New cd player?

[madmax1]

Was wondering if a new cd player is needed? I have only a dvd/scad player now playing my music. Was wondering if getting a dedicated cd playing would sound better then running all my music threw my dvd player?

[N. Abstentia]

Well what's your budget? If you have a few grand to spend on a CD player then it might sound better assuming you have good equipment in front of it.

[madmax1]

So the only way it would make a difference is if i spent a few grand on a player??

[Dolby]

I think it depends on what you have, as N.Ab said.

I went from a $180 CD player to a $1800 CD player and heard no chance - negative or positive! When I queried this, it came to light that it was my other components .. a $400 av receiver and $400 speakers.

I've heard you split you budget in 3 equal parts to get a good balance. I'm still saving for the $3600 to balance out ....

[GMichael]

If all you are looking for is an increase in sound quality then you'd need to spend some big bucks. I got a dedicated CD player for a different reason. My DVD/HD/VHS/toaster recorder was running almost 24/7 recording all the shows I wanted. I needed something else to play music.

[Pyrrho]

Was wondering if a new cd player is needed? I have only a dvd/scad player now playing my music. Was wondering if getting a dedicated cd playing would sound better then running all my music threw my dvd player?

Very probably it will not make any audible difference, unless you have or buy a defective or improperly made unit.

Generally speaking, if you want an improvement in sound, you will want to look to your speakers and their placement, as well as the acoustics of your room. These are the areas in which the biggest improvements can be had, unless you have very poor other equipment.

[musicman1999]

yes a seperate cd player can make a difference.
you have decent speakers and a decent reciever,a good cd player with analog connection can make a large difference.
about a year ago i added an arcam cd73t to my system($999.00 cdn)hooked up a good set of interconnects to my cambridge reciever and they make my jmlabs speakers sing.
money well spent.but with a player like this you would not use a digital hook up,analopg only.the player has far better dacs than most recievers.
thanks
bill

[Feanor]

I think it depends on what you have, as N.Ab said.

I went from a $180 CD player to a $1800 CD player and heard no chance - negative or positive! When I queried this, it came to light that it was my other components .. a $400 av receiver and $400 speakers.

I've heard you split you budget in 3 equal parts to get a good balance. I'm still saving for the $3600 to balance out ....

In a low to moderately priced system the wisest priority is:

1. Speakers
2. Amp/receiver
3. Digital source

British magazines (from what I've seen) are the main source of the =3x nonsense -- ignore it. There is no fixed rule except that speakers are going to make a lot more difference than any thing else. However for $2500 system, a balanced choice could end up looking like ...

• Speakers $1000 - 1500
• Receiver/amp $700 - 800
• Digital source $200 - 400

[Pyrrho]

In a low to moderately priced system the wisest priority is:

1. Speakers
2. Amp/receiver
3. Digital source

British magazines (from what I've seen) are the main source of the =3x nonsense -- ignore it. There is no fixed rule except that speakers are going to make a lot more difference than any thing else. However for $2500 system, a balanced choice could end up looking like ...

• Speakers $1000 - 1500
• Receiver/amp $700 - 800
• Digital source $200 - 400

I go even further. For one of my systems, I have over $4000 worth of speakers hooked up to a $600 receiver. Lesser speakers would make an obviously audible difference. And, of course, the $600 receiver is demonstrably superior to my $4000+ speakers in certain ways, such as flatness of the frequency response. Indeed, no matter how much I spent on speakers, with what is currently available, this would be the case.

Now, if the speakers presented a demanding load (say, 2 ohms), then things would be different and I would need to spend more on amplification. But my speakers are an easy load and of fairly normal efficiency, so there is no need for a particularly robust amplifier.