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What am I missing using a 20 year old CD player??

I have the Sonographe SD-1 CD player which I purchased in 1988. Sonographe was a subsidiary company of Conrad Johnson. They modified a Magnavox 2610 CD player to produce the Sonographe SD-1. The unit has operated flawlessly for 20 years. Overall, its sound is clean textured and dynamic, but also can sound hard and somewhat sterile or digital. This "characteristic" has been consistent through several speaker systems I have owned over 20 years. It was formerly mated to Aragon and CJ electronics until recently. My current system is a Creek Classic SE5350 integrated amp; a pair of new(recent) Silverline Preludes and Analysis Plus Oval 12 speaker cable, and a Audio Magic Spellcaster II interconnect. Therefore, I am curious how much better have CD players gotten in the last 20 years. What might I be missing sound-wise that would offer noticeable improvement??? I ask because I am considering the Rega Apollo player. Finally, I was told by a high end audio specialist that I might need to spend to $1500-2000 to better the Sonographe. I question that because it only received above average reviews. I think, though not sure, Stereophile put it in their "C" equipment category..... Any and all advice welcomed. Thanks, Jimbo
sunnyjim

Showing 1 response by mrtennis

mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
a better question might be:

"what am i missing using a current cd player" ?

both questions are rather ambiguous, or at best could be answered positively or negatively.

the idea is to audition cd players, comparing them to the sonographe. if a player is preferred over the sonographe and is deemed a good value, it would make sense to replace the sonographe.
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