2. digital
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Opinions: ML 390S, Esoteric D70, Opus21, Capitole?

I'm looking to buy either a CD player with volume control or a DAC with volume control, and a couple of digital inputs. To get the most mileage out of my dough I'll buy used and likely "older" units, but then I also hear about how much digital has improved in "recent years". Been doing a fair amount of reading and would like your opinions to help narrow my search a bit more:

1. Esoteric D70. $2500. Would initially feed it from my CD player and later buy the P70. Had rave reviews back in 2004. Digital volume control. Very dependable, I hear.

2. Levinson 390S. $3500. Analog volume control. One less power cord and IC. Read comments of it having issues with reliability, though. Very good reviews in '04.

3. Opus 21. $3500. Very good reviews a few years back. Users seem to love it.

4. Audio Aero Capitole II SE. $3500. Users love it. Again one less PC and IC. Dependable?
5. McIntosh MDA1000. $4500. People at the Mac forum rave about it. Seems it would fit nicely with my Mac amp MC275. I don't know that Mac makes first class front ends, though, so I'm wondering how it might compare to the above.

6. Theta Gen.VIII. $5000. We are getting too expensive for me, but...Fantastic reviews once upon a time.

7. McIntosh MCD500. $5000. Again, maybe too expensive and a lot of good talk about it at the Mac forum, but the guys there might have a skewed perception. Recent launch and almost no talk about it here on Audiogon. Is it better than the players above from around 2002-04?

Sorry for the long post. Rest of system is Rotel CD player and pre amp (both going away ASAP), a MC275, B&W 804s, and Rel Storm III. SACD would be nice to have, but not needed.
I live overseas now. Auditioning is not posible and buying and selling is complicated, so I need to try and make a safe bet.

Thank you for withstanding this long post!
lewinskih01

Showing 1 response by kurt_tank

kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
I own one of the cd players you reference, (the Opus 21), and directly compared, in my system, another one, the Audio Aero Capitole II.

I feel that the Capitole II is just slightly better than the Opus 21, especially in the mid-range, as it sounds slightly more like analog to my ears. (The Opus 21 already sounds somewhat analog-ish (assuming that is a word!), which is one of the things that impresses me about it. In case you are wondering, I listen mostly to LPs, and so I much prefer the analog sound to digital.)

However, I would like point out a couple of differences between the two.
One, the Opus two has a regular front opening drawer, whereas the Capitole II has a top loading drawer with a sliding cover, and when inserting the disk, a "puck" must be put on top of the cd. I disliked that aspect of operating the Capitole II, to the point that despite it was slightly sonically better than the Opus 21, I felt it was not worth the hassle to upgrade to it. And two, the cost of the Capitole II you list is the used price, whereas the cost of the Opus 21 is the new price. (Used they typically run just a bit over $2K.) Which means that, IMHO anyway, that the Opus 21 is a better bang for the buck cd player.

Another player you might want to put on you list is the EMM Labs CDSA. It is a wonderful redbook cd player, and it is an incredible SACD player to boot! There was one listed here on Audiogon for a good price of $5,550, but unfortunately it sold.

Good Luck in your search.
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