Tube CD Player???

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You will be hard pressed to do any better for the money that they sell for used. You get some tube flavor without a loss of detail and it will outperform most of what's been mentioned here.



A very nice player too.

The Nu-Vista is a nice player. I've got the A308 which is supposed to be the solid state version of the same player. I've had my A308 heavily modded and it sounds so beautifully rich, it seems more analog than a high end turntable. You really can get an excellent analog 'sound' from a solid state player with good mods.
 
MELOS Tube cd and dac

Don't know if its been mentioned but there was a company in New Jersey called Melos they modified a Sony cd player with tubes and also had a tubed analog processor to mate it with....
 
Well, I guess my point was that there may be less expensive -- or more general -- ways of warming up those CDs than buying a "tube CDP".

I.e., a cheap tube buffer, or a not-so-cheap tube preamp may give you all that you're looking for.


After looking around ... I bought a Grant Fidelity B-283 tube buffer for $125.

I'll probably get an Oppo which has SACD & HDCD capability, and save a lot of $$.
 
After looking around ... I bought a Grant Fidelity B-283 tube buffer for $125.

I'll probably get an Oppo which has SACD & HDCD capability, and save a lot of $$.

I'm very happy with the Grant Fidelity B-283. Currently using it with a Rotel RCD-1072. The nuances do reveal a 'tube like' sound. Nice little unit.
 
The way I went at it was to combine a high-quality CDP as a transport with a tube DAC...what I came up with was a Cambridge CD4SE CDP (which has a Philips CDM12.2 transport and was designed by the guy who designed the DACMagic) connected via BNC output to a Cal Audio Sigma II tube DAC (with a Telefunken 12AX7)...the entire rig cost less than $500, and I thought it did a great job of warming things up.

(I actually just bought a Marantz 8001 that was modded by Tube Research Labs...so look for the above-mentioned rig at Barter Town very soon...)
 
My Jolida 100 definitely sounds better than my Sony 595. Even with a Number Cruncher DAC on the Sony.

Maybe pirate a tube amp from a "$20" old CL console and dedicate it to your CDP.

I second that, the Jolida has a warm sweet sound.:yes::yes::yes:
 
Meggy, have you tried different tubes in your Jolida yet?
My Jolida sounds warmer than my Denon without a doubt, thinking about rolling some different tubes in it.

I have rolled NOS Telefunkens and Mullards, the Mullards actually sounded better in the JD100 than the Tellies for some reason. Nonetheless, they sound much better than the stock Chinese tubes.

m.
 
Here's my tube CD player - a carver SD/A-490T

Currently with cover off since the transport is sticking a little. Going to lube the rails with silicone lubricant and see if that helps.

carvercd1.jpg

carvercd2.jpg

carvercd3.jpg
 
I have had better luck with a tube pre and all solid state from there on out, tube and cdp can often soften and mush the sound, to each their own but another idea is just add a buffer on the output cd signal.
 
Another way to get rid of the sometimes harsh sound from CD's could be a beltdriven CDP instead of a tubed CDP.
Pink is one of the manufacturers that made beltdriven CDP with great sound.

"dolph"
 
Another way to get rid of the sometimes harsh sound from CD's could be a beltdriven CDP instead of a tubed CDP.
Pink is one of the manufacturers that made beltdriven CDP with great sound.

"dolph"

This is a joke right??????? A belt driven transport wont change the sound by itself, the only reason a belt driven CDP would sound better is because of the entire chain from power to DAC to chassis and everything in between, these players will just be from companies who care more about sound, the belt has no bearing itself on sound..............its the sum of its parts.
 
This is a joke right??????? A belt driven transport wont change the sound by itself, the only reason a belt driven CDP would sound better is because of the entire chain from power to DAC to chassis and everything in between, these players will just be from companies who care more about sound, the belt has no bearing itself on sound..............its the sum of its parts.

In Your Humble Opinion.

However, on TT's as well as on tape decks, belts tend to sound better.
And to me, the Pink was one of the best sounding CDP's out there.
Was that partly the belt?
Maybe just.
IMHO

"dolph"
 
I am simply saying there is no way just a belt will make a CDP sound better and due to its digital nature more so than a table or tape deck.
 
I am simply saying there is no way just a belt will make a CDP sound better and due to its digital nature more so than a table or tape deck.

Yeah, I know you say so.

But I disagree.
Belt drive is contributing the a lesser harsh sound in CDP's.
IMHO.

"dolph"
 
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