Hi, recently my Quad 66 cd player started skipping. I disassemble / reassembled / cleaned the device, checked its bearings etc. and everything seems ok at the moment. But as this second hand device has been serviced before by the seller (display replacement, soldering), I'm not sure how long this device will last as it is an old device. I like the fact that the cd tray opens 100% (my much newer Marantz opens just 80% by design which I find unpractical as I can't insert cd's vertically) and the Marantz player automatically closes the tray after a (too small) timeout. And I prefer the Quad 66 esthetically, also because it fits my Quad 606 MKII power amp + Quad 66 pre-amp.
After disassembling my cd player I came up with the idea of looking for a second hand replacement Quad cd player. But I'm too afraid I will run in problems again as cd players feel too technically complicated / fagile. So I started looking for a new player. I checked the Quad Artera series, but I don't like the looks. After a while I discovered a cd player by the French Atoll company which seems to have a similar width as the Quad MKII power amplifier:
https://www.atoll-electronique.com/e...-player-md100/
I guess this player would make an esthetically good mach to the Quad set. If I'm correct, Atoll is a respected company? And if I'm correct, sound quality differences between DAC's / well designed players are negligible? (at least to my ears)
Another much more expensive option would be to sell the complete Quad set and replace it with a new set, for instance a Atoll cd player with an integrated amplifier:
https://www.atoll-electronique.com/e...ated-in200sig/
I'm wondering what would be the benefit: newer gear that would last longer? I quess there won't be much differenfce sonically. How would the Atoll amplifier compare to the Quad 606 MK2? Would it be as stable to drive big electrostatic panels? Or should I stick with the Quad 606MK2's?