Digital Drive

• Re: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance - hatfield 12:21:02 05/26/05 (0)
  In Reply to: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 07:05:56:

  I've decided to mod a Toshiba SD-3950 (I've found them on ebay between $10 & 40). I'll prolly try the Vinnie Rossi mods and do an A/B against the 588. I'm sure the 588 will best it, but you never know until you try, right? ;^)

  Worst case, I'm out about $50 and I get to experiment a bit. Should be an interesting comparison.

  Cheers,
  Hat

  
  "one good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain." ~ marley
  
  

  ---
• Re: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance - BAJ 08:42:28 05/22/05 (0)
  In Reply to: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 07:05:56:

  I was looking for a good inexpensive transport for my dac and found a used Marantz DV-12s1 on Audiogon for 540.00. It list for 2700.00 in 2001. The build quality in these machines are incredible! What realy surprised me was the 2 channel sound,(I am strictly a 2 channel guy) It is very, very, good. Another DVD player to try would be the Pioneer DV-38A. Could probably pick one up used for less than 500.00. Both of these players also play DVD-Audio which also gives me something else to play with. Recommending a dvd player here may be controversial I am sure, but I am very happy or I would not recommend them.
  Good Luck!!!
  BAJ
  
  

  ---
• No magic bullets. - Harmonia 10:38:36 05/21/05 (0)
  In Reply to: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 07:05:56:

  How many CDs do you own? If the the answer is "quite a few", proceed with caution.

  If you "love" the sound of your Meridian, I doubt you're gonna "love" the sound of the under 1k crowd. I never could cotton to the sound of the cheap DVD players, even modded, and while a Jolida CDP is very nice sounding unit for the $$, it doesn't sound like a Meridian.

  You could always look for a used Benchmark on Audiogon and pair it with a cheap DVD player and see if you like the sound. You could buy a used Meridian 508.24. You could always try a Jolida.

  But you might be smart not to turn loose of your 588 til you've had a chance to hear the bargain contenders in your system.

  
  
  

  ---
• I wouldn't do it - JeffH 06:44:51 05/20/05 (0)
  In Reply to: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 07:05:56:

  If your happy, stay happy and keep your 588. Unless of course your broke and really need the money(Then I'd rec a finacial professional first), otherwise save for your adventure into analog. Believe me, it's nice to have decent equipment at your disposal when you want it, and even though you might not be listening to many ceedee's now you may as well listen to them on something that you know will give you a decent presentation when you do listen. Like Welly said "But what you can't do is eat your cake and have it"
  
  

  ---
• Nothing constructive here, just a thought - welly 19:38:42 05/19/05 (0)
  In Reply to: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 07:05:56:

  Anybody can have their cake and eat it.
  But what you can't do is eat your cake and have it.

  
  

  Smoke me a kipper...I'll be Back for Breakfast.

  Cheers

  welly
  
  

  ---
• do the numbers - Bruce from DC 10:55:04 05/19/05 (2)
  In Reply to: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 07:05:56:

  I read your response to Jack G's post, so I have a better idea (I think!) of your goal.

  The first thing to do, it seems to me, is to figure out what the sale of your Meridian would bring to you. From that, subtract the cost of a replacement CD player; and you're left with the net proceeds of what you have to play with to buy a turntable, cartridge and phonostage (you wanted analog, right?).

  Somehow, I don't think this transaction is going to make financial sense (I'm assuming that you want to keep the rest of your system).

  If you're going to adopt a new, "niche" format, you also have to look at music that's available on that format and the cost of aquiring a library of recordings in that format.

  And, if your happy with the sound of your CD player, to be honest, I'm not sure it makes sense to dive into another format. CeeDees by far offer the greatest selection of new recordings of any format and it's hard for me to imagine any new recording that's not released on CD, but released on vinyl or some hi-rez digital format (I'm not really counting what you might be able to pick up in thrift shops, yard sales and the like of old records).

  I think a lot of us who have a vinyl playback system started with our own collection of records -- or perhaps one given us by an older family member -- from the days when vinyl was the dominant format.

  I'm actually quite fond of my CD player, which Stereophile rated as Class B when it came out in 1998. I think it sold for $800 new and should sell now for half that, used. However, the cure for much of what ailed that player was to feed it through a 20-amp Equitech balanced power supply/isolation transformer, which literally transformed the CD player's sound. The right interconnects made some difference, too. However, the Equi=tech cost me $1,000 used; so the total price of the two units is well over $1K. The Equi=tech also provides audible benefits to the subwoofer I use, so my purchase probably makes financial sense.

