CD player improvements

[Ian7633]

I am in the camp where I am unconvinced of paying out a lot for a dedicated transport.

I use a Pioneer Stable Platter PD-S705 CD player as a transport for my Beresford Caiman SEG Dac. It cost £39 in mint condition off eBay. It has a button which can switch off the analogue output (also the display can be switched off). The Stable Platter mechanism reads even beat up discs quickly and efficiently. Also there were thousands of the Pioneer sold so there are always plenty of spares available.

BTW I also run a Musical Fidelity Tube Buffer with my setup. Mine is the older X10D I had it completed overhauled by Mike the guy at Rock Grotto. I also bought one of his Little Pinkie power supplies for it. Looks like they do an upgrade and power supply for your X10 v3 too :-

Upgrade Kit:-
http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/x10v3mods.htm

Little Pinkie Power Supply :-
http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/pinkiepsu.htm

My v3 has had the upgrades done before I got it but the power supply looks very good. I've heard good things about the Pioneer stable platter units.

[Spectral Morn]

Transports make a heck of a difference. Those that say any old thing will do etc to my mind haven't really tried many out.

Dedicated transports make a big difference and in regards to best sound Coax should be best (if implemented via a bnc that would be best) then the xlr type, then last optical unless its an ATAT one, but those are rare in the UK.

The mechanism is very important as are other factors mentioned, and in my experience DVD or PC drives are not as good as a dedicated CD only mech, VRDS, Philips Pro, CDM1.

I have compared many over the years but the real smacker re this was comparing two Esoteric transports the P5 and P3, both using Teac VRDS mechanism, though with differences, but a common heritage, both also contemporary to each other.

Based on the usual straw man arguments the dearer transport, £7000 dearer, should have sounded exactly as the P5 did. It didn't. It destroyed the P5. More information retrieval, greater depth of soundstage, width, height, tonal shades better delineated, more weight and scale, more 3 dimensional, bass deeper with more nuancing. Every where it was better. Of course I am deluded and deaf..... not. Deaf man on a galloping horse, in a wind tunnel could have heard the differences.... not subtle.

I have heard this sort of thing over the years, Micomega transports, Audiomecha transports, Wadia, etc, etc.

The cambridge audio is not going to be a patch on a more vintage transport, re this modern isn't best as frankly few companies use, or can get dedicated mechanisms, and some PC, DVD transport isn't anywhere near as good as a well made, solid old school, CDM 1 or Philips Pro or VRDS.

[smithie]

Trust me Paul, I know so little about this that all thoughts and advice are very welcome, after all experience is often the best information.

hi ian
i never like giving advice,at the end of the day its just a opinion and a conclusion that ive come to ,and i would also add that ive had some great fun with the journey,so dont deprive yourself of that by taking anyones views as gospal ,play and try if you can...always trust what your hearing and what you like...no rights or wrongs here,its just what suits you and your system best
ill add some of my thoughts when i can and share....just knee deep with a soldering iron and a precision cdp and pds901 at the moment

regards
smithie

[roob]

If you want something modern and decent sounding then the Cambridge CXC fits the bill at £300.
Someone on pfm reckons it outperforms his Naim NDX!

[smithie]

ok...first off i better state that transports do make a difference and i see that some of the old great classic mechs and transports have been mentioned and praised,and i for one totally agree with that view,trouble using and buying them these days is there fetching silly money and alot could end up as expensive paper weights when the laser and various other parts eventually chucks in the towel,plus theres the balance thing....are you gonna really pay silly money for a transport when your using such a modest dac(not knocking anyone's dac,just pointing out that the deminsing returns thing can kick in quick in this game and it can be easy to get carried away with it all).
so many things come into play regarding a great sounding transport....stick a heavy house brick on top of a biscuit tin cd player and you should hear a worth while improvement....so solid heavy build is a plus,good independent power supplies,glass over plastic laser lens,suspension,clamping etc etc...everything makes a difference,then theres more....error correction,buffers,connections....no wonder they can sound different

so first off i would say....set the price you want to pay for the cd player/transport,and consider that price in relation to how good you feel your dac is,for me i would spend the most on the best dac i could afford and get something cheap and s/h for a transport,but my dac needs are very high as i run alot of stuff through it and it acts as a hub in my system,and not just used for a cd purpose
if you go modern and dedicated cd player then i think your find its only sanyo that makes the mechs /assemblies these days,but im not 100% on that,i guess what im saying is there all going to be a much of muchness there so now you need to start taking into account build,power supply's etc to see if any have upped the game over others you may be considering.
i see pioneer stable platter has been mentioned,and i think thats good advice and worth a try to see what you think...the stable platter bit is a total gimmick unlike the original highend versions of yesteryear that they are based on,but there fast and great readers regarding discs and have a clean digital output...just look for one with a coax output,and one where the laser lens hasn't fell out....pds505 would be good as they moved the rf section to the laser assembly for slight improvement in sound and seem to go cheap,i picked one of them up for £25,and you get to hear legatolink as well for free
just borrow,beg,steal and try any and all that you can till you find and hear something that suits you ian,dont dismiss dvd players to...im remembering a sony 7700 and pioneer 717 sounding pretty good at some point to....then if you have a large hifi rack go and find a old laser disc player....rush andrews swore by them
once you have found the transport/cp of your dreams,look for someone to mod your dac and transpor/cdp so that the transport/cdp is clock locked to the dac,if possible.

regards
smithie

[Ian7633]

I just like to say a huge thanks to everyone for all the great advice and information, it's given me much to think on. After much reading and digesting I've bought a Cambridge CXC, thanks for the info Andrew. The plan being that it will work well with my current DAC/tube buffer but will benefit from better spec units as and when I want to upgrade.

[Macca]

Please let us know what you think as I am considering buying one of those

[smithie]

way to go ian.
look forward to your review
regatds
smithie

[Colinijohnson]

Interesting...On upgrading my system, I bought a musical fidelity ac3 power amp (modified by jsaudio) to use with my Cyrus 7 as a Pre amp. I also acquired a Meridan 561 for basic home theatre 5.1, and to add a sub.
I haven't set up the power amp & Meridan yet, and I realise it's a bit dated - my question is - would its DAC be an improvement for my intended purchase of a musical fidelity CD player or indeed my dragonfly which I use for lossless streaming ( I think my ho laptop has a digital out!?).
I realise the only was it to try, but advice would be useful ... if possible I'd like to lose the Cyrus as a Pre should the Meridan prove superior....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[smithie]

colin
i think you've hit the nail on the head by saying "you need to try it for yourself"
i think it may just be "different"...of course that " different" may be more to your liking,or it may not
...................
the fact that its old shouldnt be held against it,providing it can meet your needs and functions,some of the best dacs ive heard have been really old tech.
ive always loved the look of the early meridan gear,just never got on with its house sound...but great stuff for sure,and that 561 sure looks a lovely unit....would love one of them just for the hell of it
be interesting to hear your views and findings once your up and running and playing.

regards
smithie