What is a good CD Player to buy in the RM8K region?

I have a Meridian 506.16 for over 10 years feeding a Quad34/606. The Meridian is a good player but is showing its age agains some of the newer players in the market. My music are mostly classical, jazz and vocals.

Any suggestions for a replacement CDP that can perform the job?

try the marantz sa11, good mid range and very nice vocal. branch new here kl RM11k but if you dont mind, Singapore is cheaper SGD3400(RM8k).
one of the very best value for money.

mTHOOI,

There are m,any ways to go about it,each has its advantages.

1.Vacuum state Uberclock;attached to your Meridian I believe will give you the most improvement.Cost about 6k and Octave audio does a wonderful job.

2.You could also buy one of those seperate DACs like Grace audio,Benchmark etc...in the price range it is really hard top bettered the grace audio DACs.You can keep the Meridian and use it as a dedicated transport aor get a cheap DVD player from Philkips as transport.


3.If you need to get a single box CDP it is hard to beat Audio Aero prima for around 6 k.It is almost 90%as good as the EAR yoshino player.I think it cost around 6k and when wqhen it comes to small jazz 4ensemble ,you get a very intimate players.The Marants S11 isn't bad ,and you have a choice of SACD p[layback too,but on redbook CD not quite as musical as the Audio Aero.

mthoi,

I have read that CD players are very mature technologies in that present advancements are marginal. I did consider a Marantz SACD model previously but settled for a Rega Apollo and when I compared the Rega with the Quad CDP (an 80's model), the difference was not much. In my view, I would rather upgrade the speakers first and live with a budget CD player until I have funds for a better CD player and in my view, a budget of RM2 - 3k should be good enough.

Have you heard the sound system with Marantz CD67 (or CD63 or KI) sound damn cool at Octave. Never be surprise with old marantz with the upgrade and it fits the sound character you mention. I have recently modded a unit of cdp costs more than 3k and it sound cool too.

my view: the newer marantz cd players sound bright. the upper-mids and highs are emphasised which make the bass seem recessed and light.

Gosh .... its so hard to buy a "good" CD player these days.

Honestly, Rm8K is a very "neither here nor there" situation.

As someone above said, a Rega Apollo doesnt need to cost an arm/leg and would sound pretty decent thanks to tech advances. At the extreme spectrum, would be a contemporary Wadia in the RM20~30K regions.

my advice would be for you to lug your Meridian and see how will it compared against the modern comtemporaries at any of CMY's or some other boutique hi-fi showrooms (CMY just as an example coz there's a wider range of brands to try out) . I'm sure they'd be happy to oblidge.

I strongly recommend you do this because you would then know for sure how "modern" players sound , and then you can decide for sure if you prefer the modern "today" sound or your older Meridian. Afterall, a Meridian is no pushover and should hold its own water very well.

If you want abit more "zest" and "liveliness" . May i be so bold to suggest that you look into your amp combo first.


The following is just IMO:

Much as there are a great deal of Quad followers out there, the 34/606 really puts me to sleep often times. To me, it is an excellent lullaby machine. Nice soft soothing sound but the total opposite of a Naim monster (which i am neither a fan of also).

Cary audio makes excellent valve CD players with upsampling capabilities. I'm using a vintage Cary CD300 myself which i recently upgraded to Telefunken valves. I am totally happy with the sound and don't feel a need to upgrade any further.

I tell myself the day for me to upgrade will come only when I can afford to replace it with a Wadia.

Sorry mthoi to ride on your thread.

I am think of a Bryston BCD-1 and wonder any forum members here would provide any advise or comment.

Cheers,

sorry to interrupt this thread...how about upgrade from cd player to Turntable...i think even upgrade the cd player u cannot feallll the different much..upgrade cd player u only can feal the different character from different player...maybe more pedas..less masin or else..others still the same..

p/s---sorry guys,just my litle idea

get a good transport, philips mechanism based perhaps?
play around with dac, buffer is more interesting i guess, imo

dcs elgar
audio alchemy
audionote zero
cambridge magic
musical fid
beresford
cal audiolab
mocha & zero ermm..

Rega Saturn??

check out this thread:

https://www.hifi4sale.net/equipment-discussions-f6/naim-cd5i-vs-primare-cd21-vs-others-t2373.htm

cheers,
wps

azri wrote:dcs elgar
audio alchemy
audionote zero
cambridge magic
musical fid
beresford
cal audiolab
mocha & zero ermm..

Audio Alchemy & Cal Audio Labs have gone the way of the dodo already.