What makes certain cd players better than others?


Hi all,

Basically asked my question on the subject heading.

Thanks
krazeeyk

Showing 1 response by krazeeyk

Hello all,

Thank you all for your responses, I will look into them in more detail. Zaikesman, this question came up after I pretty much decided on a CD player. I was just curious to see what paper specifications made a difference. I am familiar with D to A conversion, but not familiar enough to know how implementation specifics affect the final product. From what I understand, the beauty about digital is simplicity, its why we use it in the first place. It makes processing that much easier. But how that affected the sound of a product when compared to one costing 3 times as much is really a mystery to me. Its not as obvious as comparing cds to records. The question also stems from some discussions that I've read about Naim and Meridian units. From what I've heard, they are all fine and dandy, but I never really got the chance to take one home to really do some great comparison. I wanted to know if there was really a paper basis to justify the significant price. Being on a budget, I elected to take the second hand route, therefore did not want to pester hifi audio stores. Since I have no real intention of buying from them. So I am basically left with trial and error as my only means of finding that system I like. I am one that honestly believes that the way it sounds is all that really matters, the room I will be using is also quite large, larger than most listening rooms I've been in. Before I found out about audiogon, I did listen to the Grand Pianos, and serveral B&W nautilus speakers. I just liked the Fabers that much better, though that is the last component I am planning on purchasing. I do not really expect to gain that much exposure to other speakers, so I am pretty much limited to the choices that my experiences dictates. The musical fidelity gear is also a gamble, I've just read that they work well with the Fabers and are in my budget, thus I am on the market for those. But if you have any alternative amplification components, I'll gladly look into them. There are just too many variables in the equation for me to be able to merely isolate a single component to a certain sound, especially since I haven't heard these components together. So the only real way for me to get a good feel for whats going on is to take a small gamble. I have pretty much made a deal for an Arcam cd72 player. Buying it second hand lets me avoid the huge depreciation hit in the event I find it just isn't working out. I was considering the Musical Hall mmf-25 and the Rega planet 2000. Which I may try out later in this lifetime, but the deal arcam seemed pretty good, so I took the risk. I have an old magnavox that I've been using (one of the first cd players to come out)which I will make my own comparisons on. Hopefully I will find that the arcam is much better, or I will have to re-evaluate this whole hifi thing. Zaikesman, I hope this kind of narrows the playing field of my question. You do make a valid point about "what to listen for", and I would appreciate some insight on that if you would be so kind. This can help me during my evaluation of the Arcam. I have an idea of what I would like to hear, but do not know yet which component is responsible for it. One thing I really enjoy and look for is the full extension of an instrument. The plucking of a guitar string, the complexity of a symbol strike and its fully extended decay, the reverberation of a bass drum, and the extension of the rattles on a snair. These are things that I have started looking for in the music I listen to, but I lack the experience to tell me what component does what. If it is a cd player that does this, I could use some suggestions as well.

Thanks in advance