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Any advice on CD player upgrade?

I am looking to upgrade my CD player. My system is as follows: Bryston 3b-St Power Amp, Bryston BP20 Preamp, B&W Nautilus 805 Speakers, Arcam Alpha 7 CD Player. Cables are Kimber KCAG Balaned Interconnect (preamp-poweramp), Kimber PJB (CD to Pre), and Stealth PC Premier speaker cables. I think the CD Player is clearly the weak component, but would also consider getting a second 3b-st for bi-amping. I'm looking at the following contenders (used if I can :-)): Linn Ikemi, BAT, Sonic Frontiers SFCD, Meridian 508-24, Naim CDX, Wadia 830 or 850. Let me know if any of you have recommendations here. Thanks!! John.
128x128outlier
danvetc
527 posts
 
Outlier, have you tried a toslink connection between your 525 and the DAC1? If not, please give it a try. There is a mention in the new ST review http://www.onhifi.com/product.shtml Hope this helps. Charlie
outlier's avatar
outlier OP
381 posts
 
Danvetc, thanks for the advice. Believe it or not, I did just that a few days ago and ordered a 2M Toslink as per Wes' advice at onhifi.com. I haven't received the toslink yet, but after burn-in I'll post whether I found an improvement. Thanks.
subaruguru
1,376 posts
 
Outlier...see my comments on my BelCanto demo on the "Job, BelCanto, Perpetual Tech DAC" thread. Whereas my time with the BelCanto wasn't all that satisfying, it's clear that it imparted significant changes in upper frequency info, and that these were easily perceived through my Aleph P. Perchance you could swap in a more resolving preamp, as suggested before? I'm glad you're having fun...I'm getting frustrated!
hifinut604
54 posts
 
I really like the new Naim CD5. The CDX is even better but not as great a value at twice the price. The CDX/XPS combo is staggering, but the >$8k price tag is really hard to swallow.
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