promising Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 My current setup is Marantz PM7001 AMP, Quad 11L speaker, and a samsung DVD player for playing CD temporarily. I feel marantz amp and quad 11L both have warm character. For slow vocal, it's pretty good and enjoying. However, it might be a little bit too slow and poor seperation for fast music or big orchestra works. The timing and sound clarity is not good. So I am in great need of upgrading my CDP to improve this. I am looking for a CDP with good sound clarity and fast processing speed, and hence can match with my warm and slow marantz 7001/quad 11L. Could u guys give me suggestions pls? my budget for CDP (not tube ones) is around $400-500, dun mind the second-hand. Thanks! Jason
bong Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Could u guys give me suggestions pls? my budget for CDP (not tube ones) is around $400-500, dun mind the second-hand. Hi Jason, good to see that your set-up is slowing coming together. If i recall correctly, there were already some suggestions for a matching CDP in your earlier thread about interconnects. but the best thing is still to listen for yourself. you're welcome to take a listen to the DVDP that I'm currently using (mentioned to you in a previous PM). good luck!
promising Posted August 20, 2008 Author Posted August 20, 2008 Thanks! bong. How do you think of CA 640c? or OPPO 980 with a DAC?
bong Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Thanks! bong. How do you think of CA 640c? or OPPO 980 with a DAC? hmm .. i'm not sure if the CA640c is within your $300 used budget. I think there's a used one of echoloft going for about $340, but it's the v1. the v2 is the one currently being sold. if i'm not wrong the difference is in the DAC and some other stuff (memory failing me). the v2 has been reviewed quite extensively with good results, but it doesn't appear that often on the used market (compared to the marantz 17/53/63/67etc ;D) however, i've never owned this, so i can't really give my own opinion. a comparable machine would be the NAD C542 that has been discussed quite extensively in another thread. as for the oppo 980, it is still a DVDP and, $ for $, the general audio community consensus is that a dedicated CDP will still outperform a DVDP. i used the oppo 980 as a stop-gap CDP in my hifi setup ( connected via digital RCA to a diyeden dac using CS4398 as the DAC) and it served its purpose at that point in time. last thing to consider, is redbook CD the only format you will be playing, or will you be also playing DVD-A and/or SACD? will this be multi-channel or still stereo (with SACD supposedly giving a higher resolution in stereo mode)? all this should be considered while you're making the decision. end of the day, we can only recommend. you need to account ultimately to your ears and your wallet (or joint bank account, if you have a spouse.) ;D
promising Posted August 20, 2008 Author Posted August 20, 2008 ya, it's good that the oppo 980 can play SACD, but actually I only have redbook CD. It seems there's few SACD on the market, right? If a dedicated CDP will beat oppo 980+DAC, then maybe I should buy a good CDP. my budget is increased to $400-500 now :)
terry1624705816 Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 If a dedicated CDP will beat oppo 980+DAC, "the Oppo DV-970HD is very good............its performance as a standalone player wasn't where I felt its true potential lies, but when connected to a good DAC it punched way outside its class". stereophile compares an oppo 980+dac to a us$6000 cd-player ;D http://www.stereophile.com/hirezplayers/507oppo/index.html
dqueksales Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Hi promising, If you are considering the NAD C542, I may want to let go mine. It is titanium (silver grey) in colour, very good condition. The C542 is well reviewed by bros here for its lively and punchy characteristics. It is definately within your budget. Do sms or call me at 9271-7745 if keen. Thanks David
bong Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 ya, it's good that the oppo 980 can play SACD, but actually I only have redbook CD. It seems there's few SACD on the market, right? If a dedicated CDP will beat oppo 980+DAC, then maybe I should buy a good CDP. my budget is increased to $400-500 now :) hi, if you noticed my earlier post, i didn't mention that a dedicated CDP will beat oppo 980 + DAC, it's that a dedicated CDP will beat a DVDP of the same value. Once you separate transport/DAC, then it really depends on the quality of the transport and the quality of the CDP, and how well they match. the attention will then be on how suitable the 980 is as a transport (issues of jitter/clock etc) give the C542 from queks a listen. it might just be what you're looking for! ;)
kelccm Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 I 2nd the choice of the NAD ;D But can also look out for the Cambridge Audio cdp. Same as you, I have ever thought of going the route of Oppo+DAC, but if you consider value vs sound quality, it will be hard to find a good combo with your current given budget.
