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In Reply to: RE: It's The Source, Not The Cables posted by Luminator on December 23, 2014 at 09:40:13
Thanks for the response. So which cdp did you end up with? When I was in the market for a different cdp I had the opportunity to get the Cary at 35% off retail so I jumped on it. It was a big step up from the Rotel I was using at the time. BTW, I do not care for the tubed output. I always use the SS output stage. It's more dynamic.
I like to listen to R&R. The Cary was recommended for that purpose. My musical tastes are slowly changing, so perhaps a source change is in order. I haven't shopped for a cdp since 2006, so I would appreciate some recs. Just keep in mind my budget is pretty limited. My 303/300 is in pristine condition w/original packaging so I should be able to fetch a few bucks for it. Thanks again...
Follow Ups:
I had the Cary CD303/300 in 2007. I did use the solid state analog outputs. In some ways, we felt that that was defeating the purpose of the unit. However, I did find that the solid state output, in general, was more accurate. I.e., it came closer to honestly revealing what was actually on a given disc.
The drawback was that the solid state's output was too high. Yes, we could have used the variable output to knock down the level, but that was at the cost of resolution.
Other negatives included the illegible display, and the slow loading time.
I felt that the CD303/300's best sound was obtained with Nordost Valhalla powercord and line-level interconnect. But c'mon; no one's going to use cables which cost almost as much as the CD303/300 itself.
Sigh, since using the underwhelming CD303/300, I've lived with one-box CD players from Adcom, Cairn, CAL, Cambridge Audio, Classe', dCS, Denon, EAR, Eastern Electric, Krell, Mark Levinson, Naim, Oppo, Rotel, Simaudio, Tascam, and Wadia. Some of these were a couple hundred bucks, others were as much as a used car. But I'm currently using separate CD transport and DAC. You can find reviews of all of these on my homepage. Just click on my moniker.
You'll lose all of your audiophile credibility, but if you ignore ergonomics, the Nintendo Wii U (as a CD player) slays most of the aforementioned brands. Hint: in the late-90s, who was the guy responsible for starting the Sony Playstation craze? Yep, yours truly. I was the guy who stuck the Tara Labs ISM The One and XLO Limited Edition interconnects on my PS1, and discovered how thrilling the sound was. I was lambasted, pilloried, ridiculed, vilified, and character assassinated. But months later, a small sample of brave audiophiles hooked up PS1s to their home stereos, including quality interconnects. These people, too, frequently were treated to detailed, exciting, sharp sound.
The Nintendo Wii U does not have conventional audio outputs. You have to use the A/V bundled cable, or HDMI. Versus the old PS1, the Nintendo Wii U's sound is less hashy, grainy, and 2-dimensional.
I've said this hundreds of times. The more honest your CD player is, the deeper you'll get into the music, regardless of genre. If we're shameless Stereotypical Audiophiles, no problem. If we are into world music, no problem. If we are hardcore heavy metal headbangers, no problem.
I am using the Cary's volume control, so I do not have a preamp. CD's are currently my only source. I have considered a preamp w/remote volume so that I could keep the Cary output at max. But it needs to be basic as far as inputs goes. I do not foresee investing in another input source any time in the near or even distant future. But at least 2 pairs of inputs in case I want to try something else some day.
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