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difficulty finding CD player match for Magneplanar

I have a California Audio Labs Mk II CD player (CAL) that has one channel going out. I might be able to get it repaired (if I'm lucky), but I wanted to listen to the latest CD players to see if I could find a replacement.

I home-trialed an Arcam FMJ-something at around $1000 U.S. Too bright, not enough bass, not enough "power" to drive rock and jazz/fusion.

I home-trialed the much-vaunted Rega Saturn. Not enough "power" or bass for rock/jazz fusion, upper midrange and highs OK, but lower midrange sounds like being in nosebleed section of concert hall (very distant and hard to understand).

I've got Magneplanar MG-IIIa speakers, original Adcom preamp and 60w/ch. amp.

It seems to quite troublesome to find a CD player for the Maggie's in my listening room that isn't too bright or too distant and has enough power/drive/authority and solid bass to really drive electronic music.

Neither player was really involving. They seemed to present information off the disk, but just didn't grab my interest. Pretty boring. Good detail, good this, interesting that, but in the end, not enjoyable.

Others have raved about Arcam players and about the Rega Saturn, but they haven't worked for me in my system.

Anyone had similar experiences with the Maggies and found any players that worked better with the Maggies?
timoteo
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Ah yes, Spectron Musician is another excellent suggestion for Maggies. . . Besides the series 2, there is a Spectron Mus 3 being offered on Agon. . . if in good shape, at $3.1K it may be a steal. I understand that the series 3 may be sweeter / more extended than the 2. G.
timoteo OP
21 posts
 
A number of people have said that my Maggies might be underpowered. My Adcom amp is 60w/ch into 8 ohms, but the Maggies are 4 ohm (and less sometimes), so my Adcom is probably providing more like 120w/ch into 4 ohms.

The second thing I wanted to bring out is that the Maggies with the Adcom and my CAL Icon Mk II can easily play at realistically live volumes with the volume knob on my preamp set at about 11 o'clock.

I like my CAL Icon Mk II CD player. It has plenty of bass for rock and jazz/fusion to suit me. Lots of "drive". When I say the Saturn and the Arcam CD players didn't have enough "power" or "drive" to suit me, I don't literally mean the player didn't have enough power. I'm talking about the feeling of "power" driving the music - maybe dynamic range, maybe bass. One thing I like about my CAL is that is sounds pretty "even" across the frequency range, while the Saturn and Arcam have detailed midrange but the midrange seems way to forward, in most cases, compared to the rest of the sound. Maybe this is just a lack of solid bass in those players.

I'll post some more responses to your great and very helpful posts when I have a little more time, probably tomorrow evening.
adwiegert
89 posts
 
Don't forget Ayre.... Ayre and maggies seem to blend beautifully together. The old V3 amp is/was a popular choice.. I use a V5Xe myself.

As far as CD players... I love my CX7E-mp
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
Timiteo, I think the point everyone is making, and it's the main point here, is that your amp cannot drive those speakers. 120 w into 4ohms for those large panels is very under-powered. The range and dynamics are greatly restricted due to the lack of power, especially bass.

All of your sources will wake up if you get a more powerful amp. I don't think the IIIa will really wake up with anything less than 300w into 4ohm, and more better.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
To echo Macdadtexas, I have heard the newer brothers of IIIAs -- the 3.6s -- driven with both JRDG 201 monos (500W into 4 Ohms and same underlying power conversion module as Bel canto Ref 500) and JRDG 501 monos (same power conversion modules as Bel Canto Ref 1000 Mk.2s, and 1000W into 4 Ohms). . . the 201 were clearly underpowered and tended to get glassy at the least dynamic excitement. . . the 501 monos were comfortably driving the Maggies. Please note that I suspect Bel Canto Ref 1000 Mk.2 might be slightly more nuanced than Rowland 501s, unless you add a pair of external PC-1 rectifiers to the 501s, but that would drive up their cost by a further $3K.

G.
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