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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
jylee
306 posts
 
That's right. You don't know what you are missing until you hear it. A side story but I thought I was getting full potential of my JM Labs speakers until I heard them driven by Pass. After hearing the truly dynamic sound I couldn't go back to other amps. I thought I was getting full range sound, but compared to what's capable now the sound was anemic.

The sounds are all relative. What you thought was full could have been due to bloated bass combined with underpowered amp. I agree with the others, the amp is the one needing an upgrade. A decent digital front end is cheap compared to decent amps. Get the amps first then look for the front end.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,262 posts
 
Timoteo

after dozens (if not hundreds) of posts saying Maggies need tons of power and my own experience, I know 1000 watts can be a wonerful thing. About 90% of posters agree.

If you need a CD player and use it with 60 watts I am sure you can enjoy them too!

have fun.
cajunpepe
254 posts
 
Timoteo,
borrow a high powered amp from your dealer and run it for a week or so---I promise, you will hear a big difference. Maggies eat watts.
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...
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