Welcome back to the fold, a born again audiophile is a blessed thing! If a system is revealing and transparent enough, I think digital today is can be capable of much more musically satisfying playback at lower price points than was common in the past. If I understand your question correctly, I don't think that you are going to hear anywhere near what digital is capable of at the $500 (new?) pricepoint. In some respects, I think the golden age of cd player technology is past. 10 years ago greater numbers of manufacturers were devoting more resources to R&D in designing players. The music market has moved away from selling hardcopies of music and downloads rule the music buying habits of the average younger buyer. There's less incentive to make cd players. Heck, dedicated cd drives from major electronic giants are basically dead, multiformat drives rule. So there's been an actual retrograde in the availability of dedicated cd drives. If you step up to the $1000 (more or less) price point, players like the Rega Apollo, Cambridge 640v2, Marantz SA8001 offer really fine performance than eclipses what was possible at that price years ago. You've got really good stuff for the rest of your system and you would really hear a difference stepping up from the $500 to the $1000 price point I think.
How Much Has CD Technology Improved in 14 Years?
As a "born again audiophile" I recently purchased an ARC VSi55, a pair of JM Labs Micro Utopia Be's and am awaiting the arrival of a new JA Michell Orbe SE and Tecnoarm.
Years ago, I purchased an inexpensive CD player to utilize with my previously existing system (Quad 57's with presently blown bass panal--no room in present home hence Utopia Micro's, Oracle Delphi, Audio Innovations integrated amp). At that time, I was listening almost exclusively to vinyl and had no interest in investing in a mid/high end CD player. The only reason my CD collection has grown over the past decade is because my previous system has been inoperable and the only medium available to me has been CD.
My question is what improvements have been made over time in the various parts of the CD player (DAC, optical reader, transport etc.) when comparing a moderately priced modern player of around $500.00 with my old clunker a JVC XL-V182? I would like to get the most out of my CD's and would like to get an idea of how much an improvement I can expect by replacing my old player. Also do I use digital cables for the interconnects?
Thanks,
Lash
Years ago, I purchased an inexpensive CD player to utilize with my previously existing system (Quad 57's with presently blown bass panal--no room in present home hence Utopia Micro's, Oracle Delphi, Audio Innovations integrated amp). At that time, I was listening almost exclusively to vinyl and had no interest in investing in a mid/high end CD player. The only reason my CD collection has grown over the past decade is because my previous system has been inoperable and the only medium available to me has been CD.
My question is what improvements have been made over time in the various parts of the CD player (DAC, optical reader, transport etc.) when comparing a moderately priced modern player of around $500.00 with my old clunker a JVC XL-V182? I would like to get the most out of my CD's and would like to get an idea of how much an improvement I can expect by replacing my old player. Also do I use digital cables for the interconnects?
Thanks,
Lash