question about "lower" priced CD players/DACs

If you really want a "lot better sound", don't spend money on your digital front-end. Rather, think about upgrading speakers and/or obtaining top-quality source material. Those are improvements you will *definitely* hear...

-RW-

Are you going to use it as a CD player, CD transport and DAC or are you going to use it solely as a Transport? I've heard the Oppo unit and it was decent. However, I did not hear it using it as a transport only into a DAC. or compared to other Transport DAC combinations. So, my advice is to go to a decent store and ask if they would let you take it home for an in-home audition or if they won't, find a friend with one and borrow your friends unit before purchasing it. I don't know the quality of your existing DAC, but seriously, that would be my first path for upgrade. I have auditioned/compared several CD/DVD players as transports only and there are differences, so keep that in mind, however, the biggest difference will be with the DAC. this is a serious piece of equipment and should be considered carefully. the newer DACs are catering to the computer and computer sound community and they are not really high-end quality. The analog portion should be just as good or better than any high-end pre-amp and the power supply must be excellent. The light weight, DACs out there are big on digital and soft on analog and power supply, which is a serious mistake.

enjoy

My CD player is close to 20 years old. I'm thinking about buying a new CD player to replace it. hadn't really given a lot of thought yet to using my old CD player as a transport into a new DAC because of the age of the CD player. Minorl, you and Marakanetz both recommend focusing on the DAC part of the equation.

How do I determine which DACs are not what you call "light weight"? I am on a budget, and things like $5000 DACs are not an option for me.

Rlwainwright, my speakers are Magneplanar MG-IIIa's - 3-way planar speakers with a ribbon tweeter. They have been completely rebuilt by Magnepan within the last year. The MG-IIIa is the grandfather of the Magneplanar MG3.7.

Replacing them with the latest, greatest MG3.7 would cost around $6000(!).

I like the Magneplanar sound a lot so plan to stick with them.

Loomisjohnson, you suggested I consider consider I'd get more significant improvement by changing other components.

My preamp and amp are vintage Adcom. The Adcom amp was supposed to be pretty decent at the time (certainly for the price), designed by Nelson Pass. The preamp was not designed by Pass and is said to be decent - not great, not terrible.

Do you think replacing this preamp/amp with something better would result in a bigger sound improvement than replacing the CD player/DAC I'm using? Minorl and Marakanetz seem to lean towards the focusing on the DAC, while you lean more towards focusing on other hardware.

I plan to keep the Magneplanar MG-IIIa speakers. I like the Magneplanar sound, and the newest Maggie, the MG3.7, is going to have a similar, but improved sound, but would cost me around $6k to buy!