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Need advice! Do I upgrade DAC or buy a new player?

Hello all...I have been heavily back into analog for the past 3 years however I have come to cycle in my audiophilia that I am listening to a lot of CDs again.  I have about 300 mostly from '98 and back.  Don't get me wrong I am vinyl through and through but there are a lot of CDs I have that are shall we say casual listeners.  I have no desire to replace them with there vinyl brethren but I know many are very, very good and well recorded.  My dilemma is this I have a fairly decent system and a CD player that I think is "ok" but I want better sound and seeing as there are 10-30k CD players there must be a better option problem is I am not gonna spend that kind of money (even if I could).  So the question is do I upgrade my DAC and use my current CD Player or do I just get a "better" player?  Oh here are the system dynamics:  I use an Audio Research SP20 pre amp mated to a Bryston  14B SST2 speakers are Def Tec 7000sc's I don't think my vinyl preamps matter nor do the tables so I will omit them....
The CD player is an Emotiva ERC-3, I like the player but want a better soundstage a bit deeper and dare I say more analog sounding.  I am a huge soundstage freak so if a sacrifice were to be made it would not be there.  I am running balanced out of the Emotiva.  I don't need SACD but ok if it's there.  I don't have a problem with pre-owned I don't need a DAC that downloads FLAC or can be hooked up to any other sources other than the Emotiva being used as a transport.  As for budget I would say $1,500 to $2,000 if it makes sense.  Any advice would help thanks!  
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armydicked's avatar
armydicked
4 posts
 
I too, am facing this exact dilemma. I am a born again VinylHead yet I have CDs 💿 that will never be converted to vinyl.

I adore my Acurus ACD11 which matches my Acurus A150 AMP & Acurus RL11 PREAMP however, it’s the Acurus ACD11’s 1997 1 Bit Burr Brown DAC that I found wanting. So I did the next best thing—-I slapped in an SMSL Sanskirt Anno 6 with its dedicated SMSL Linear P/S and it sounded Fantastic (Wolfson WD 8740 DAC was SOTA in 2014).

So should I run out and buy the new SMSL Sanskirt 10 anno, the Topper D30, the Chord or fill in yer blank here? 
Not necessarily!!!

Since Im using the Acurus ACD11 as a transport, the best I can achieve on its Digital Output is 24 bit/192KB—-which is what I have now. That means it’s pointless to do DSD 512 or upwards else 64/720KB PCM because, if I’m using the outboard DAC for the ACD11—I am throttled down to 24bit/192KB. Would a better (newer) DAC chip make my CDs sound better than I already have with the Wolfson WD 8740? I’m not inclined to think so.

CDs are an obsolete, 40 year old musical delivery system which most people do not buy new—-I stream mine on Apple iTunes/IMusic. My ACD11 Grandpa Box gives me sufficient audio pleasure (Because with COVID-19 you can’t get the oral kind anymore) when I’m too feeling rushed to do 180g LPs.

if I get a dedicated music streamer, yes, I will get into DSD 512++ but I can’t see my upgrading the SMSL to a better outboard DAC.





rodge827's avatar
rodge827
614 posts
 
For a CD player look into the Sparkler Audio s503 ($1600) I have one and the NOS Dac sounds fantastic! I use it now as a transport and it rivals some of the best I’ve had! Been around this hobby for a loooong time and have had a lot of gear but this is a very good player. Be safe,
Chris

http://charneyaudio.com/sparkler.html

jafant
18,796 posts
 
rikintpa

Consider an Audio Research cd player to match the SP20 pre-amp.

Happy Listening!
tweak1
3,531 posts
 
This is a very old thread, but since there are a few new posts, here's my recommendation buy a Oppo 105 (which has built in VVC) You can buy used 105s ~ $900. then upgrade


Im not a DIYer by nature, but the Asian company I purchased the following from has easy to follow photos on installing the upgrades


Go to eBay and select whichever Linear Power Module you can afford, also get the 110/220 jumper and replace your IEC with one that has a superior IEC (mine has Furutech with a silver jumper that connects to the LPM.


It's so good that I no longer use a preamp

hth
mesch
3,394 posts
 
@rikintpa What did you decide?
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