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Sell quality turntable to buy top CD player?

NOTE: A THREAD LIKE THIS CAN OFTEN TURN SOME MEMBERS'S RESPONSES Nasty.... HERE IS THE ISSUE:

I HAVE APPROX 55 LP'S. ON AVERAGE THEY ARE IN FAIR TO GOOD CONDITION. I HAVE ALREADY REPLACED A FEW WITH REMASTERED CD'S There are several LP's that date from 1974-85.Some are getting to be noisy with loud pops. In addition I probably only play 20 of my favorites of the 55LP's

My CD collection is nearly three times the size of the LP's. Therefore, I want to make a major CD player upgrade. I am looking at used CD players and have considered, Ayon,( Saturn "R", Esoteric, Naim, Ayre, Krell

I calculate I can sell my TT and cartridge and upgraded power supply for $1100. I would also sell my Rega Apollo for $450-$500. So my slush fund would be $1600.00 and I would kick in another $1000-1100 to buy a used player for approx. $2700 that retailed new for $4500-$5000.

Previously, I have considered the Cambridge Audio 840C and the 851C, and the Sony XA5400ES. Some members have said, these player, may only provide small improvements in the sound quality of standard "redbook" CD's

My integrated amp does have a very good phono stage should I decide to keep 15 of favorite LP's and buy a Project Debut Carbon T/T with cart much later.

"Useful" advice and comments welcome!!!
sunnyjim
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Brownsfan,
You wrote "let the music answer the questioh" oh so true! I was a dye in the wool analog LP advocate for many years and still appreciate a well set up TT front end. Once I finally found digital sources that preserved the emotion, soul and natural beauty of music the vinyl- CD gap closed for me. There are digital sources that most certainly convey the musical message. There are turntable set ups that are analytical, sterile, lifeless and edgy. I don't see this as a religious battle or adherence to some mantra. Both source types can be organic bliss or unemotional hifi drivel.
Charles,
veroman's avatar
veroman
299 posts
 
the oppo is the best deal going. a dac can be used but only with non sacd types i read somewhere as the dac will rob the sacd of its advantages. when oppo first gained popularity they did not play hdcd for some reason. i imagine they do now esp considering i paid $200? for my hd970 yrs ago! i own a nice nad cd player and a scott nixon dac but i am sooooo stunned at the quality of the new hybrid sacd etc that i cannot imagine buying a standard redbook cd again. it is that fantastic. imo the biggest improvement you will make is in the type of cd you are playing and not the player. but if you like to feel like you need to pay more to get more than chuck my advice. good luck, remember it is all about music not gear or names or price. but you knew that already
lewm
13,111 posts
 
The limitation of outboard stand alone DACs to decode SACD is based only on the fact that Sony refused to license products that output DSD from the transport. I think that in recent months or years, there is a crack in that restriction so that now some transports can output DSD or DSD converted to another decoding stream (PWM?), so that some DACs can now handle SACD.

Anyway, the hi-rez audio available via download and then fed to a DAC with hi-rez capability will challenge the fidelity of SACD, somewhat diluting Sony's attempt at monopoly. I think Sony's reluctance to encourage the spread of SACD technology to other companies was a marketing disaster for them and backfired, like Betamax, another superior technology that died because Sony was greedy.
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
...and vinyl outmarketted Sony's SACD
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