I'm not happy with the sound of my cd player, which is the Marantz cd 5000. It's fairly neutral, but a bit too bright in the upper midds. The sound is also a bit too delicate, easy to distort; especially vocals can sound rather thin. I'm using the recently bought Marantz pm 7200 amplifier which adds some warmth , control and refinement to the sound (many times my Marantz cd 5000 sounds gorgeous and is given a new life thanks to this amp), but I can do better. For $150 (150 euro) my cd player can be tweaked by a store who puts valves in them and it will then go through life as a Heart cd 5000, but I don't know what it will sound like and how it rivals with a new $500 cd player. (Marantz cd 7300 or NAD 542) Any suggestions?
nout
Unregistered guest
Posted on
The tweak will cost $300, not $150 Sorry for that.
I am researching DAC outboards now. It seems that a good one is almost the same cost nowadays as a good cd player that already has one on board. I mention this only because I am trying to "tweak" or add now myself.
arnout
Unregistered guest
Posted on
But do you think a good (outboard)DAC will be better than a new cd-player when both cost the same?
Anonymous
Posted on
Without a shadow of a doubt! A good outboard DAC is designed to be transport independant. Therefore with the right DAC a $50 CD player and $700 DAC will outperform any $1200 CD player. The trouble with combined players is they have to get everything in under a budget. Compromises are made. An independant DAC has only to convert a digital signal to analogue and do it well. If you have a half decent transport why buy something that uses the same basic components as you already own? Most $500 CD players are pretty much the same with only minor differences in sound especially in the mass market ranges. Look to a second hand DAC. MF Trivista, TAG DAC 20, MF A3.24. There are plenty more but these are some of the best. All can be had second hand for about $600 or less. You've also got the advantage of adding in any other digital source just by plugging it into the DAC.