Looking for Better Quality CD Sound

[Mr Peabody]

You should try the Sony's analog outputs to see what they sound like. Use the Bypass, or Direct, feature on your receiver if it has one, it will allow the analog signal to bypass all the HT circuitry.

There have been some good ideas on improving your presentation but the fact remains if you don't start with a good source up front (CD/turntable etc. ) you just won't get good sound no matter what. The rest of the system just passes it through, it won't build it up or improve it. Start with the source and maintain the signal the best you can until it exits your speakers. Then hope your room is friendly to it. It don't make sense to do anything with speakers, or amp, if your source isn't as good as your budget allows. I don't know which Sony you have, it may have potential but your Pioneer is a definite weak link. #1, it's a jukebox, and #2, it's very old DAC technology. You chose the right part of the system to upgrade first. It's your sources job to extract the detail/information off the software (CD), once it leaves your player, nothing down stream can add to it. Other components will have different presentations or delivery of the signal but NONE will add detail or information that isn't there to start with. If your have a poor signal coming from the source, switching speakers won't do anything except let you hear that same poor signal in a new way. If a recording allows you to hear the breath of a sax player but that information doesn't come out of your source, it's LOST, and nothing you will ever do down stream in the system will allow you to hear it. I don't see how this can be such a difficult concept for professed audiophiles to grasp. The point is not to change the sound, it's to improve the sound. If "the sound" isn't there to begin with, anything you do down stream is a waste of money. .

[drseid]

You should try the Sony's analog outputs to see what they sound like. Use the Bypass, or Direct, feature on your receiver if it has one, it will allow the analog signal to bypass all the HT circuitry.

There have been some good ideas on improving your presentation but the fact remains if you don't start with a good source up front (CD/turntable etc. ) you just won't get good sound no matter what. The rest of the system just passes it through, it won't build it up or improve it. Start with the source and maintain the signal the best you can until it exits your speakers. Then hope your room is friendly to it. It don't make sense to do anything with speakers, or amp, if your source isn't as good as your budget allows. I don't know which Sony you have, it may have potential but your Pioneer is a definite weak link. #1, it's a jukebox, and #2, it's very old DAC technology. You chose the right part of the system to upgrade first. It's your sources job to extract the detail/information off the software (CD), once it leaves your player, nothing down stream can add to it. Other components will have different presentations or delivery of the signal but NONE will add detail or information that isn't there to start with. If your have a poor signal coming from the source, switching speakers won't do anything except let you hear that same poor signal in a new way. If a recording allows you to hear the breath of a sax player but that information doesn't come out of your source, it's LOST, and nothing you will ever do down stream in the system will allow you to hear it. I don't see how this can be such a difficult concept for professed audiophiles to grasp. The point is not to change the sound, it's to improve the sound. If "the sound" isn't there to begin with, anything you do down stream is a waste of money. .

While I agree that if you have a bad source no speaker (or anything else) is going to improve it, there is an asumption you are making here that it is the source that is the problem. I, of course, have no reason to say that it *isn't* the source that is the problem here, but until a new pair of speakers is tried out, we will never really know if they are not (or are part of) the real problem. I believe source and speakers are equally important... You need a clean signal in, and you need transducers that can reproduce the signal properly and in full (as best as one's budget allows).

By temporarily swapping speakers in the chain, a decision can be made whether it is the source that is the cause, or actually the reproduction of the signal (the speakers).

All of that said, even if the speakers are *a* reason, they may not be the only reason. By swapping the speakers (if needed), it may allow the poster to hear a difference in various sources that were not able to be discerned previously (and then swapping the source may indeed add futher to improving the sound). I had an experience similar to this in my own system.

In any case, just another angle to the issue at hand. Each person needs to find the best sound in their own way...

---Dave

[hifitommy]

this produces a smoother, more complete sound that i found to make me appreciate my rbcd collection a great deal more. the bonus is that IF the music you want is available on sacd, you can benefit from the superiority of the sacd sound.

my sony ns500v is no longer made but there are numerous universal players at affordable prices. just because you have the player doesnt mean you must buy the software, its just nice when the prices of that software are within easy reach.

[paulross]

For all who have contributed your ideas, thank you for your time. This has definately been
a learning experience, especially the info on the DAC's.

I've been doing some research, and it looks like the DVD and CD players I have are
definately lacking in quality. It would seem my receiver and speakers are much better
than the CD and DVD player, and are fairly newer technology. Some would probably
disagree, but there have been lots of good reviews on both the speakers (Polk RTi10's),
and receiver (Marantz SR5600 w/90wpc) I'm running. While not the best, they should be
sufficient enought to do a good job (rebuttals welcome)!

So now we turn to the sources, and as most of you have mentioned, are the point where it
all starts. Through researching and reading everyones posts, I've come to realize that the
Sony DVD/CD and Pioneer CD player don't have what it takes to reproduce the quality
sound 'm looking for. While researching the specs on the DVD/CD player (via internet and the manual that came with it), I couldn't find any mention of the type of DAC being used.

That being said, I'm going to switch to the analog outputs and try the "bypass" or "direct"
suggestion on my DVD/CD player just to see if there's any difference, but I'm not too optomistic.

Moving forward, most of you have suggested either upgrading to an external DAC, or
purchasing a better CD or DVD/CD player. Having said that, I could use some input on
what direction to move. I know trying to improve the Pioneer is a waste of time since it
only has analog outputs and is so old. But I'd like to know if just adding a better DAC to
the DVD/CD will help? Do you need a quality reading mechanism/head/whatever reads
the DVD/CD, or can you add a good external DAC to the inferior quality player and still
get significantly better sound?

And if I do need to purchase a new DVD, CD, or DVD/CD player, which combination
should I consider? There seens to be some good DVD/CD players out there like the
Marantz DV7600 DVD player for not a lot of $$$.

Any Ideas? Thanks!