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Need HELP with a CD player

O

onehorsepony

Member
Hi all -

I currently have a pair of B&W 802d (first generation) powered by Classe CAM-200 monoblocks with a Bryston BP26 preamp.

Currently my CD player is an Arcam CD-72.

I've been complaining that my speakers sound congested in the midrange, not as open, dynamic and airy as some of the newer speakers i've listened to (Sopra 3).

Yesterday, I had a friend connect his streaming box (Blue Sound Node 2i) with his Tidal streaming service.

Doing an A/B comparison of songs (stream/CD) of old and new material, I found the streaming box was much more uncongested, open, dynamic and airy sounding.

All of a sudden my speakers came alive.

Is this a function of streaming services in general or does my CD player need to be upgraded.

I have many CD's, rare ones, that I would like to still have a CD player.

What exactly am I hearing, and what CD player would you suggest to open up my current components.

Thanks in advance....
 
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Was he streaming hi-res files? Tidal offers HD streaming at higher quality than standard CD's 16/44.1

That might account for part of it. You have a nice CD player with a good built-in DAC already, so that shouldn't really be an issue unless it's not working right.
 
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Rather than replace the CD player, I'd consider an external DAC. Or even try hooking the CD player's optical output to the optical input on the Blue Sound as a test (you'll need one of these, and yes, the fact that the connectors are gold plated is completely ridiculous).
 
C'mon, first simple test is to try another CDP.
Who knows if the Arcam is functioning correctly?
 
I have an Arcam DVD player. I got it mostly to play CDs... but the damn thing won't even read a CD.
 
The Arcam CD72 reads all cd's without issue. Time flies, and I didn't realize it is almost 20 years old.

I suppose something in the internal DAC is not functioning correctly. I had my wife listen to both the CD player and the streaming box, and she couldn't hear a difference. So it is a subtle issue, yet one that is really annoying.
 
I have a Marantz CD6006 which is a highly regarded good sounding player that I bought new around six months ago and many quality sounding disc and streaming can sound better. I’ve never did a direct song comparison like you did, but it seems that streaming can sound really good and bring an audio system to life as you’ve discovered.
 
I recently added a Yamaha CD-S2100 to the system and couldn’t be happier.
I’m not great at hi fi lingo but it’s just an excellent, smooth sounding player.

I’m running a Yamaha amp with B&W Matrix 804 speakers which can tend toward bright but with this combination I can easily listen for hours. Very detailed with zero listening fatigue.

It also functions as a DAC so you get the same presentation with streaming.
 
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