand difference when convertion occurs. I don't belive in great superiory.

Although it is still too early to have a definitive opinion - my CD8 has only around 250 hours continuous playing time with same breaks - it is now very different sounding from the CD7. The sound balance is different, the CD8 bass has better definition and resolution. During the last days the CD8 has become somewhat bright, sibilants seem enhanced. I hope that after burn in the tonal balance becomes fuller again!

Just got the CD-8 today.

Here are some inside images of the new design with 6550 tube in the PS:

Inside View 1
Inside View 2

The DAC chipset used is 24/192kHz capable PCM1792 from Burr-Brown:

Inside View 3

Now I'm gonna leave the player in a repeat mode 24/7 for the next 10 days or so before I start any listening. By then the player should already have around 240h of play time, although based on my expirience with CD-7, I reckon that it will need additional 200h to fully break in.

During the last days the CD8 has become somewhat bright, sibilants seem enhanced. I hope that after burn in the tonal balance becomes fuller again!

This is the same rollercoster I expirienced whan I was breaking in my old CD-7. The sound was changing from dull to bright and vice versa.

This is why I resisted the temptation to listen the the player fresh out of the box. Based on your expirience with CD-8, I may even extend the initial burn in from 10 days, to full 20 days. It will give me more time to play with the dCS Puccini I still have on loan.