Asit:
I understand that its difficult to believe what i am saying & the DacMagic also may not be better than the 740c. I am also not talking about mp3 or any downloaded lossy file. I don't want anyone to believe me rather try it & make your own opnion.
Asit, when you use the CDp as a source to the DacMagic, it plays the CD and sends the output to the DM. Whereas when you connect your laptop to the DM, you send the song digitally to the DM rather than playing it (might be completely wrong over here). Just giving some links. Check them out.
What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision - DacMagic VS same priced cd-player
What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision - Cambridge Audio Dacmagic
What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision - Air and Magic
What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision - New CD Player or DacMagic?
What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision - Question about using a DACMagic with PC soundcard
Again i would say that not to believe in what i am saying, rather just audition them & get your own opinion. I chose the DM because i have other sources as well that i would like to connect to it rather than the DVD player & i am not going to buy the DM right now, rather after a couple of months (as i am on a very tight budget)
As far as my speakers go - Asit, i understand what you & particaleman are saying. But i guess one needs to understand that everyone has their own limitations (financial or otherwise). I have a very tight budget, a very small room (10*10 ft) & can only do within that. With my budget i could do only two things:
1. mid-priced speakers + cheap amp + cheap CD + Cheap DVD
2. Cheap speakers + mid priced amps + mid-priced CD + ok DVD
I chose the latter as i am getting the speakers for only 6k & thought they were a steal at that price. Tomorrow if i wanna upgrade, have a bigger room (if & when i have the money) i can happily change the speakers without it pinching me too much or worrying about the amp being able to drive them.
I never asked anyone to believe in my philosophy. I am doing what i am doing because i have a particular budget & want to strictly stick to that. Its proven that the more money you put, the better you'll get. But then, one needs to be practical as well.
Again, in the end i would like say just one thing to everyone that don't believe in me or anyone here as the reviews or the opinion here can only guide us. No one is an expert. We need to take the demo's ourselves & let our ears do the decision making.