Thanks for asking about the budget. This is definitely a BUDGET system. Used is OK (especially for the DAC, with no moving parts). I would say we'd like to keep the whole digital chain at or below $400. The TV has an optical out and I believe has HDMI out.
Seeking CD Player with Digital Inputs
I have a friend who I'm helping to put together his first reasonable stereo. He needs a source. We were thinking that he could get a lot out of a CD player with digital inputs - one could be used for his TV (optical) and one for a streamer (coax). Does such a thing exist? Or would it be better to look for a DAC with three digital inputs (CD, streamer, TV). Thanks in advance for any ideas.
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The writing was on the wall that streaming was going to become a dominant force fifteen years ago or so. Most good CD players began putting inputs on them and usually selling them as CD Player / DACs. Because the DAC was the primary function with a transport added. Slowly they migrated from CD Player with DACs to DACs with transports and finally many have discontinuing the transport all together. Most CD players built in the last ten years that are not consumer should have digital inputs. |
I think the best route would be to buy a used DAC and an inexpensive used streamer (Node or WIIM) and start out with a cheap transport (maybe even his DVD player) and make any needed upgrades over time. Not trying to reach "best" here, just "good and enjoyable". The tricky thing is needing three digital inputs (transport, streamer, TV). Any budget DAC suggestions? |
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@ghdprentice I am not seeing good options. And I just checked two lower priced streamers (WIIM and NODE) and neither of them have two digital inputs. A streamer with two digital inputs would work, if there was a budget one. Looks like the Cambridge Audio EXN100 would work, but that is almost $2k. The Cambridge Audio CXN100 would also work at $1.1k - but still a bit too pricey. |
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