Best Fidelity

michael1947
michael1947 Posts: 775
edited March 2012 in 2 Channel Audio
I have been around this audio stuff for a long time but I need your assistance here. I'm hooking up a CD player to a pre-amp. The amp input has: balanced, rca, optical and digital coax and the CD player has: rca, optical, digital coax. I have all sorts of cables but I wanted your opinions on which one would give me the best sound quality. Thanks
Main Family Room: Sony 46 LCD, Sony Blue Ray, Sony DVD/VCR combo,Onkyo TXNR 708, Parasound 5250,
Polk SDS-SRS with mods, CSI 5 center + Klipsch SC2, Polk RT2000P rears, Klipsch KG 1.5's sides, Polk Micro Pro 1000, Polk Micro Pro 2000, Polk SW505, Belkin PF60, Signal Cable Classics,Monster IC's, 2 15 amp circuits & 1 20 amp circuit.

Living Room: Belkin PF60, Parasound HCA2200, MIT ProlineEXP balanced IC's,Emotiva XDA-1 DAC/Pre,Emotiva ERC2 transport,MIT AVT2, Polk LSI 9's.
Post edited by michael1947 on
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited March 2012
    Sorry Michael, rules state you must post a price, LOL.:cheesygrin:

    You posted this in the Flea Market section.
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited March 2012
    It depends on the components in question. Which rig/gear are you referring to?
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • michael1947
    michael1947 Posts: 775
    edited March 2012
    I con't believe I'm that stupid..nothing for sale except the air in my head.
    Main Family Room: Sony 46 LCD, Sony Blue Ray, Sony DVD/VCR combo,Onkyo TXNR 708, Parasound 5250,
    Polk SDS-SRS with mods, CSI 5 center + Klipsch SC2, Polk RT2000P rears, Klipsch KG 1.5's sides, Polk Micro Pro 1000, Polk Micro Pro 2000, Polk SW505, Belkin PF60, Signal Cable Classics,Monster IC's, 2 15 amp circuits & 1 20 amp circuit.

    Living Room: Belkin PF60, Parasound HCA2200, MIT ProlineEXP balanced IC's,Emotiva XDA-1 DAC/Pre,Emotiva ERC2 transport,MIT AVT2, Polk LSI 9's.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited March 2012
    I would compare the balanced and digital coax and see which sounds better to you. Either of those are what I would use depending on circuitry, processing, etc.
    Jake
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,965
    edited March 2012
    CDP doesn't have balanced so thats out. If I were you, digital coax would be my choice, unless the cdp is that much better than whatever your plugging it into, then I might go analog.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • quadzilla
    quadzilla Posts: 1,543
    edited March 2012
    Yeah, the determining factor will be whether the preamp or the CD player has the better DAC. If the CD player has the better DAC, then balanced will sound best. If the preamp has the best DAC, then the digital output from the CD player will sound better.
    Turntable: Empire 208
    Arm: Rega 300
    Cart: Shelter 501 III
    Phono Pre: Aural Thrills
    Digital: Pioneer DV-79ai
    Pre: Conrad Johnson ET3 SE
    Amp: Conrad Johnson Evolution 2000
    Cables: Cardas Neutral Reference
    Speakers: SDA 2.3TL, heavily modified
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  • michael1947
    michael1947 Posts: 775
    edited March 2012
    Now that's the kind of stuff I needed to hear, thanks everyone. The gear in question is a Denon 3910 DVD with the usual outs and the pre is a Emotiva XDA-1 which is a pre and a DAC. It has balanced and RCA out and I plan to use balanced out to the Parasound HCA 2200. I want to run 2 or 3 CD players to campare and there are several in's on the XDA Pre: Balanced, 2 opticals, a USB and a couple of rca looking guys co1 and co2 which the manual refers to as digital coaxial. I will also be hooking up a Yamaha DVD with the same outs as the Denon and an Emotiva ERC-2 which has: Output connection types: EAS/EBU, digital coaxial, digital optical toslink, unbalanced RCA, balanced XLR

    There's going to be a lot of wires going on here and I'm just playing around with the stuff to see if i can hear and difference. I'll be using MIT balanced and RCA along with an Emotiva optical. I like the idea of using the balanced out of the pre to the Parasound but will also listen to RCA for the same hook-up. Will be listening to LSI9's and try to get my Micropro 2000 hooked in but I'm not sure how unless I use one of the 2 digital outs from the Emotiva pre to the Micro-pro's LFE in but I think I read that is only for "movies" sound effects that are not in the regular audio track... I have most everything in the house now but am waiting on the interconnects. What do you think...too much.
    Main Family Room: Sony 46 LCD, Sony Blue Ray, Sony DVD/VCR combo,Onkyo TXNR 708, Parasound 5250,
    Polk SDS-SRS with mods, CSI 5 center + Klipsch SC2, Polk RT2000P rears, Klipsch KG 1.5's sides, Polk Micro Pro 1000, Polk Micro Pro 2000, Polk SW505, Belkin PF60, Signal Cable Classics,Monster IC's, 2 15 amp circuits & 1 20 amp circuit.

    Living Room: Belkin PF60, Parasound HCA2200, MIT ProlineEXP balanced IC's,Emotiva XDA-1 DAC/Pre,Emotiva ERC2 transport,MIT AVT2, Polk LSI 9's.
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