  I suspect that you would notice a substantial difference between my Ultech, unaided by the BPS, and your Meridian and would not be happy.
  
  

  ---

  • Further clarification - hatfield 11:24:33 05/19/05 (1)
    In Reply to: do the numbers posted by Bruce from DC on May 19, 2005 at 10:55:04:

    Hello Bruce,

    The points you bring up are all very valid. I guess my thoughts don't always convey to my writing.

    I have a vinyl rig that I'm in the process of upgrading... Shelter 901/Graham 2.2/Sota Star Sapphire/PhD. My table is @ Sota and is being used to upgrade to a Cosmos (BTW, their trade-in/upgrade policy is wonderful). The cash from the sale of the 588 would help pay for the upgrade and leave me with around $1K for a replacement CDP

    I have a decent collection of vinyl, so the investment into the format isn't a concern.

    Anyhoo, now that I've presented all the elements of my quandary, any thoughts? Am I chasing an unobtainable goal?

    Thanks,
    Hat
    
    "one good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain." ~ marley
    
    

    ---

    • Re: Further clarification - Bruce from DC 13:44:10 05/19/05 (0)
      In Reply to: Further clarification posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 11:24:33:

      Well that does help me understand...

      Whether I can be of any help to you is another matter. I'm sort of in an analogous quandry, not in wanting to upgrade my record-playing system (for now) but in trying to decide whether to improve me CD (or other digital media) playing system for about the same level of outlay that you are contemplating.

      Some options, I'm thinking about:

      just buy a Benchmark DAC or a used MF Tri-Vista DAC for my existing CD player;

      buy a cheap Sony universal player that plays SACDs (apparently even the cheap ones do SACD very well) and buy one of the DACs above (you could do this);

      or buy a used Sony SACD/CD player, which probably would be better on CDs than my current player and also offers the SACD option (plus, if I ever became so inclined, multichannel)

      Seems like the last two options would apply to you as well.

      
      
      

      ---
• Re: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance - bamadawg_63 09:48:39 05/19/05 (0)
  In Reply to: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 07:05:56:

  Maybe sell the 588 and get one of the DVD players that are suggested here - Toshiba, etc.. as a transport and grab a used stand-alone DAC that others here recommend. I recently got a used 1.3 ack! dAck! off Agon for a good price, and using it with a DVD player with optical-out - it has a very nice analogue sound to it thru my vintage tube amp. Then if you want to get into vinyl, that type set-up shouldnt bite your wallet too bad, and you never know, may sound jus as good as whatcha got? I know I am happy with mine, and dont regret trying it one bit. I do want to try and snag a vintage CDP to try as a carrier - jus to try it out, its the Kyocera DA-710cx - kinda hard to find tho - it has digital-coax out tho.

  Cheers and let us know what you decide...
  Nate
  
  

  ---
• ??? - Jack G 08:24:06 05/19/05 (1)
  In Reply to: Help me downsize without loosing quality/performance posted by hatfield on May 19, 2005 at 07:05:56:

  > > > I have a Meridian 588 CDP that I absolutely love! To my ears, it does everything [insert your favorite audiofile terms here] right. < < <
  This begs the question,"if you love it so much, why change?".

  > > > I'm finding I'm not listening to as many CDs as I used to and I'm thinking about downsizing my system and replacing my 588 with something that with give me a equal peformance - or close to - for under $1K. < < <
  So, since you don't listen to many CDs now, you want to replace your CD player with a.........cd player? How is that downsizing? Since you don't have any other sources listed, what else are you listeing to? I'm not sure you'll find something <1K that will beat it.
  If you really wanted to downsize, perhaps you should consider replacing the amp/pre with an integrated amp.
  Jack
  
  

  ---

  • Re: ??? - hatfield 08:39:28 05/19/05 (0)
    In Reply to: ??? posted by Jack G on May 19, 2005 at 08:24:06:

    Hello Jack,

    Perhaps "downsizing" was not the most accurate term. I'm looking to re-configure my system to focus more on analog, but I don't want to abandon the digital realm. You know, have your cake and eat it too!

    My ultimate goal is to recoup some money on one component and reallocate the funds into something else.

    I realize the 588 most likely can't be beat by a stock <$1K player; but if I can come close, I'd like to explore that option.

    Thanks for the post :^)

    Cheers,
    Hat
    

    
    "one good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain." ~ marley
    
    

    ---

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Amplified Parts

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---