Can best optical player rival best computer source

i think the answer is: it's a matter of opinion.

i still remember back in the 90's walking into the naim room at ces and listening to the best digital i have ever heard. it was the name cdx--a two chassis system which cost about $7000 then. i haven't heard a turntable/arm and cartridge sound that good. of course i realize that romantic memory may be unreliable. still, i was astounded at the qiality of sound coming from a naim cd played through an all naim system.

No. Not anymore

i agree with mrtennis that it is a matter of opinion, much like it would be an opinion as to what would constitute the best optical player and the best computer source. for myself, i'm agnostic when it comes to claims about the superiority of one type of source over another. they all have drawbacks and all seem to reflect the preferences and biases of the proponent rather than any absolute superiority of sound. none of my sources are anywhere near the best, but i like and use them all. but still, i hope the moderators find a way to merge this thread with the "are cd players dead?" thread once everyone chimes in. :)

btw, tbg, that appears to be one sweet ass system you have. enjoy!

Anonymoustao, thanks for the compliment. It is a result of about 45 years.

Normally, I would entirely agree with you, but the fact that the act of ripping allows repeated efforts to perfect read, while an optical device has to move along and use error correction if it must, makes me suspect a computer source is better.

The issue is largely one of thinking about an Exemplar/Oppo bdp-95 which would allow me to listen to my many sacds. There is now a way to get sacds onto the harddrive using a Sony Playstation 3 and some software. Most of my sacds are hybrids and are already on the hard drive. I am told the pcm versions of the sacds are clearly superior to the cd versions.

Hey TBG,
Your system sounds remarkable I'll bet. How about some pictures?