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NAD C540 player is dying. Replacement?

After many years of great sound, my C540 is adding its own mix of sounds to my music via clicks, pops, and skips. I've taken it apart to clean, etc., but to no avail.

So...... time for a new player.

The new player will be joining a custom tube preamp, a PSE Mark IV amp, and Thiel 1.5 speakers. Music is primarily jazz.

Unfortunately, the nearest showroom that has decent equipment is all at least 1-1/2 hours away. I could go and listen, but will not easily be able to hear equipment in my system.

I've been reading lots of other posts and wondering if anyone can offer other insights, especially with my other equipment.

I've enjoyed the sound of my old NAD so am considering the 565 BEE.

Sometimes I see Rega Apollo demos at a reasonable price and wonder about this player.

Additionally, I've heard/read about the Cambridge 740 (I think) and a player from Emotiva (ERC-2).

I'm looking for something that will not be fatiguing, presents well recorded cds realistically for staging, and just sounds good. I'm hoping that the next player will be provide some improvement over the C540.

Any insights or suggestions would be appreciated.
hi4head
timlub
1,649 posts
 
A great time to look at Computer Audio, inexpensive DAC's beat out the sound of your respected NAD. Put thousands of cd's on one source, access material in seconds and never get up.
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,578 posts
 
Hey TP:

Sorry, the Rega Apollo is not for sale, nor is the Musical Fidelity CD PRE 24 in the living room system. I have been using a SONY blu-ray player with my Outlaw RR2150 in my bedroom system and I was thinking about replacing the SONY with the Marantz CD6004. In addition to the positive reviews on the Marantz, I was also interested in it, because it is made in Japan.

I have been very happy with the Rega. In 20+ years of owning CD players, it may very well be my favorite CD player.

Rich
hi4head OP
20 posts
 
Thanks for the responses so far.

Rich: The way that I read your earlier note, my interpretation was not that you were soliciting a sale, only sharing your insights. From seeing that you are also running the signal into tubes makes me think that the Apollo would also go well with my system.

Relative to computer audio, I have given this some thought, but, I don't want a computer in my living room. I've looked a little into the music servers. My understanding is that I'd either need to buy something with a very good internal cd reader (that then basically rips to the internal hard drive), or, have a good transport that then sends the signal to the server for storage and playback (with or without an external DAC). Is there anything in the $500 to $800 range that works well, looks good, and sounds great?

I'd love to hear if anyone could share experience between the Apollo, the NAD C565BEE, or the others noted above.

Thanks again for your help.
Chris
robbob
273 posts
 
I second the DAC idea. I recently added a Rega DAC to my system. Transport is a lightly modded Oppo player. After experimenting with CD players costing over 5K and trying several DACs, the Rega was the winner. It addition to doing CD's I have added a inexpensive Mac to the mix and it can also play network music nicely from Apple TV. A DAC improves SQ and adds options. If the Rega is too much money consider the excellent Dacmagic or other great units out there!

System: Merlin TSM-MXr, Manley Stingray II, Rega DAC, MJ Acoustics 150MK2 sub, Cardas wires.

Rob
hi4head OP
20 posts
 
Rob,
Thanks for the additional comments on using a transport with separate DAC. I was actually starting to explore this idea later last night and this morning. My NAD player will not function as a reliable transport do to its new glitches (skips, clicks, etc.) so I will therefore need a transport and DAC to take this path.

I am not against doing this.

Any recommendations on a startup path. I was wanting to keep my expense in the $500 to $800 range.

Thanks again folks for the thoughts and recommendations.

Chris
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