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CD Changer?

I currently have the SONY CDP-CX90es 200 disc changer. This player sounds great with the rest of my very mediocre stuff. However, I've recently made a major upgrade to my whole system, by buying a whole bunch of stuff from Odyssey Audio - a new pre-amp (Tempest), two mono amps (Stratos) and a new pair of floorstanding speakers (Lorelei). I probably won't receive much of this until mid July.

My question is this - will I be able to get by with my CX90ES, or will it severely handicap my system? I have gotten spoiled by the changer, and don't really want to go back to a single disc player, but I will if I have to. I am very unsatisfied with the system I have now (Yamaha RX-V995 receiver and Polk Audio RM7200 surround) for audio, which is why I am doing this upgrade, and I don't want to be disappointed because of my CD player.

Does anyone have any impressions of my CD player? I don't have much comparison experience in this space so any information will help. If you think I am kidding myself by trying to keep this, are there any other CD changers that you think are good, or should I just stick to the single play ones?

Thanks for any advice you can lend me.
petequad

Showing 2 responses by killerpiglet

killerpiglet
374 posts
 
I lived with a 400 disc Sony ES changer as my main source for a while.
I squeezed out as much as I could out if.

Glass toslink cable, DIP jitter reduction, damped the cover.
It always fell short of even a modest Toshiba DVD player.

I finally gave in and listen now mainly through a Sony DVP-S7000 player modded by Empirical for transport use.

This is far better than the mega-changer, but I still keep it plugged in. It is still a lot of fun.

It's particularly useful for rock, since there are few rock album that are worth a listen all the way through.
Since I mainly listen to traditional Cuban "son" the single player gets most of the use, since in that genre there are hundreds of discs that are worth a full play.

If you want to get some mileage out of the mega-changer, I suggest you at get an external DAC and a glass toslink cable (this will only set you back about $30).
Even if you eventually go the single player/transport route, you might still want to keep it around.

http://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/2709.html

KP
killerpiglet
374 posts
 
Pete,
your changer does 2 things:
1 - spins and reads the disks.
2 - take this info (which is digital) and translate it to analog which is then output through the RCA outs to your pre.

So yes, it sits between the player and the pre.

They can run (like everything in audio) from a few hundred to umpteen thousand.

Keep in mind the mega-changer use optical for its digital output so you'll either need to get a DAC that support this or use something like a Monarchy DIP which will convert it to coax. These will run from 100 to 200 used depending on the model.

The DIP will also reduce the jitter on the mega-changer. My experience has been that this works well wit these players. A note on DIP's, for CD playback you only need the 16bit/44kHz model not the newer and more expensive 24/96 although both will work.

OK, so now I will echo what others have mentioned: relax, enjoy your new gear for a while. When we are first bitten with the bug for this hobby, well, we kinda get to kids at the bakery. All those sweets, and you wanna eat 'em all. I don't know if this can be avoided. But try. Like Marakanetz said, "don't hype yourself."

Enjoy what you have. Listen to the music, not the sound.

KP
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