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CD player - need it to "pop"!

El Cavano

El Cavano

Active Member
Just pulling things together on my "new" home system:

Pioneer SX-737 receiver
Technics D303 turntable
Sound Dynamics 300Ti speakers

I'm underwhelmed by the quality of my old vinyl. Nothing really seems to "pop". I'm thinking its time to add a CD player.

So I'm scanning CL and wondering what to look for and what to avoid. Can I do the CD player on the cheap? I don't like the multi CD players much.

Thanks for the help!
 
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Has your receiver been refurbished or serviced recently? Pieces of that vintage tend to need the electrolytic capacitors replaced at minimum.
 
The whole system comes into play here, not just the source.
If ultimately whatever you choose yields poor results, I would explore JoeESP9's suggestions plus speaker condition/quality plus TT quality, cartridge, allignment and so forth.
 
Sony DVP NS900V. Original MSRP $1000, can usually be had for less than $80 on eBay. Also does SACD, and if your ever inclined to watch a movie..........

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i had an arcam cd player recently and all i can say it was much better than any other cd player i have ever heard or owned .. and i have had plenty . i never knew cd.s could sound good .
 
Great tip on the Sony DVP. I may have to check that out. I'm using an HD-DVD player for my cds now, but it doesnt do SACD or look as nice.
 
My system also shines with cd's and radio but most, not all records, do not sound awesome. I had a recap on my amp. Beginning to think the catridge is at fault. Have you changed your stylus?
 
Not many records sound all that good, some are superb and some are just awful.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
Cartridge is new but low $. New Stylus AT455EX.

Radio and iTunes sounds good, once the volume is up a bit.

Vinyl Boz Scaggs - Somebody Loan Me a Dime sounds good. Also Vinyl Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed sounds awesome.

Old Grateful Dead vinyl (Europe 72) sounds kind of crappy.

It will be very interesting to hear with a new CD player. In the meantime I will try CDs through ITunes into my Aux input.

Much to explore. Cooling on vinyl quite a bit.
 
I think there's too much emphasis on vinyl vs cd's when the fact is that a bad recording will sound dull no matter what the format is.
 
Would be good to try A/Bing with another integrated amp to see if the records or CDs sound noticeably different.
 
I also have a low $ AT cart. With a budget stylus. It works well with some records but most are not wonderful. One record that sounds particularly great is Pink Floyd ' s Final Cut. Although I need to turn.it up to get the result. No low level sounds good.
Then many.of my $1 garage sale records do not sound good. The cleaner the better. Adjusting the cart helped.a.lot as well as the arm.
 
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In this day and age I don't get why someone would even bother with vinyl without sota gear. I should say sota as of at least 1980. A nice Linn circa 1980 set up would liven things right up. Or maybe Oracle Alexandria/Delphi. With a decent cartridge, a great CDP would be right in the ballpark to compete nicely. Otherwise, you're short changing yourself not going straight cd/digital.
 
Some of my vinyl sounds really nice - Joe Pass, Elvis Costello (Allison) and Kate Bush.

I might dump what doesn't sound nice someday. Prob not until I'm really dialed in. No rush on that.

Picking up a TEAC PD 555 today for a song. Fired up about this.
 
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