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CDP home shootout Rotel vs. Arcam vs. Marantz

Hello,

I am puting together a system and have bought the following CDPlayers:

Marantz CD 67SE
Rotel 971 (awaiting arrival)
Arcam 7SE (awaiting arrival)

Throw in an MSB Link DAC 3 with upsampling board upgrade

Add one Creek 4330R Amplifier

Digital IC is custom Canare (True 75ohm + L-5CFB)
Audio IC's are custom:
http://signalcable.com/analog_interconnects.html

I am also awaiting the arrival of a Rotel RT-990BX Tuner :)
(having bought 3 other real cheapies, the best by a long way so far is Sony ST-JX661 (high bid $17.50!), comfortably beats the Yamaha TX-492!)

OK what CD player in your opinion will win this home shootout? I listen to a broad range of music from ACDC to Ray Charles.

My speakers are currently a temporary solution (due to room and space limitations) Blueroom Minipods http://www.minipod.com/html/images/front_black.jpg (B&W kevlar drivers) hooked up with homemade Cat5 - solid copper AWG: 11.08, -

I beleive in neutral AMP first, then source, and speakers last, garbage in garbage out!

I am hoping to like the Rotel 971 on it's own best and sell all the rest including the MSB :)

Any ideas what is the best combination here?

Thx,
Josh
joshcloud9
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Those three CD players are good choices, however you are probably not going to notice much of a difference between them, running them through the Minipods.

You could also just keep the MSB Link 3 and go to eBay and look for an Aiwa XC-37M (or XC-35M) 5 Disc CD changer and use it as a transport to feed the Link DAC. It will cost you around $50 to $75, plus the toslink cable. This combination will very likely outperform the stand alone players as is.

If you send the Aiwa and Link DAC to Stan Warren in Oregon for upgrading, that combo will kill those stand alone CD players.

But then again, if it were me, I would not bother to do the upgrade until you get better speakers and maybe even upgrade the Creek (which is a fine amp for what it costs).
joshcloud9 OP
46 posts
 
Hi Sugarbrie,

If the Rotel RT-990BX doesn't significantly outperform the amazing and cheap Sony, I'll resell it and buy a better Amp!

I wonder what is significantly better than the Creek 4330R?

What else is there out there, integrated, neutral, and well balanced, ...and no more than $500-600 used?

Speakers will need to wait until February when I move and have decent space - hopefully...

Buy then I'll be totally ready :)

I prefer the MSB with upsampling off and wonder if the claimed jitter reduction that accompanies the upsampling board is really that noticable?

Other than that wil need to wait for Arcam/Rotel CDP's to arrive.

Will advise...
joshcloud9 OP
46 posts
 
Hi Sugarbrie,

If the Rotel RT-990BX doesn't significantly outperform the amazing and cheap Sony, I'll resell it and buy a better Amp!

I wonder what is significantly better than the Creek 4330R?

What else is there out there, integrated, neutral, and well balanced, ...and no more than $500-600 used?

Speakers will need to wait until February when I move and have decent space - hopefully...

By then I'll be totally ready :)

I prefer the MSB with upsampling off and wonder if the claimed jitter reduction that accompanies the upsampling board is really that noticable?

Other than that wil need to wait for Arcam/Rotel CDP's to arrive.

Will advise...
joshcloud9 OP
46 posts
 

Oops, double post -
Did you like the spelling correction!
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