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CD player with Tube Output or Music Server

I play CD’s through an upgraded Audio Space CD8 player from Underwood HiFi. It can be played as solid state or tubed output. To my ear, the tubed output is smoother and seems to have more substance. It definitely sounds less digital through the tubes. I enjoy the player very much and it is definitely the best I have heard in my system compared to mid priced offerings from Sony, Rega, and Cambridge Audio.

The rest of my system is Maggie 3.6’s with W4S Preamp and ST1000 amp. I also run a Technics table with an Ortofon cartridge from KABUSA. The table is more organic and live sounding compared to the CD player.

Anyway… the upgrade bug is starting to itch so I visited my local hi end dealer in the Midwest.

He tried to talk me out of a CD player entirely. He attended the last Las Vegas audio show and was pushing a Naim music server and a DAC for around $5500. He tried to convince me that the Hi resolution capability of this combo would blow away a comparably priced dedicated CD player. He would not even show me his CD players!

So.....

1. What are your thoughts about what this dealer is telling me?

I am kind of convinced that I still want the dedicated CD player because I am not sold on computer audio. It just seems too hi tech for me....also, I am not so sure I need $5000 worth of Naim equipment to get the high resolution sound.

2. What are your thoughts about a good CD player that would be a significant upgrade that would sound live and smooth? I am thinking about the $5000 range new or around half much that used.

I appreciate any and all feedback!
dsper
newbee
4,767 posts
 
If you use good 75 ohm digital cable I suspect that you may find it less important than other cables in your system. By way of example I have been using a 6' Cardas cable for a number of years and have been happy with it. As I recall it was cost over $200, which is probably cheap in comparison to a lot of the high end alternatives. I recently needed a longer run for an experiment and bought a 15' run of Belden from Blue Jeans (cost $25). Maybe its me, maybe its my equipment, whatever, but I could not distinguish the difference between these two cables. This would not have been so with IC's or Speaker cable.

And yes, I'm sure there isn't much difference with digital wires from other wires when it comes to forum user opinions. As Tpreaves sez it "...is what you hear not what others tell you". Knowing what I know now (no matter how little that may actually be) I wish I'd started out with the Belden in the first place. I'd have fewer unused cables in the drawer and more money in my pocket to buy music.
steuspeed's avatar
steuspeed
501 posts
 
Find a tube dac or tube CD player you like. If it has inputs like the E.A.R. Acute, then even better for adding digital sources down the road. You won't sacrifice, because it all runs through your reference DAC. Makes sense to me.
larryi
4,051 posts
 
I don't think there is an easy answer to your question. A lot of people have found that a computer or server into a good dac to offer great sound. There are theoretical advantages (low jitter, no problem with error correction on the fly because data is held in a buffer), but then, in theory all bit perfect formats should be the same, but, many are finding differences in WAV vs. FLAC and the software used. I heard a comparison myself and preferred WAV over FLAC files. In short, all the issues on how to implement computer/server have not been resolved as yet.

As to subjective impressions of what is best, opinions are all over the place. A friend of mine really likes the clarity and detail of the Naim NDS set up over the top of the line Naim 555 CD player. I actually prefer the CD 555 sound myself (warmer, greater weight, less of a hard edge to the initial attack of notes). I own both.

The server has, at least for now, replaced the player because of the ease of access to my music collection afforded by the server. There is quite a bit of hard work involved to get there though--particularly editing metadata on classical CDs. I've done almost 2,400 CDs so far, and I am a bit more than half way home.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"I am learning and it got me thinking which will always result in more ignorant questions. So...

I get the impression that the cabling between the computer and DAC or transport and DAC is very important to sound quality.

Is this true?

If so, is there emperical proof to support this or do we wander off into another whole great speaker wire debate?

My goal is simply to understand as the cabling question is going to be there unless one buys a CDP, so I hope that I do not offend anyone by asking."

I don't think your questions are ignorant. As long as their honest questions, who cares? Theres no need to justify them.

With regard to your cable concern, I'll add a couple of things. First is that cables do make a difference and can enhance the sound quality of your system. Second thing is, don't carried away with them. Quite often, I see people put the importance of cables equal to, and sometimes even more, than other components. I believe thats a mistake. I would suggest that your pick your components first. Once you have everything in place, then start looking into cables. If your expectations are too high, you might be very disappointed. Also, if you're reading equipment reviews, its sometimes easy to get caught up in the description of how the cable sounds (or any other component, for that matter), and loose track on the real improvement you can expect. I'm not questioning the honesty of the reviewers. Its just very difficult to convey how a piece of audio gear sounds using only words.
germanboxers's avatar
germanboxers
241 posts
 
Why not both? Aesthetix Romulus is the Pandora (DAC with USB and S/PDIF) with a CD transport built in. Haven't heard it yet, but I intend to very soon.
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