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CD upgrade.

Hi. Ive been searching the net for ideas, but i could do with some pointers. Im looking to upgrade my Consonance droplet cd player. This is a very large and heavy valve player which i like, but have had for some time now and feel an upgrade is in order. I want something that will better it, ideally valve but that is not essential. im looking to spend 3k ( british pounds) and would consider something pre owned too. Is that a bad idea, given that cd players have moving parts? the droplet retails at just over three. anyone think this would be a side ways move? ive seen a gamut cd3 ( ex dem, not heard it) for around 3k. Anyone have any experience with these players. Thank you kindly.
james123
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,589 posts
 
P.S. You may find with the newer players that cd sound has improved enough that you don't need the tubes to take the edge off the sound. There are still prenty of good tubed players around though
audiofreak32's avatar
audiofreak32
281 posts
 
I mean ditch the spinning disc totally. Ripping your CDs in with DbPoweramp as FLAC (24/96 or higher), and playing through a DAC (with an iPad), will result in better sound. I am using a LINN Akurate DS with an iPad and 24/192 WAV files. You would be hard pressed to find a CD player under $10k that would beat this sound.
james123 OP
61 posts
 
Audio freak, thanks for the pointers, and thank you tomcy6.i appreciate the responses. And thanks to others too.

is the linn akurate ds very expensive? my budget is around 3k pounds ( British pounds).

During research i came across a product - Olive music servers.
anyone have experience with this kind of product? their claims are very high.

it does seem cd might be phasing out in years to come.

Thanks.
james123 OP
61 posts
 
I just read that Olive claims 250 times the resolution of cd!
How can this be possible when surely there is no music file with 250 times the data that is present on a commercial cd let alone a flac or mp3, direct or burnt to an audio cdr? am i missing something here? Seems like high claim that has no truth in it whatsoever , designed to make sales? am i wrong?
Thank you kindly
lewinskih01
909 posts
 
Hello James.

Ayon makes tubed equipment that has many talking about. Their CD players are said to be fantastic. Also their DAC, which also has a fantastic volume stage. Actually, some or their CD players also have this feature.

Esoteric X03SE would be a very nice CD player, for the money. As Tomcy6 said above, I doubt you would find it edgy. Please keep in mind there are underlying arguments about spinning discs vs computer audio being better, so you are likely to get people getting on their soapbox. Just be aware. Likely someone who already replied will say the Linn will beat any Esoteric...fine. Just read around. BTW, I don't spin disks anymore, but I do belive there are fantastic CD players around.

A very nice DAC I think is Aesthetix (tubes), Berkeley Audio (SS), Lampizator (tubes), to name some. If I knew I was only going to spin discs I would probably get a Accustic Arts CD transport and DAC (German, SS). Be aware that computer audio, while it opens a number of doors, also has a steep learning curve and is still quirkier than spinning disks.

I hope this helps.
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