Time For a CD Player Upgrade


I've been using a Rega Saturn Mk 2.  I recently upgraded my turntable to the Mark Levinson 5105 w/ the Ortofon Quintet Black S.  In comparison my CD's are sounding overly bright.   Any thoughts on a comparable upgrade to my CD listening?  My budget is about $4000-5000, new or used.  The Hegel Viking looks interesting.  Any recommendation for an upgrade will be appreciated. 

 

 

mellowshifi

I had the Hegel Mohican and I would guess the Viking has the Hegel house sound as well.  It is quite articulate with CD's less than 25 yrs old.  It will not sugarcoat your older ones, they will sound the same.

@sokogear +1

I wasn't prepared for the changes in sound I got from my IsoAcoustics Oreas under my CDP. I was advised by Music Direct and IsoAcoustics to try them under the base plate and not the footers and move them about to settle on the changes I liked.

That exercise drove me mad, with just a 1/4" move changing the sound dramatically. I tried all manner of positions and would get fantastic highs but smothered mids, magically wonderful mids with curtailed highs, tighter base at the expense of everything else. 

What I settled on was placing them directly under the footers and voila!, pretty much perfect in all aspects. The thing is, no matter where I placed the Oreas, the better results came from one directly under the CD drive mechanism, when using the base plate in place of the footers. That told me just how much vibration is in a CDP or CDT.

All the best,
Nonoise

I just read some comments on the Michi Q5 on a short YouTube video of it and a Michi fan/owner said it uses the same $25 CD drive mechanism as Pro-Ject and that Marantz and Jays sound better. How he knows that is beyond me unless he's already auditioned it, which is highly unlikely. He even went on to say he'll probably get it anyway. 

Must be nice to have that much disposable income. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Might want to consider the Audia Flight FLS 20. Have heard the Audia Flight One multiple times and it reproduces piano at a world class level. Have NOT heard the new 20 but let's assume it's even better than the One. dCS/Esoteric/MSB/Playback Designs all make great digital products but the FLS 20 could be a bargain in comparison?