2. digital
  3. 1266764419

The CD Player Lie?

Okay...the title is sensational, I know and it's NOT a lie of course, but read on.

Quite recently I had a chance to seriously compare a Jolida 100A, Rega Apollo and a low end modified Oppo. The oppo cost under 300 bucks. The Jolida was also modified and cost over 1500. We also tossed a Sony BD-320 Blu-Ray player into the mix.
Speakers were Magnepan 1.6 driven with a Odyssey Stratos, but we also had a one year old pair of Merlin TSM MMe's on hand along with Creek, Music Hall 25 and Rotel power. The Rotel 1080 was fed through a Rogue Metis (no mods) as was the Odyssey.

While none of this is ULTRA high end electronics, it's good stuff and the speakers are very much world class in transparency.

Here's what we found:

The best sounding player in the group was the least expensive in the Oppo. It had a shallow soundstage, but it's leaner mid-bass was truer to vocals, especially male. The Jolida sounded too thick by comparison, though it was smoother in the highs. The Rega Apollo came in second or first depending on what you wanted. It had a deeper soundstage, but also seemed a bit bright and overly crisp. It was a subtle issue and perhaps different interconnects would help. The Sony Blu-Ray player was a complete surprise. While it was bright like the Rega, it also seemed to extract more articulate bass info, to the point where we checked it's menu for any bass enhancement settings. In the end the Sony, which costs under 200 dollars, produced a viable and enjoyable sound that we certainly found livable, and downright fun.

After several hours of messing around we decided that ALL of the CD players had subtle differences, and all had weaknesses and advantages, especially switching to different systems. It was much like good speaker wires and MUCH less of a difference we had heard 10 years ago with various players. The rapidly improving technology has certainly shrunk the disparity between high end and mid fi by a large margin and you get an ever smaller set of diminishing returns when you step up to costlier CD players.
I had found this exact same result with my system last year, but this was a better test with more variety. My new system will be getting all new components, but I consider the new CD player the least important link in the chain, even compared to cables.

This is what we heard and agreed on. Certainly the "sense" of this hobby will generally not agree, especially if you just spent a fortune on a CD player. It probably DOES have different characteristics, but that's not always going to make it synergistic with the rest of your system. A Oppo beat the Jolida hands down with the Magnepans. There was no doubt. And the Sony did very well.

And that's the truth, at least according to our ears!

Cheers,

Robert B
NY
robbob
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
your conclusions do not surprise me.

A lot of what people perceive as good or bad in CD playback is purely subjective and a matter of preference. Different strokes for different folks (and systems). Nobody agrees on the best wine or flavor of ice cream, etc. etc. Its not hard or expensive to get good digital as a source these days. Getting the sound you want from teh system as a whole is a lot harder and possibly also more costly as a rule.
robbob OP
273 posts
 
Dave, none of the players sounded the same. My point is that the lowest priced of the lot really came quite close to what the "better" and far more expensive player was doing. The Jolida cost 7 times more than the Sony and I think the Sony was worse in some respects and clearly better in others. But the Jolida, a well respected machine, did not walk all over Sony.
I've also auditioned much more expensive CD players and I've generally come away underwhelmed. This has not been the case with speakers and amps where I think most higher end gear does sound better across the board.
But CD players have come a long way and the biggest strides in the format as we know have already been made, and trickled down to mid-fi. I'd never "expect" a 3000 dollar player to beat a 300 dollar one without hearing the evidence 1st. As I like to say, "The high end is not about price."

Cheers,

Robert B
NY
davt
500 posts
 
Sorry, I was did not mean to critisize your findings, I have also demo'd many items and found the cheaper was better to my ears. My Classe CA2200 is an example as when I demo'd it I did not know the cost and compared it to top stereo amps from companies such and Mc/P/S ect. I liked the Classe the most and was very happy to learn it was the cheapest of the bunch. I was more attempting to make fun of the idea that some people have that everything sounds the same or that if it is more expensive it must sound better. Also, the retail of audio often has little to do with the cost of manufacture or the value. You presented a detailed and well thought out review, my goal was to make fun of our assumptions not your presentation.
David
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 
The same things happens with all gear. Yes even amps, preamps etc. Price alone is no indicator of sound quality. Just as important is how it mates in your room, with your wire and other components.

Nothing new here and something all us Aphiles must always keep in mind. Your post is truth and is also truth for all gear!!!
chayro
2,926 posts
 
I am curious as to what music you were using for your comparisions.
More to discover