In Reply to: Better to buy new lower-end, or older higher-end? posted by K-wey on February 13, 2012 at 07:56:49:
I had the Cambridge Audio 640C a while back, it was OK but the highs sounded artificial and imaging was flat. I haven't heard a NAD CDP in years so I can't comment. I settled on a CAL Icon MkII from 1999 - 18-bit hand trimmed DAC goodness. I'm keeping it until it fails (as a backup to my music server).
For the most part CD Players are now obsolete. Rip your music to a lossless file format onto a NAS or external hard drive, then get a Squeezebox or a Sonos music server. The built-in DACs sound good enough. If you want to extract more you can always upgrade with an external DAC, tube buffer, linear power supply, etc. Future proof.
If you hate technology and computers, then use a cheap DVD/universal player as a transport with a a new DAC for 2-channel music.
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Follow Ups
- Neither - nickwh 14:54:37 02/17/12 (0)