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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
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
Timoteo,

I have owned Plinius SA100 MKIII (100 wpc), Rogue 120M (120 wpc) and borrowed ML 383 (100 wpc) and they all got appreciably loud but sounded a bit sluggish. It was only when I got an Innersound ESL amp (400 wpc this special amp with a bigger than normal power supply had nearly 1,000 wpc into 4 OHMS) that is specifically designed for this type of speaker (current driven) that they really sounded alive and dynamic.

I agree with everything you say and thought the same things myself but learned I had not heard the Maggies at their best the expensive way!
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
It's not a matter of how much power, but what quality of power. Yes, you can drive the speakers with the Adcom, but it will be an entirely different experience with a more robust amp.

To the question: I used the CAL Alpha DAC a while back, and to my ear most all the new players have quite a bit more resolution, several of them would sound more "forward". If you are not accustomed to this, I'm guessing it will be unpleasant. I haven't taken the time to check on the specs, but if the CAL player has a digital out, you may have two channels available to run to a tube DAC. This might serve you very well. An econonmical one which I reviewed and has beautiful tonality is the Monarchy NM-24. There are many other decent DACs which might work. You could borrow one and see if the dig coax output of the player is intact. Might save you a lot of money.
nealw
16 posts
 
I second philjolet and doug by the way its not just watts but also the current drive of the amp. my krells are ksa 80's (80 WATTS) and the double all the way down to over 1000 watts at 1 OHM so yes they can drive maggies and apogees.
j_stereo
130 posts
 
Timoteo - I don't believe there would be an argument about the dB levels at the corresponding power levels, but that only applies if you are sitting 1 Meter from the speakers. Since most people sit much further away than that, I imagine the dB drops off rather quickly in a given distance. Having owned MG 1.6's I can't imagine 60 Watts/Channel Solid State being nearly enough for 3.6's at a decent listening level. The solid state amps I used with my 1.6's were always 100+ watts/channel (McCormack DNA 0.5, Bryston 3B, Audio Research D-300) and that was adequate, but during dynamic passages I would have wanted even more power not less. I also listened to the 3.6's and I imagine they demand much more power than the 1.6's. I heard them with 125 Watts/Channel 8 Ohms (250 at 4 Ohms) and thought they sounded weak and anemic.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Worth adding that the old 3As are not as efficient as the 3.6s. . . but I fear the argument may be for naught. G.
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