Arcam fmj cd23 vs cd33

Ihcho - I've never listen to CD23 but I know that they stopped making it because of yield problems in production of ring DACs. Arcam bought license for Ring DACs from DCS.

Idea behind Ring DAC is that at certain point you cannot cross resolution of 18-20 bits because of component tolerance (in sigma-delta you can but timing will eventually give same restriction). Ring DAC shuffles randomly bunch (I think 5) resistors of the same value (in each position of the ladder) to get much better tolerance and increased resolution. Effect of this shows as "dithering" on the output but after filter provides for extra bits of resolution. At least that's what I heard.

I think that they stopped making FMJ-cd23 only because of production yield problems.

It probably became to expensive to license it anymore from DCS

I own the cd23, an Alpha 9, and auditioned the cd33 when it came out. I liked the 23 and Alpha 9 better and still have them. The HDCD is handy also.

But beware, if the 23's DAC goes out, you may not be able to get a replacement. You can e-mail Arcam support to verify. They are really good about answering.

Jim S.

Many thanks.

if the 23's DAC goes out, you may not be able to get a replacement.

I wonder how many people would care about fixing a DAC when it goes wrong in a CD player, Or, even how often a DAC would go wrong. Has anybody heard of a ring DAC went wrong?

Ihcho,

No, I haven't heard of a ring DAC going bad, but I don't personally know a lot of people with that player.

"I wonder how many people would care about fixing a DAC when it goes wrong in a CD player".

Good point. I like the cd23 and alpha9 players well enough that I would certainly look into it if something went wrong.

Good luck on whichever your choice is.

Jim S.