CD sound quality

Nrostov:

My hunch is that bonvoyage has a CD collection and not a vinyl collection, if for no other reason than the NAD does not offer a phono input. Also, I am not sure how applicable a discussion about selling an 8K cd player is when the other person's system costs $1500 tops. At the $8K level for a CD player, you are talking about a degree of playback resolution where if your system does not have excellent synergy, everything that is wrong will be magnified so much more so. (Roy Hall would chuckle quite a bit with this thread).

I am not sure introducing the "which medium is superior" provides an answer for someone who is asking ... I am into CD's and I am getting this ... can I make it better? True ... most CD's are not mastered as well as they could be. Truth be told though, the same holds true for a lot of vinyl ... unless you are getting audiophile vinyl pressings. Why not just introduce the "tubes vs solid state" and "separates vs integrated" superiority debates, while we are at it?

Simply put, a cheap DVD player and basic cables will degrade the sound of most decent systems quite a bit. Even though NAD states in its literature that cables are not that big a factor, in my experience they were with the NAD C320. I found that Better Cable Silver Serpent interconnects and Signal Cable Classic Speaker Cables worked very well when the NAD was paired with AR 302; NHT SB2; and Wharfedale Diamond 9.2 speakers and a Music Hall MMF CD 25 cd player. The system was very clear sounding with both good detail and musicality.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Rich

Rich: I recently recommended ( in private via Email ) that someone try a used DVD player as a digital source, which they ended up finding for something like $30 or so. They compared it side by side to their newly purchased $500 redbook unit in their system. After doing so, they are now using the "el cheapo" DVD player rather than the "audiophile approved" CD player. Obviously, not all DVD players are the same, which we already knew. Sean
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What about a NAD cd player? They make excellent budget units, I'm not up on current models but I remember the 542 being a great bang for the buck unit a few years back. I'm sure it can found on here dirt cheap, check it out!

Rich,

I was trying to make a point that even at the $8,000 level( and beyond) of CD playback vinyl is superior. My original vinyl rig cost a fraction of this and blem my cd player out of the water.

The idea here is to get him to think about this old medium as a way to get the sound he is looking for. When I got into this no one ever explained/showed me the difference. There is nothing wrong with saying "Hey there is an alternative out there." I was also really into cd's until I was shown the light.

Bonvoyage, if you were going to stick to cd then I recommend checking out the Linn Genki. Though it may not be the most analytical player in the world it is very musical. I think you could be quite happy with it.

Bonvoyage, Are you saying the vocals sound a littled recessed or are you saying it sounds like it is broken. how bad is the problem? If you are talking a little bit recessed, a different player may help. If you are saying it sounds like it is broken, i.e. almost no sound/vocals/center image/etc, it may be a setup issue.

Does your DVD player have 6 RCA Analog outputs for 5.1 playback? How it it attached to your amp? What CDs exhibit the problem ( you said "some CDs"). Is it possible that you are playing mulit-track material and are only hearing the L&R front outputs, and not all of the 5.1 output?

Just curious. I've owned lots of DVD players and CD players. Some are better than others, but none actually sounded like the system was on mute when being played. This sounds like a setup issue, a media issue, or a broken player to me.

Enjoy,

TIC