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MCD201 vs. MCD 301 vs. MCD/MDA 1000

soundfan

soundfan

Member
What is the opinion here between MCD/MDA 1000 vs. one-box players like MCD201 or MCD 301? Is the price difference worth it? I have Classe CDP 10 which was rated very highly by Stereophile and others. If I were to replace CDP down the road to match my C2200/MC-402, what should I be dreaming of?
 
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MCD301 is not out yet but when it is I'm sure Masterlu and others will share their opinions about how it sounds compared to the MDA1K. It may be a leader in its class, but it will still be compared to the MDA1K by some levels of sound quality below it. Perhaps think of getting the MDA1K if the Classe has a digital out?
 
Classe does have digital out. Any review of MDA1K available online? I am not sure if Classe / MDA1K will be far superior to Classe. Does anyone have experience with digital out and MDA1K?
 
Mda 1000 ...

soundfan said:
What is the opinion here between MCD/MDA 1000 vs. one-box players like MCD201 or MCD 301? Is the price difference worth it? I have Classe CDP 10 which was rated very highly by Stereophile and others. If I were to replace CDP down the road to match my C2200/MC-402, what should I be dreaming of?
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Hi Soundfan,

I have a 201.
I listened to a MCD 1000 and MDA 1000 recently in a friend's home but not a direct A/B compared. Maybe with a direct A/ B comparaison, what is following would be wrong.
I was not impressed with the 1000 's.
To me, the sound is a bit more dynamic and a bit more natural, a bit more defined : everything is a bit more :
To me, the difference of price with a 201 ( and certainly more with a 301) is not justified, because as I stated already, I'm not the son of Bill Gates, nor Warren Buffet, nor Sam Walton :tears::tears:
I earn 400 000 euros per year : so I'm not rich, in the US sense of the term. In France, that's a pretty fair amount of money. BUT, I'm an orthodontist, so I work 10 hours a day with 2 hands in the mouth of patients, and with a terrible fatigue at night.
SO: I'm not ready to spend the money I earn this way, in a MDA 1000! :no::no::no::no:
Maybe, at 1 000 000 euros per year of income, I could spend such an amount of money for so small improvement in sound :scratch2:, but I'm still not sure !

So, as always, this is just my personal opinion.
I really understand, that some people could be happy to buy a MCD / MDA 1000, or at least, people who have better ears than mine and will hear more differences than I do !

Jérôme
 
exracer said:
MCD301 is not out yet but when it is I'm sure Masterlu and others will share their opinions about how it sounds compared to the MDA1K. It may be a leader in its class, but it will still be compared to the MDA1K by some levels of sound quality below it. Perhaps think of getting the MDA1K if the Classe has a digital out?
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I will have my 301 this week, the install will be fast & easy. Of course, I will report my findings here, and yes Pics too.

I will even A-B the 201 & 301 before I pull it from the System.
 
I have the MCD201, ms300 and the MCD1000 and MDA1000 combo. I've also had a fair share of other brand CDPs and DACs. The MDA1000 in my opinion is one of those rare products that really increases the enjoyment of listening to music. As compared to 201 and ms300, in audiophile terms it offers more resolution, tighter bass and better dynamics overall, the soundstage is wider and deeper but the important "musical" quality of the MDA is that it adds incredible sense of ease and smoothness very similar to a well setup analog rig. To me, the difference in price is well justified. :music: The MCD1000 offers little sonic difference over any other transport when the signal is fed through the MDA1000 but the build quality and matching looks again made the decision very easy for me. :thmbsp: Let's not also forget that the MDA1000 offers an analog preamp stage that can be used with any digital source, so if you don't run vinyl in your system, it can replace a rather expensive preamp. It did just that in my system, I sold the BAT and ARC preamps and at that point it simply became a bargain. :thmbsp::thmbsp::thmbsp:
 
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