Wanted a high quality CDP, also to be an external DAC

trubluluc
trubluluc Posts: 2,067
edited October 2005 in Electronics
Guys-

I'm looking for suggestions as far as a high quality CD player that could also serve as an external DAC to my Sony 400 CD changer.
So I'm assuming it would need a Digital input.

Suggestions?

thanks,

-Luc
Post edited by trubluluc on
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Comments

  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,986
    edited October 2005
    Not many CDP's with a Digital input. Lots of good transports, depending on your pricepoint. AMC / Cambridge, California Audio Labs, Marantz, CEC (belt drive if you can find it), and Music Hall - to name a few.

    DAC's? Endless possibilities. The Scott Nixon Tube DAC and the Ak! Dac are giant killers.

    Cheers,
    Russ
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,536
    edited October 2005
    May want to check out a used Musical Fidelity CD Pre 24, which seem to be going for around $1100 these days. It's a combination CD player/analog preamp/digital switcher/DAC with a couple of digital inputs usable for input from Sony CD mega-changers.

    Review
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  • trubluluc
    trubluluc Posts: 2,067
    edited October 2005
    I have found a couple of these for about $500. And they have the digital imput.
    I'd prefer the player route to a stand alone DAC, as I still like having a single player to demo discs, before committing to put them in the CD changer.


    Thanks for the suggestions Russ and Emlyn,

    -Luc
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  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
    edited October 2005
    RuSsMaN wrote:
    The Scott Nixon Tube DAC and the Ak! Dac are giant killers.

    Cheers,
    Russ

    What's the Ak! worth (paying for that is) Russ?
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  • tryrrthg
    tryrrthg Posts: 1,896
    edited October 2005
    peersool wrote:
    What's the Ak! worth (paying for that is) Russ?
    http://www.ack-industries.com/dAck!.html

    an FYI, The Ack! Industries dAck! runs on a battery pack so you would have to deal with that.
    Sony KDL-40V2500 HDTV, Rotel RSX-1067 Receiver, Sony BDP-S550 Blu-ray, Slim Devices Squeezebox, Polk RTi6, CSi3 & R15, DIY sub with Atlas 15
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  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
    edited October 2005
    tryrrthg wrote:
    http://www.ack-industries.com/dAck!.html

    an FYI, The Ack! Industries dAck! runs on a battery pack so you would have to deal with that.

    Yikes! Thanks for the info!
    Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
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  • trubluluc
    trubluluc Posts: 2,067
    edited October 2005
    ....
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  • trubluluc
    trubluluc Posts: 2,067
    edited October 2005
    ....I looked at the Musical Fidelity CD Pre 2, and it is an awesom unit.
    A couple of things are steering me away from it.

    1. Not many to be had and they are about $1100.
    2. Don't need most of the advantages it offers.
    3. I know it's stupid, but I #*!ing hate silver componentry.
    I have all black gear, speaker fronts, cable, rack.

    So I'm thinking I will most likely go with the California Audio CL-15 for $500.

    Is there any reason I should not go with this unit?

    -Luc
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited October 2005
    One of the nicer, actually excellent sounding, cdp's with an additional digital input is the Adcom GCD-750. It uses the same configuration/output as the stand alone GDA-700 Dac. It's a hell of a nice sounding unit. Class B (I think) Stereophile player. They can be had fairly cheap these days about $1300 new and between $500-700 on Audiogon. When my cdp craps out this is the unit I will repalce it with. The display can be a bit hard to read unless you are staring at it on the same level and can't it be seen from a distance. The remote is basic, but it's one solid cdp that is very open and detailed.

    FWIW

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited October 2005
    trubluluc wrote:
    ....I looked at the Musical Fidelity CD Pre 2, and it is an awesom unit.
    A couple of things are steering me away from it.

    1. Not many to be had and they are about $1100.
    2. Don't need most of the advantages it offers.
    3. I know it's stupid, but I #*!ing hate silver componentry.
    I have all black gear, speaker fronts, cable, rack.

    So I'm thinking I will most likely go with the California Audio CL-15 for $500.

    Is there any reason I should not go with this unit?

    -Luc

    Aren't Cal's known to have some breakdown issues occasionally. Can they still be repaired easily. I may be mistaken
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited October 2005
    Here's a quick and dirty link to a review on the GCD-750

    http://www.adcom.com/itemreviews.htm

    Here's one FS on Audiogon...no affil..

    http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlplay&1132365673

    Funny there are usually atleast 3-4 forsale.

    Hope this hepls you make a decision

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • trubluluc
    trubluluc Posts: 2,067
    edited October 2005
    Heiney9-

    Just read the review and see that it does have the digital input.

    Thanks Man for the suggestion !

    Does the Adcom have a digital imput, so I can use it as a DAC to my CD changer?


    -Luc
    heiney9 wrote:
    One of the nicer, actually excellent sounding, cdp's with an additional digital input is the Adcom GCD-750. It uses the same configuration/output as the stand alone GDA-700 Dac. It's a hell of a nice sounding unit. Class B (I think) Stereophile player. They can be had fairly cheap these days about $1300 new and between $500-700 on Audiogon. When my cdp craps out this is the unit I will repalce it with. The display can be a bit hard to read unless you are staring at it on the same level and can't it be seen from a distance. The remote is basic, but it's one solid cdp that is very open and detailed.

    FWIW

    H9
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited October 2005
    trubluluc wrote:
    Heiney-

    Does the Adcom have a digital imput, so I can use it as a DAC to my CD changer?

    -Luc

    YES....that's one of the great things about it besides the sound quality. If you have a chance click on the link in previous thread to get an idea of what the unit sounds like (accoring to a reviewer) My brother had one for a while so I have auditioned the unit and it really is a great sounding unit. Much better sounding than the price would indicate and at $550 used its a steal, IMO

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • trubluluc
    trubluluc Posts: 2,067
    edited October 2005
    Can anyone else substantiate this?
    I really don't know anything about them, but if they have issues I'd like to know before I buy one.

    -Luc

    heiney9 wrote:
    Aren't Cal's known to have some breakdown issues occasionally. Can they still be repaired easily. I may be mistaken
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,513
    edited October 2005
    trubluluc wrote:

    3. I know it's stupid, but I #*!ing hate silver componentry.

    It's not stupid. Your just fussy and particular is all. I know cause I don't care for the silver stuff either. :D
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited October 2005
    CAL (California Audio Labs) is out of business.. so getting parts and repairs may be difficult. I have a CAL Alpha Tube DAC. while i like it... it really has no moving parts.. so i'm not real worried about repair problems in the future. CAL in a lot of cases overbuilt their products to last.. but they are still electronics.. and electronics at some point will eventually fail or need repairs.

    Give it a try.. you can always turn around and resell it for what you paid for it..
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  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
    edited October 2005
    SCompRacer wrote:
    It's not stupid. Your just fussy and particular is all. I know cause I don't care for the silver stuff either. :D

    + 1 - I don't care for the silver either.
    Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
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  • trubluluc
    trubluluc Posts: 2,067
    edited October 2005
    I didn't know they were out of business. I thought they were bought by Go Video and turned into Sensory Science or something like that.
    If they are out of business, that's not good.

    -Luc


    danger boy wrote:
    CAL (California Audio Labs) is out of business.. so getting parts and repairs may be difficult. I have a CAL Alpha Tube DAC. while i like it... it really has no moving parts.. so i'm not real worried about repair problems in the future. CAL in a lot of cases overbuilt their products to last.. but they are still electronics.. and electronics at some point will eventually fail or need repairs.

    Give it a try.. you can always turn around and resell it for what you paid for it..
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