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How Important Is The Cdp?


Hi,

My current set-up includes PSB Stratus Mini's speakers, Cambridge AZUR 540 A and a Toshiba 3950 DVD which i use for cd playback only. I know this is a mismatch of gear, but i originally hadnly planned on using this equipment with each other, then shortly after had some money troubles so im stuck with this gear for awhile.

My system sounds OK at times, its somewhat musical but alot of the time the sound is jsut too harsh and fatuiging- guitar harmonics are especially grainy and shimmery, vocals seem to be yelling at me way too much and overall the sound seems unfocused and veiled.

My room is pretty small, about 10x10 with an open closet and Jon Risch acoustic treatments directly behind each speaker, side walls arent really treated at all. I know my room isnt the greatest, but somehow i get the sence that the room isnt the main problem im having, sure it could use alot of improvement but the bad sound seems to be coming directly from the speakers.

Im sort of confused on what is causing the harshness, some people say its my cdp, others say my amp and then theres a few who think its my speakers interacting with the room.

This brings me to the question on how important is the cdp? Ive heard many people say that the cdp makes very little to no difference and wont tame the harshness i speaker of. Others say the source is most important and that what im hearing is my speakers producing the crappy sound my cdp is feeding them.

Would a better cdp, or say a 1000$ DAC improve my system to the point where the harshness i speaker of will be mostly eliminated, or will it just show more weaknesses of my amp. Or will a better cdp just make my system only slighty less harsh by only taming some of the digital glare of cdp's?

What do you guys think? cdp causing the harshness, or is it the amp?
dave123456
vaystrem
80 posts
 
I have the 3950 in my system. It was an improvement over my Pioneer DV-353.

However.

When compared to the AMC CD8b, Cambridge Audio Azur 640c, Arcam 73t, Rega Planet 2000, Creek CD50mk1, or Cary 308. It falls completely flat. I have had all of these players in my system.

The ONLY time the differences were not notable was when I was using the pre-amp section of my integrated NAD C350. Once I had bypassed that section with a higher quality pre-amp the differences were obvious to audiophiles and non-audiophiles alike.

I had a friend's girlfriend over who sat down and told me point blank "no f**king way CDPs will sound different" and she was completely blown away by how different, and better, all of the CDPs sounded in comparison to the Toshiba.

The Toshiba is the weakest component in your system. It is not bad for $100 and it is tolerable, but it doesn't compete with $500 CDN players, let alone $1k USD players. The only reason I'm still using mine is that I had to buy a laptop for grad school instead of a new CD player :)

If you'd like to chat feel free to e-mail me,
vaystrem
80 posts
 
Oops one more thing I forgot to add.

The Toshiba is incredibly sensitive to electricity quality.

I have two outlets near my stereo setup. After some re-arranging I had noticed that my soundstage had fallen flat , there was little depth to the recordings, and fatigue was increased.

I could not pin it down for the longest time. Then one day when my roomate was cooking with the kitchen's exhaust fan on I heard a hum through my speakers which went off as soon as the fan was shut off.

I moved my power bar to the other outlet and everything returned to normal.

I have noticed harshness from the Toshiba that is not there with other CD Players.

You can search the forums for my roundup or I can e-mail the link to you if you like.
pabelson
344 posts
 
I know my room isnt the greatest, but somehow i get the sence that the room isnt the main problem im having, sure it could use alot of improvement but the bad sound seems to be coming directly from the speakers.

Your perception notwithstanding, speaker-room interaction--along with software--really is the biggest factor in sound. (And there's no way your brain can really sort out the sound coming from different directions.)

Make sure there's a thick carpet on the floor, break up the primary reflection points on the side walls (open bookcases work well), hang a tapestry behind you. I can't tell you which of these will and will not work, but you should try them all--and none of them will cost you much.

Also, I know this is anathema to many audiophiles, but play around with your tone controls a bit. Not the purist approach, I know, but if it sounds right it is right.
mechans
2,999 posts
 
The CDP is very very important, but I couldn't agree more that the system needs to have the proper synergy. If you had a few dollars I would definitely use a true CD player the Music Hall is a giant killer. It sounds like there are numerous other potential problems. Fatuiging "yelling" is a combination of probably clipping the amp into low efficiency speakers. Of course poorly recorded software will yeild that kind of sound.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
In your system $1000 for DAC or another desired CDp should be invested solely towards speakers since it will improve it better for each buck spent.

$-spent-for-CDp/$-spent-for-speakers is approximately 1/10 scale if especially talking of CD-players above $500 new.
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