promising Posted August 20, 2008 Author Posted August 20, 2008 "the Oppo DV-970HD is very good............its performance as a standalone player wasn't where I felt its true potential lies, but when connected to a good DAC it punched way outside its class". stereophile compares an oppo 980+dac to a us$6000 cd-player ;D http://www.stereophile.com/hirezplayers/507oppo/index.html ya, it sounds also a good solution.
promising Posted August 20, 2008 Author Posted August 20, 2008 Hi promising, If you are considering the NAD C542, I may want to let go mine. It is titanium (silver grey) in colour, very good condition. The C542 is well reviewed by bros here for its lively and punchy characteristics. It is definately within your budget. Do sms or call me at 9271-7745 if keen. Thanks David I am very interested. may i know if c542 has some prob on CD tray? like this http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/169450.html Thanks.
promising Posted August 20, 2008 Author Posted August 20, 2008 hi, if you noticed my earlier post, i didn't mention that a dedicated CDP will beat oppo 980 + DAC, it's that a dedicated CDP will beat a DVDP of the same value. Once you separate transport/DAC, then it really depends on the quality of the transport and the quality of the CDP, and how well they match. the attention will then be on how suitable the 980 is as a transport (issues of jitter/clock etc) give the C542 from queks a listen. it might just be what you're looking for! ;) I may prefer a dedicated CDP over separating transport/DAC :)
promising Posted August 20, 2008 Author Posted August 20, 2008 I 2nd the choice of the NAD ;D But can also look out for the Cambridge Audio cdp. Same as you, I have ever thought of going the route of Oppo+DAC, but if you consider value vs sound quality, it will be hard to find a good combo with your current given budget. u mean good combo of Oppo+DAC will be difinitely over $500, right?
bong Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 u mean good combo of Oppo+DAC will be difinitely over $500, right? depends on 1) which oppo you get (983/981/980etc) and 2) which DAC you get ... assuming that both are used ..
kelccm Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 u mean good combo of Oppo+DAC will be difinitely over $500, right? Yep, thats what I meant. Unless you happen to find 2 very good offers.
dqueksales Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 Hi promising, My C542 does not have any problems at all. The only reason I may want to change is the colour. If I sell this titanium C542, I will buy another C542 brand new but in graphite (dark green) to match the colour of my recentlly acquired NAD C372 amp. By the way, for anyone who buy my set, it will come with the brand new remote of the new one. Cheers! David
promising Posted August 21, 2008 Author Posted August 21, 2008 Hi promising, My C542 does not have any problems at all. The only reason I may want to change is the colour. If I sell this titanium C542, I will buy another C542 brand new but in graphite (dark green) to match the colour of my recentlly acquired NAD C372 amp. By the way, for anyone who buy my set, it will come with the brand new remote of the new one. Cheers! David I am a little bit torn between CA 640c and NAD c542. Because my setup is kind of warm (marantz amp and quad 11L), maybe cold 640c will match. btw, C542 is also very nice, just not sure whether it match my system :)
bong Posted August 21, 2008 Posted August 21, 2008 I am a little bit torn between CA 640c and NAD c542. Because my setup is kind of warm (marantz amp and quad 11L), maybe cold 640c will match. btw, C542 is also very nice, just not sure whether it match my system :) out of curiosity, have you heard both the players you're considering with your system, or is the feedback based on reviews etc? performance-wise, both these CDPs are great on paper, but you really should try to listen to 'em (in your own setup if possible) to make an informed choice. apologises if you've already heard both of them.
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