Yamaha CD - S300 or Marantz 5005 or NAD c516BEE, which one is better?

dany33

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Hello,

I am looking to buy a CD player (Yamaha CD - S300 or Marantz 5005 or NAD c516BEE). Currently i have the following setup

Yamaha As500 Stereo Integrated Amplifier
Yamaha NS-8390 - Floor standers
Yamaha YST-215 - Subwoofer
LG DVD player

I have 500+ ACDs and 100+ albums in iTunes. I play iTunes from my Windows laptop with HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC. ES9023, 96khz/24bit (incl USB to optical converter feature)
My budget is around ~20K/-.
So I have following questions
1. whether CD player would bring any improvement to the current setup and whether the improvement be noticeable?
2. If so, whether to go with Yamaha or Marantz or NAD CD players mentioned above. Which is better?
3. Will CD player be any better than Sabre USB DAC. ES9023 (96khz/24bit) that im already using playing through laptop?

Thanks & Regards,
Charly, Hyderabad, India
 
I have 500+ ACDs and 100+ albums in iTunes. I play iTunes from my Windows laptop with HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC. ES9023, 96khz/24bit (incl USB to optical converter feature)
My budget is around ~20K/-.

EAC hai na !

You should consider one of the Schiit multi bit DACs.

I have a Marantz amp with an integrated DAC (PM 6005) (same chip and likely as not implementation as on the Marantz CD-P).

My preference for the external m/b DAC (Bimby) is very clear.

ciao
gr
 
Hi Dany33,

My advice is not to go for any CD player, as long as your content is 16bit stereo 44.1 Khz sampling rate, You play with any CD player and connect through Digital coaxial or optical to external DAC with good specification possibly up-samples the content. if your budget permits you can buy any BD player which can play 24bit or 32bit HD audio content.
 
Hi Dany33,

My advice is not to go for any CD player, as long as your content is 16bit stereo 44.1 Khz sampling rate, You play with any CD player and connect through Digital coaxial or optical to external DAC with good specification possibly up-samples the content. if your budget permits you can buy any BD player which can play 24bit or 32bit HD audio content.

Thank you Harish.
So can a BD player with external DAC like DACMAGIC 100, will improve sound quality? Can this external DAC up-sample the content?

Thanks & Regards,
Charly
 
whether CD player would bring any improvement to the current setup and whether the improvement be noticeable?

I doubt it.

I suggest you rip your entire cd collection to your computer and play it through J River Media Center. It will cost you $50.

As some have suggested, a dac upgrade is a better option than taking the cd player route.
 
I doubt it.

I suggest you rip your entire cd collection to your computer and play it through J River Media Center. It will cost you $50.

As some have suggested, a dac upgrade is a better option than taking the cd player route.

Hi Sandeep,

Thank you, i'll look for DAC option as well.

I have a question on DAC, if the source material (CD / iTunes) is 16/44 sampling, then will DAC have any benefit over CD player?

Can you suggest any good DAC within ~20K/- There was CAMBRIDGE AUDIO DACMAGIC 100 DAC in hifimart.com but its sold out.

Thanks,
Charly
 
Hi Charly,

Now a days BD players are not coming with Digital audio output. only few manufacturers provide SPDIF out. Please select the BD player before purchase. pioneer BDP180 comes with Digital audio out. For DAC it is based on your budget. It is better to audition the DAC before purchase. Make sure the DAC supports USB option, so that you can connect to laptop and play the music in high quality. It takes the place of your sound card.
 
DAC to buy right now is Schiit Modi Multibit - best quality at cheapest price.
No comparison anywhere near it.
Read its reviews...it will give true 16 bit resolution instead of 2-5 bits resolution by other dacs.
And it will upsample to 192khz.
Question is...do you have good enough amp to handle it?
 
My experience is that a good CD player with a digital output connected to an external DAC sounds better than a cheap DVD player used as a CD transport connected to a DAC, as some have suggested. You can get a Marantz 5005 for around 20K. NAD 516BEE is also very good but may be a bit more expensive. You can budget 20K for a CD player + 20K for a reasonable entry level DAC like the Cambridge Dacmagic 100 (old model)
 
agree with fiftyfity. I was using a sony blu ray player as a cd transport connected to a bifrost multibit dac. I recently started using a Marantz 5001 CDP as a transport and I believe I saw an improvement. From some random browsing on the internet, I believe that the blu ray player may not be able to read information off the cd as reliably as a CDP and this results in the difference in sound quality when BDP/DVDP are used as CD transports over a regular CDP
 
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Go with an external DAC like something from schiit. None of these CD players will sound good. See what type of sound you like and then get something that comes close to it.
 
The Marantz PM7000N offers big, spacious and insightful sound, class-leading clarity and a solid streaming platform in a award winning package.
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