2. digital
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Upgrade Question for CDP

I currently have Cary 306/200 in my system and recently purchased new pure note interconnects. I brought out an old panasonic 5 disc changer to use while burning in Ic's and much to my surprise the sound difference between the two didn't seem that far apart. That got me thinking does it make much since to use Cary as transport and maybe go with modded Audio Mirror or maybe the Benchmark Dac? Not sure if I would get any Sonic improvements. I also have Cary slp 88 pre with AES Sixpacs and B&W 803d's. Thanks for any advice.
tdacash

Showing 2 responses by clio09

clio09
3,343 posts
 
Tdacash,

I have not heard the D2 but I ran the updates past TRL and they said to just send them the D1. They did not feel the upgrades added very much value to the sound and that the JFET output might actually be a step backward.

BTW - they said the D1 caps tested very well and they were puzzled why Vlad went with the Auricaps. Overall they were very impressed with the stock D1 which they said was one of the best DACs to come through their shop for mods. Talk to Paul Weitzel and he can advise you more on this, or feel free to email me and perhaps I can help more.
clio09
3,343 posts
 
I had considered the Cary CDPs as a one box solution prior to going the seprates route. I'm using an Alesis ML9600 as my transpot (also can be used as a HD player and CDR) with my Audio Mirror DAC (D1 not the new D2). I had both modified by TRL (see my review of the Audio Mirror). The primary reason I went with separates is that I favored the non-os sound that products like Audio Mirror, Audio Sector, Audio Note and 47 Labs offer. The sound is smoother and much more analog like. If you want to read more about this philosophy go to the Audio Note and Shigaraki websites to read the designer white papers.

I think the Cary CDP is a great unit. I have owned several Cary products including a Cary V12i (similar to your Six Packs) and an SLP-98. I used my digital set-up with both these Cary products and the sound was excellent. I tried the Benchmark with the Alesis and Cary set-up and did not like it. One option to consider is to use the Cary as a transport with a non-os DAC and then if you like you can switch back and forth between non-os and upsampling depending on the music. This is an option I seriously considered with a Cary 308T (I wanted tubes as well in the mix at the time). I still may go back to the idea.
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