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difficulty finding CD player match for Magneplanar

I have a California Audio Labs Mk II CD player (CAL) that has one channel going out. I might be able to get it repaired (if I'm lucky), but I wanted to listen to the latest CD players to see if I could find a replacement.

I home-trialed an Arcam FMJ-something at around $1000 U.S. Too bright, not enough bass, not enough "power" to drive rock and jazz/fusion.

I home-trialed the much-vaunted Rega Saturn. Not enough "power" or bass for rock/jazz fusion, upper midrange and highs OK, but lower midrange sounds like being in nosebleed section of concert hall (very distant and hard to understand).

I've got Magneplanar MG-IIIa speakers, original Adcom preamp and 60w/ch. amp.

It seems to quite troublesome to find a CD player for the Maggie's in my listening room that isn't too bright or too distant and has enough power/drive/authority and solid bass to really drive electronic music.

Neither player was really involving. They seemed to present information off the disk, but just didn't grab my interest. Pretty boring. Good detail, good this, interesting that, but in the end, not enjoyable.

Others have raved about Arcam players and about the Rega Saturn, but they haven't worked for me in my system.

Anyone had similar experiences with the Maggies and found any players that worked better with the Maggies?
timoteo
timoteo OP
21 posts
 
everyone recommends more power for my speakers. My Maggies are rated at 85db, which means they will produce 85db sound pressure at 1 meter using 1 watt of amplifier power. According to the inverse square law (and an article I read on the internet), power usage is like this:

decibels watts
-------- -----
85 db 1 watt
88 db 2 watts
91 db 4 watts
94 db 8 watts
97 db 16 watts
100 db 32 watts
103 db 64 watts
106 db 128 watts
109 db 256 watts

If my normal listening level is 85db, then I would be using 1 watt of power. At 90db, I would be using about 4 watts.

My amp is capable of producing 120 watts into 4 ohms, so my peak volume level without distortion would be somewhere between 103db and 105db. That's pretty loud, and I don't n normally listen to music that loud. 103db is as loud as a power wrench like they use to get the lug nut off your car wheels.

Assuming all the above is correct, I should be able to get close to 105db with my 120 watts of power. Supposedly this amp has further reserves for brief peaks (according to the what I read, written by the manufacturer, when I bought it centuries ago). So it seems like I have plenty of power.
nealw
16 posts
 
just type in Maggies in any forum you care to name on the net and you will find people praising the moment they went for more power with maggies. frankly your calculations are meaningless i have apogees, at first i only had a small naim 40W unit. yes its played loud enough but i had no idea what it could sound like until i got a big krell.

your amp doesn't have enough power trust us on this...
mapman's avatar
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mapman
15,679 posts
 
"everyone recommends more power for my speakers."

In this case, "everyone" is right.

YOur problem is most likely that the speakers are not being driven to full potential. If you are really not happy with what you have, you need to address that first and then you will not find it so impossible to find a "matching" CD player.
guidocorona
4,114 posts
 
Excellent point Timoteo. Your amp is obviously more than up to the task. . . time to start churning CD players. Please let us know when you discover one that has enough power for your maggies. Unfortunately we just have no experience in testing CD players for more power on big maggies. . . so we may not be able to offer much advice. You will be a true pioneer in this area. Please keep us all posted. G.
mst
163 posts
 
Caveat in order: I've never owned Maggies.

Without repeating thoughts on increasing the wattage of your amp., might I suggest a bit of a gimmick? See if you can demo a tubed cd player. From what I have heard, it might be interesting to see if your sound is "punchier" for lack of a better word.

Have heard mostly good things about the Unison (I lhave and love its amp). I'm sure a search might reveal others. Demo one over a weekend. If nothing else, it will sound different.
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