docd
Active Member
This topic has probably been discussed many time before,is a budget CD player better than a midplaced DVD player for CD playback. I just had a chance to compare the two.
I had a Cambridge Audio DVD 89 bought in Singapore in 2006. It cost around Rs 13000 then. It was top of the line then with DVD audio, SACD, and HDMI .I used it to play CDs thru my Denon 1906, using both analogue and co axial out. I wasnt overly impressed with its CD capability,average sounding, with analogue slightly better than coaxial. It was a very good DVD player tho.
Then 2 years later I got a Marantz CD5001/Marantz PM 6002 for CD use. Its sound was way above and I stopped using the Cambridge Audio for CDs. Infact I hardly used it for anything as I had also got a Dune HD max for DVD and Bluray. The DVD 89 then stopped working due to a power supply problem and I practically forgot about it. Last week I gave it for repair to a guy who is qiute good at this. He returned it in 4 days telling me it was a minor problem.
So I took it home and just for the heck of it connected it to my Marantz amp thru analogue and played some Cds. I had never tried this combo before and the sound I heard astonished me. It was as if I was hearing a completely new player!
The soundstage was amazing, the depth was good, all instruments were clear , the vocals dead centre. The first track I tried was Deep Purple's Highway star. It was like hearing it for the first time! The pace and timing of the song was so good, I felt like listening to it again and again. If I closed my eyes I felt as if I was attending a live concert! The next track was Adele's Rumour has it. Her voice was warm and mesmerising. finally I tried Dire Straits Local Hero Wild theme,the guitar strings sounded so real, I played it thrice. I felt like playing all my CDs one after another.
The cambridge ran the Marantz 5001 very very close. In fact some tracks sounded better on it. And all this was thru a low cost bainbridge interconnect. Infact I used a Monster cable for the marantz. The marantz had a bit more detail but that was it.
I know that the marantz has a cirius DAC, the DVD 89s DAC is unnamed in its specs. Even so its rythm and timing was impecable.
We know that high end DVD players play Cds very well, the Oppos are a prime example, but frankly the DVD 89s performance blew me off. I have practically abandoned the marantz! And I am rediscovering my CD collection.
Anyone else has had a similar experience?
I had a Cambridge Audio DVD 89 bought in Singapore in 2006. It cost around Rs 13000 then. It was top of the line then with DVD audio, SACD, and HDMI .I used it to play CDs thru my Denon 1906, using both analogue and co axial out. I wasnt overly impressed with its CD capability,average sounding, with analogue slightly better than coaxial. It was a very good DVD player tho.
Then 2 years later I got a Marantz CD5001/Marantz PM 6002 for CD use. Its sound was way above and I stopped using the Cambridge Audio for CDs. Infact I hardly used it for anything as I had also got a Dune HD max for DVD and Bluray. The DVD 89 then stopped working due to a power supply problem and I practically forgot about it. Last week I gave it for repair to a guy who is qiute good at this. He returned it in 4 days telling me it was a minor problem.
So I took it home and just for the heck of it connected it to my Marantz amp thru analogue and played some Cds. I had never tried this combo before and the sound I heard astonished me. It was as if I was hearing a completely new player!
The soundstage was amazing, the depth was good, all instruments were clear , the vocals dead centre. The first track I tried was Deep Purple's Highway star. It was like hearing it for the first time! The pace and timing of the song was so good, I felt like listening to it again and again. If I closed my eyes I felt as if I was attending a live concert! The next track was Adele's Rumour has it. Her voice was warm and mesmerising. finally I tried Dire Straits Local Hero Wild theme,the guitar strings sounded so real, I played it thrice. I felt like playing all my CDs one after another.
The cambridge ran the Marantz 5001 very very close. In fact some tracks sounded better on it. And all this was thru a low cost bainbridge interconnect. Infact I used a Monster cable for the marantz. The marantz had a bit more detail but that was it.
I know that the marantz has a cirius DAC, the DVD 89s DAC is unnamed in its specs. Even so its rythm and timing was impecable.
We know that high end DVD players play Cds very well, the Oppos are a prime example, but frankly the DVD 89s performance blew me off. I have practically abandoned the marantz! And I am rediscovering my CD collection.
Anyone else has had a similar experience?
