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Neutrally sounding CDP with a good resolution?

...just decided to post it as a separate thread...

Recently I had not very fortunate experience with upgrade of NAD C541i to Marantz 8400: I discovered that I really miss NAD's neutrality. What NAD lacked was a resolution, it was too grainy on top-end. Marantz is warm, laid-back, more musical - but I need that NAD's neutrality back, with significantly better resolution then NAD had. And I don't want it to be not laid-back nor forward - I'd prefer somewhere in between. What CD player would you recommend?

System
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Source: Marantz 8400 (formerly NAD C541i)
Amp: Moon i-5 (fast and neutral or a little on a bright side)
Speaker cable: AZ Satori (love 'em)
Speakers: Revel M20 (fast and neutral or a little on a bright side)
dmitrydr
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,029 posts
 
I would strongly recommend Ah 4000 Njoe Tjoeb with
7308 siemens tube,very good player, or the Jolida
Jd 100 with Tsunami pc.You cant go wrong on this two.
Both very musical.
jlamb
150 posts
 
Consider the Jupiter2000, very musical (and on the warm side but not overly so) yet significant resolution. Can be found here on the 'gon used for about $1k.
I also have an I5 in my system with JA RM7si sig monitors and Zu Cable Julian (bi-wire shotgun) speaker cables. I agree that the I5 can be bright on some recordings but given that the CDP is paired with Zu Cable Warmouth IC's (silver alloy) I feel that this is the main source of 'brightness' in my system (again, only on some recordings).
mattybumpkin
590 posts
 
I think the Music Hall CD25 is very good for the price. Get the RAM modded CD25 (Response Audio)and you won't be thinking about changing your front end anymore. It is a great piece.

Regards,
gabbro
88 posts
 
I never seem to see any discussion of the Cary 308-T (tubed model) here, but it upsamples, plays hdcd, has very nice resolution on the higher frequencies, and a smoother tube sound for the lower midrange. A bit pricey compared to the others mentioned above, though.
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