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Upgrade my CD player or futile effort?

I would appreciate you guys input. I listen to 90% vinyl  and 10% CDs due to a lot of new music I get into only comes out on CDs. My analog system sounds fantastic to my ears but unfortunately my digital falls short. My analog system consists of:
-VPI Classic 1 TT
-Lyra Kleos cart
-PS Audio Stellar phono preamp
-Prima Luna 100 preamp
-Parasound Halo A21+ amp
-PBN Montana XPS speakers
-Dual Rythmick
F-12 subs
My CD player is a Marantz CD6005 running through my analog system.
Compared to my vinyl, overall the sound from my CDs lacks the depth and definition in bass, comes short in the soundstage and overall space in presentation and does not have the
same clarity in treble.
If I rate my analog sound a 9, I would rate my digital CD a 7.
My question is, would I benefit from a better CD player, even so the CD6005 is no slouch, or am I gonna end up in a goose chase?
I realize my CDs may never sound as good as my vinyl, but I would try to improve it if you guys think it would be worth the effort. Are there really some outstanding CD players out there that can measure up to vinyl? Personal experiences only please, do not need sales pitches by equipment associations you may have never listened to. Also all my cabling and room setup is a 10 to me with the analog so I wouldn't change any of that for my CD player listening.  Thanks.

128x128baylinor

Showing 4 responses by charles1dad

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 
@baylinor,
Congratulations on your very successful move to improve your digital front end. It would have been easy to default to a snobbish mindset and assume that digital can not compete with your analogue front end.

Now you can easily enjoy music with either format which I’m a strong advocate of. You approached this with an open mind and good attitude. Good news is as pleased as you are you can easily improve your digital front end further for reasonable cost if the desire to do so ever strikes.
Charles
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 
@baylinor,
Congratulations and I’m glad your early listening impressions are so favorable. I do believe that you are in store for further sound quality improvement with additional burn-in time. You have a good quality DAC and it will undoubtedly elevate sonically with a better transport connected to it. But no rush, one step at a time, get use to/ familiar with your new DAC.
Charles
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 
https://youtu.be/bb-O8JF24P
@baylinor you may find this worthwhile.  Looking forward to your listening impressions between the two digital components if you have the time to do so.
Charles 
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 
@orenstein,
" I realized you’ve already committed to a specific upgrade but I’ll add my 2 cents anyway. As important as a DAC may be, the transport is at least equally significant. The elimination of vibration and an accurate reading of the disc is where all the sound originates. If that part of the system is inferior, everything which follows wilOrnstein,


Words of true wisdom and experience. Too often I read well meaning advice in regard to digital audio. It generally over emphasizes the DAC and treats the transport as an afterthought (Any run of the mill CD player will do). Yes a CD player or cheap transport will function, but not at a high level.

Choosing a high quality, well designed/engineered transport will result in a significant improvement (Compared to any old CD player will do mindset) in CD playback sound quality. They deserve the same level of thought and consideration as the DAC. Both are important and should be viewed as a matched pairing. No one would saay I have an excellent cartridge so the turntable,  tone arm or phono stage don't matter as much. The entire front end chain matters.
Charles
"
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