cd players with volume control

If you decide to run directly from cd to power amp, there will be times that you will not be able to achieve enough gain. There are many recordings cut at too low a level to be able to bypass a gain stage. Just something to think about.

Frap. I think your wromg. My wadia 861 has more gain direct to my pass x 350 then i need, but the pass is 150db.

frap: you mind tellin' us where you got your data? i'd be particularly interested in learning which of the cd players you've used exhibits this characteristic. i'd also appreciate a listing of the cd's that you've found are recorded at unusually low volumes.

Well sir, the data is from 12 years ago;right about the time I abandoned the direct in approach. The data is from my personal experience. The cd player at the time was the Sony 707esd, a very fine unit I might add. The amplifiers were ARC tube units. The wire was MIT MI-330 E.
From memory, I recall 2 cds where enough gain could not be achieved.
1)William Boughton/ English String Orchestra/Music of Gerald Finzi/ Nimbus Records
2)Dire Straits-
Brothers in Arms
There were others, which is why I abandoned the direct in approach.
Say, I thought this was a discussion forum for people to help each other out. I am starting to get the impression that its a members only fraternity. I see I have been slammed on this thread. Perhaps my experience was an isolated case. Apologies if I was wrong

i admit i've never compared the pricy stuff such as accuphase & wadia - i guess i can't afford to wring that last *nth* of sound from a format that i never really liked that much, & is in imminent danger of being replaced. but, as far as more *reasonably* priced cd players go, it has been my experience that a preamp is a positive addition - even to the resolution audio cd50/cd55, which has been lauded as a great cd-player run straight-in to an amp. i was willing to spend up to, say, $1500, for a used resolution-audio cd-player, but i honestly found no meaningful improvements between this player & my $500 nad cd-changer, when run thru my melos preamp.

so, if ewe can afford a mega-buck cd-player, mebbe it *can* sound better run straight-in than when run thru a preamp, i dunno... but i do know, at least for me, anyway, that a less-expensive cd-player can definitely be improved by a top-notch preamp, and the preamp will, in fact, level the playing field between most any reasonably-decent modern player from at least $3k down to a lowly $500 cd *changer*. and, if ya listen to other sources, w/a great preamp ya get the benefits of great sound w/them, too! ;~)

one persons' opinion, doug s.