Have cd players gotten much better over the years? Mine is 9 years old and needs to be repaired. Two arcam repair shops said they couldn't fix it but one said he could for around $250, when shipping is included. Is the Cambridge 840c at $1400 much better sounding then the arcam 9, which retailed for around that price years ago?
CD players have come along way since your Alpha 9 was born. However your player is still a nice one...it's up to you whether you want to invest in the new technology (Cambridge, Rega or Bryston) or spend $250 and get your ole familar back.
To be honest I had a chance to audition 840C and there is nothing to rave about.....marketing people at Cambridge did excellent job ( do not ask me how.....lol) making sure that people buy this CD without trying it solely based on reviews!!!! I agree with Art that Alpha 9 is still decent player and I will say even more - wether you can hear the difference with compare to newer players depends on your music preference and the rest of your setup. The difference might not be very obvious........ I just picked up brand new Arcam FMJ 36 CD player for $1400 ( retail for $2500) from my Local Arcam dealer . This player will be discontinue soon so you can get sweet deal on it. This is the most Analog sounding CD player I had a chance to audition with jaw dropping soundstage and bass control....... give it a try!!!!
The Alpha 9 was the first to use the RingDAC which means it was a damn fine player. Considering it nowadays against some more modern machinery, it's probably still a fine player. In order to beat an Alpha 9 you'd have to spend a heck of a lot more than $250 on a new player.
So what to do? Either buy a new player at something like $1000 or more with the obvious mind settling realisations that nothing else is likely to go wrong in the short term and that it'll have a warranty. Or you fix the Arcam for $250 and enjoy it while it lasts.
Incidentally, Arcam have just released some new FMJ components and the CD17 at around $1000 is a peach. I have to say the CD17/A28 combination stood up very well to the Rega Apollo/Mira combination (for similar money) I had up against it on Saturday. Very interesting comparison and worth putting on the list if you don't fix the 9.