Answered Will updating my CD be worth it/turntable question

Mr Moofo

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i currently have a system which is a Roksan k3 by amp. I used Spotify etc though an apple airport express and the a Cambridge Audio DacMagic. Speakers are B&W PM1s (small room!).
The CD unit is an Arcam CD72 ... from around 2002.
Again this is played through the DAC.
Is it worthwhile looking at updating the CD to something like the Roksan K3 CDi ... or will the improvements be marginal?
I am also rediscovering vinyl ... or trying to. The deck is an old Pro-ject Debut 2, with a Rega Carbon cartridge .... Everyone goes on about how great Vinyl sounds .... not using this!
Is it a case of upgrade the cartridge to an Ortofon 2M red and all will be revealed, or is a new deck needs to get anywhere near decent sound?
 
If you are using the DacMagic then upgrading the CD will IMO be imperceptible as the CD player is just extracting 1's and 0's off the disc which pretty much all players will do equally well and the DAC is doing all of the work in turning that data into an electrical output. It may be a different story if you use the analogue output of the different player as then you bring into play the internal dac and electrical circuitry which may affect the sound.

On the turntable, is it set up correctly i.e. on a very stable, isolated platform, is the arm balanced, weighted and level and is the cartridge aligned (plenty of youtube videos of how to do this and also cartridge alignment protractors that can be downloaded and printed if the turntable did not come with one). How old is the needle, may be worth replacing this first.
 
If the Arcam CD72 is working fine, I'd suggest just keeping it. The expense of replacing it will yield very little benefit.

Everyone goes on about how great Vinyl sounds!
Not everybody! It's called marketing. You can spend an absolute fortune on upgrading TT replay. When you've finished your £10K TT investment, your CD72 will still thrash the pants off it given a decent CD master of the same source. [Puts on fireproof jacket to protect his 1500 LPs].
 
You've got to love the snap, crackle and pop. Haven't you.
I don't think I've played any of my LPs through in years. But I have been taking advantage of all those big box collections to replace many of the LPs with the identical recordings on CD.
 
Okay, so I am not alone in thinking CD is a clearer format (tbh having listened to various stuff in vinyl, CD and streamed, vinyl comes last).
I even don’t understand this “warmth’ That everyone eulogises about. I thought it was just that the pro-ject was rubbish ....
That said, I do remember my youth and staring intently at gatefold sleeves.
 
Okay, so I am not alone in thinking CD is a clearer format (tbh having listened to various stuff in vinyl, CD and streamed, vinyl comes last).
I even don’t understand this “warmth’ That everyone eulogises about. I thought it was just that the pro-ject was rubbish ....
That said, I do remember my youth and staring intently at gatefold sleeves.
Hi mr moofo, no,both the physics ,the engineering and the measurements demonstrate again and again that CD is a superior medium . SACD is better again, but the difference might be imperceptible. Blu ray has the potential to be better again,but that is so far down tth path of diminishing returns .
I think we are now in the golden age of music reproduction. CDs can be acquired at 25 cents each in charity shops,and usually sisou just as good as when they were pressed 20 years ago.
 
Evening All - I'm reviving this thread as I have been offered a CD72. My first hifi was the Arcam Alpha CD so I'm nostalgically interested. I've 300+ CD's which admittedly I rarely play on a 2 year old £200 Denon CD I was gifted a while ago. I am upgrading my system shorting probably to the Quad Vena or similar.
Would their be any difference in quality between the Quad / Denon using the Quads DAc or introducing the Arcam and using I presume the Arcams DAC for best quality ? Comments appreciated
 
I’d be astonished if the Arcams sound through the analogue outputs is better than it would be output digitally to the Quad.

The Arcam was lauded as an excellent mid range CD player in its day, but dacs and their analogue followings have moved on since then.

I‘ve no doubt it’s still a mighty fine CD player, and may well still rival the Quads sound. But, better?, not much chance at all I’d say, and certainly not worth lashing out cash on the cd player.

If you have spare money it’s better to save it for better speakers in nearly all cases.
 
I don’t think any budget player will beat the Denons digital output into the Quad.

And even if you were to buy a used CD player of around £1200 quid or more (new price) and paid around £350 for it, you’d still get appreciably more gains by putting all and any extra cash toward the best speakers you can get instead.

Also, the above would hold even if you played a dozen or more cds a day; but as you play them relatively infrequently, extra speaker cash makes even more sense.

:smashin:
 
Thanks Mate, so any decent recommendations for speakers the Quad merits? Ive considered (not yet demoed) Quads own S1/S2, Dali Oberon and at the top end of what I'd consider paying the Dali Menuet.
 
How big is your listening room sir?
 
Small man cave approx 2.5m x 4m upstairs, carpeted. Listening post directly opposite at seated ear height.
 
In that case it might well pay you to get a listen to the S2s.

They are by many accounts, quite the exceptional speaker at the price, and if there’s anything to the notion of ‘synergy‘ then the Vena should get a good grip of them.

Its always a bit dubious recommending speakers. They are by far the most personal part of a hifi.

Also, it might be better to return when you have the cash ready. There are frequently some serious bargains to be had with the likes of end of line sales and what not.

Peter Tyson, for instance, have just had a superb sale of excellent Kef and Tannoy speakers for really quite give away money.
 

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