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Music Hall CD25, Onix XCD-88, Rega Planet; Others?

I'm in the slow process of upgrading all of my components, and am fairly new to the audio hi-fi world, although I really love music. My old Adcom GCD-575 CD player is slowly giving out, and replacing it has become the obvious next step.

I've spent some time browsing over Audiogon, and other audio websites searching for a replacement, and have somewhat narrowed it down to the Music Hall CD25, the Onix XCD-88, and the Rega Planet original. As you can tell by my selections, I dont mind used, and dont have much of a budget either. I've read many good things about all three, but would like other people's opinions.

A little about my listening experience: I have had a Sony 508ES player, as well as the Adcom. I also have heard the Naim player (which was fantastic), and the Eastern Electric MiniMax (which would be ideal, but out of my price range). I love the sound of vinyl, the visceral feeling and "roundness" is wonderful for me, so I do enjoy the natural sound of music (if that makes any sense at all). Ideally, I want a player, and entire system that is very musical. I listen to my system for hours on end, so the imaging, etc would be secondary.

My current system is a Qinpu Integrated A1.0x, PSB Alphas, and the Adcom GCD-575. The Qinpu is new, and has a slightly warmer tone to it, with excellent mid-range. The PSBs will also be replaced at some point down the line, perhaps with Paradigm Studio 20s.

So I'm really open to your suggestions, either for the above 3 options, or any others as well. Also, what is the relationship btw Music Hall, Onix and Shanling?

Thanks,
Clint
autre

Showing 8 responses by autre

autre OP
63 posts
 
Viridian, Philojet, thanks for your opinions, it does help. For both of you, is the Planet that you have the original, or the 2000? Viridian, your post was great; I've also read some others that I believe were yours on this topic. One of the problems I've had with the Adcom is it plays older CDs that have less than great recording quite badly. The sound is similar to what you've described, etch and grain. A lot of the CDs I have tend to be of older vintage, 70s rock, pop etc., not audiophile level, but music that I really enjoy. The cohesiveness that you describe with the Planet sounds nice, but yet, I love to have the natural tones of the midrange (my favorite is female vocals) reproduced well. How does that work with either player?

Any others?
autre OP
63 posts
 
Mechans, thank you kindly for your food-laced reply, I know my wife would be drooling right now if she read it. I definitely appreciate your honest opinion on the Rega and the Music Hall. I've also gone over some of Trelja's old threads on players, and I see that he definitely is a wealth of information.

Choices, choices... Well, since I have not been able to audition any of the players yet, thats definitely the next step, if possible. There is a dealer here that hopefully has one or more of these units available for listening. It sounds like I may enjoy the sound of the Planet more, but I am very intrigued by the MMF 25, and the Onix, especially in light of all the high praise. I'd also love to listen to the Granite, but that may be almost impossible to demo here. The good thing is, it seems the 3 or 4 I've selected aren't bad choices at all.
autre OP
63 posts
 
Hi Italian Dave,
Thanks for your info too. You basically were looking at the same models I'm considering, so I'm glad you threw your 2 cents in! Did you change the op amps yourself, if not, can you tell me where you got it done?
Wow, posting the question here is paying off far better than I thought it would. Thanks to all of you! If you have any other ideas, please let me know.

Happy 4th!
autre OP
63 posts
 
Thanks for the info Armstrod. Sounds like the same thing is happening with my Adcom. Hopefully I can pick something up before it completely gives out. Well, now there are 3 reccomendations for the Onix. Its sounding pretty good. I auditioned a Music Hall 25.2 yesterday, and although it sounded great, there was simply no point of reference since the components used were quite different from mine. I've been waiting for an XCD-88 to come up here, but I havent seen one yet, although that CD25.2 for $350 sounds awfully tempting.

If any of you are selling any of these, let me know. I also have an Adcom GFA-555 that I'm willing to trade for, as well as other components.
autre OP
63 posts
 
Thanks Dave, glad you're on vacation, hope you're having a nice time. Thanks for the information. Now all I have to do is go out and actually purchase a player! Clint.
autre OP
63 posts
 
I just found out from the Rega repair tech in Cal that Sony no longer makes the laser units for CD players, which means that ends supply for a huge amount of older players of numerous brands. He advised me to stay away from older players (that use Sony lasers) for that reason. I thought that was quite candid of that Rega tech to share that bit of information; of course that did mean he tried to steer me towards purchasing the Apollo or the Saturn. Anyway, perhaps you all knew this already, but I thought I'd share this with all of you.
autre OP
63 posts
 
True, true. Good point Viridian, and thanks for mentioning the Philips info; I really didnt know about either, so its all new to me. You are correct about weighing the cost of repairs with the cost of another unit, after all that is the impetus for this purchase. Again, thank you all for your input.
autre OP
63 posts
 
I thought I would update this post since I've finally made a purchase. After going through numerous reviews, forum discussion posts, and emails to owners of each, I laid the cash down for an Onix XCD-88. The warmth and top-loading of the Rega really appealed to me, but several factors swayed me to the Onix:

1)The ease of upgrade capability, which I've read results in a significant improvement in quality.
2) Very few negative comments about the unit.
3) I was able to pick up a B-stock unit from av123 for only $219, which included a 3yr warranty.
4) The production quantity is very small (500 per year), hopefully giving more care to build quality, and according to the owner (see below), each is hand-built.
5) I was able to speak directly with Mark Schifter about his product lines, and came away with the impression that he really is commited to the quality of his components, and service to his customers. Of course it may just be rhetoric, but it was much more reassuring (and pleasant) than getting the information from a salesperson with no first hand knowledge about the products.

The caveat of this post is, as I have mentioned before, I'm pretty much a novice in the audiophile world, and of course that does equate with naitivity. Hopefully the Onix will be all that I have been told, and all that I hope it to be. I'll post a review after a good listening session.
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