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March 13, 2006 - 9:34am
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CD players for classical music - analogue sounding (?)
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Try investing $400 in a Musical Fidelity X-10v3 Tube Buffer. Insert it between your player and your preamp using good copper vs. silver interconnects and, I suspect, you'll like the results.
Arcam CD192 might give you the required sound at a reasonable price. Cdps in the FMJ range are even better but are much more expensive and you have to decide where you reach the point of diminishing returns. I have this same Rachmaninov recording (outstanding) on both CD and vinyl, and the CD192 gives a close rendition.
In my view nothing sounds analog through Naim electronics, not even a turntable. Replace them with anything!
This seems to be quite well respected and comes with a 14 day return. This player has almost universal praise from purchasers.
I can testify that the Njoe Tjoeb CD player has an outstanding price/quality ratio. I have one with the upsampler card. It has a tube output stage, so it's possible to further improve the sound by replacing the stock tubes with some NOS Siemens for example.
Hi Neil
I've read the replies from the other posters and they're all right about their suggestions.Whatever you do, Do give a listen to the Unico cd. Also,i've heard the Abjoeb sounds best without the upsampling board,so,if you decide to give it a try,listen do both players,one with and one without the board.
I saw that Wilson was using an Audio Research CD3 mkII to demo their $45,000 speakers, so I bought a used CD3 mkI on ebay for $3000, sent it to ARC for upgrage to mkII for $1000. This player sounds as close to vinyl I have heard. On well recorded cds it sounds better to my ears. I have a hard time with surface noise and the cost of turntables, phono sections etc. The sound is smooth and accurate.