New CD player

[BlindDumbdeaf]

Currently using a Marantz 6000ki (MF a3.5 amp and MA GR10 speakers). Budget of £1000. Any suggestions?

[shahedz]

might be an idea to write what type of music you like also what about your current system youre not happy with and what you would liek improvement in

[BlindDumbdeaf]

I listen to rock, electronica, classical, soundtracks, ambient, etc.
I would like better soundstaging, separation and clarity.

[bryan w]

Originally Posted by BlindDumbdeaf

I listen to rock, electronica, classical, soundtracks, ambient, etc.
I would like better soundstaging, separation and clarity.

shanling cdt 80 excellent player for the money£650

[dynamic turtle]

There are millions of threads here on "best cd player for X amount" - have you done a search?

Anyone, IMHO £1k is an enormous sum of money for a cdp (even though personally I would be willing so shell-out that much, it would mostly be out of curiosity).

You amp & speakers are pretty good, (although ultimately I find that MA sound bright and MF's recent output is poor value). Given your interest in the better-known brands, I'm not going to recommend anything esoteric!

The obvious choice would be an MF X-ray, A3CD, or if you can find one, an F-series (luuuurvely valve output jobby from the mid-nineties). All of these should be available under £500.

I personally like Meridian spinners. They were very well-built (although again, recent models use crappy cd-rom mechs), so mid/late nineties models like the 506.24 or 507 should be in your budget. Even better would be a 500 transport + 563 DAC. Yummy.

Marantz also make some some under-rated crackers in that price bracket, though they look very prosaic and have similar transport issues to Meridian. CD17MkII KI isn't everyone's cuppa - its very smoooooth, but it should compliment your system well.

Millions to choose from, but just remember that cdp's don't sound a world apart and you really ought to think twice about dropping £1k on one.

Rgds,
DT

[usman24]

I recently upgraded my interconnects to van den hul D102 mk3 [second hand] and it was like upgrading the player. Also worth replacing the feet with vibrapods. This makes quite a difference. Before spending money on an upgrade it might be worthwhile getting some top notch interconnects and some vibrapods to improve vibration damping. If this does not satisfy you, you can always buy high end cd players second hand/ex-demo rather than new.

Just a few ideas.

link to vibrapods:

http://www.hificables.co.uk/ProductD...4-a90d397d7280

Have you tried replacing the mains lead on the player? I know its captive but you could always cut the cable about 2 inches from the player and fit a relevant iec socket and purchase a silver plated mains lead, silver plated mains plug and silver plated iec connector from somewhere like the missing link:

http://www.the-missing-link.net/prod02.htm

this is exactly what I did with my ki player.

link to van den hul:

http://www.hificables.co.uk/ProductD...4-a90d397d7280

[BlindDumbdeaf]

Thanks for the responses. I will be demoing the A3.5 against my 6000ki tomorrow. Already using the van den hul mkiii IC. Vibrapods eh?

[BlindDumbdeaf]

Demo'd the A3.5 against my 6000ki today.

Completely underwhelmed at the lack of any substantial difference (certainly not a £1000 worth). If anything, I prefer the sound of my KI.

I expected a real leap in overall quality (especially considering I only paid £200for the KI) and the differences were minimal.

Thanks for the advice.

[Mr_Sukebe]

Try a Chord DAC64, meant to be rather special, and available at that price s/h.

[Drew2]

Send your KI to Audiocom and have them do the 'full upgrade' on it.
If the loader is working fine then go the recycle route - you wont be disappointed.

[dynamic turtle]

Originally Posted by BlindDumbdeaf

Demo'd the A3.5 against my 6000ki today.

Completely underwhelmed at the lack of any substantial difference (certainly not a £1000 worth). If anything, I prefer the sound of my KI.

I expected a real leap in overall quality (especially considering I only paid £200for the KI) and the differences were minimal.

Thanks for the advice.

I think you'll find this to be a common experience when auditioning cd players. The differences can be very subtle, if at all audible, hence why some of us (myself included) make do with good dvd players for cd....

Also, bear in mind that high-end cdp's can be too transparent for their own good, rendering anything other than the most well-recorded music unlistenable.

If you're after a different presentation, you'd be better off looking at valve output cd players. At least then you can experiment with different tubes to get a suitable sound for your ears. I'll be buying one shortly (Cayin SCD-T50) to experiment with. Hopefully the results will be interesting.....

DT

[Sofa1]

Originally Posted by dynamic turtle

I think you'll find this to be a common experience when auditioning cd players. The differences can be very subtle, if at all audible, hence why some of us (myself included) make do with good dvd players for cd....

Also, bear in mind that high-end cdp's can be too transparent for their own good, rendering anything other than the most well-recorded music unlistenable.

If you're after a different presentation, you'd be better off looking at valve output cd players. At least then you can experiment with different tubes to get a suitable sound for your ears. I'll be buying one shortly (Cayin SCD-T50) to experiment with. Hopefully the results will be interesting.....

DT

I agree. more or less, solid state CD players are more or less, prety same and hard to spot any differencies. you're right, the only way to get something different is tubed players.

anyway, i can't find any info for Cayin SCD-T50? is this the right model number?

[Drew2]

And here's one I would love to buy.

http://www.ornec.com/products/0/1000...layers/Product

or

http://www.ornec.com/products/0/1001...layers/Product

[Sofa1]

Originally Posted by Drew2

And here's one I would love to buy.

http://www.ornec.com/products/0/1000...layers/Product

or

http://www.ornec.com/products/0/1001...layers/Product

nice design, but the sound is nothing special.

and everything which is originally chinese electronics of any kind, including simple AA bateries are just unreliable crap i went to audio show couple of months ago and one of those SF Shanling's CD players are stoped to work in the midle of presentation

[Jimholt]

Esound CD-E5