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Law of Diminishing Returns - CD/SACD Players

I've been surfing through Audiogon reading many of the posts regarding the sonic qualities of some of the top tier cd/sacd players. Some brands/models that seem to be mentioned often are EMM Labs, dCS, Meridian, Esoteric, Audio Aero, etc. These players, however, are in the tens of thousands of dollars. I would love to own one of these machines some day, however, finances do not currently permit.

For those of you that have evolved to owning a top tier player like those listed above, what players can you recommend that would give 95 percent of the performance of a top tier player, without having to pay the price of a top tier machine? What does one have to pay to get that 95 percent performance? Does a Rotel 1072 give us 95 percent of the sound? Can a $1000 player like the Rega Apollo compete? Or does one have to move up a more costly player like the Resolution Audio Opus 21 or Ayre Cx7e to obtain the 95 percent? ...or perhaps one has to move to the $5000 - $6000 category of player like the Cary 306, Ayre C5xe, or Bluenote Stibbert?

Unfortunately, I have not heard any of the top tier digital players. I would love to hear from those who have had the opportunity to own or audition the very best. We all know that extracting the last 5 percent of sonic nirvana is extremely costly! What is the best "bang for your buck" to obtain 95 percent of the sound of a first class player?

calgarian
calgarian5355
bigbucks5
183 posts
 
I'm sure this is heresy, but the difference in sound quality between my Sony CDP-M555ES (400 CD changer) and my megabuck Esoteric P70/D70 transport/DAC combo is virtually nil. So either my ears are waaaay bad, or the Sony is a damn good unit.

99% of the performance of SOTA for 5% of the price?
bartokfan
664 posts
 
Cal good post and reflects my POV. There is a point of diminishing returns. Not to say the super expensive players are not woth the "bang for the buck". If I were spending over $5K I'd look for a used Jadis DAC. But as you say if you can get 90% of the sound quality from a lower cost unit , then why not, especially if you have a tight budget. I had a Rotel and a NAD cdp. Then I went with a Cayin 15. Blew out the water the NDA and Rotel. Here we can't compare on a % ratio, the Rotel and NAD were not even in the same league.
Then I went with a Cayin 17, which can be compared to the Cayin 15, both in the same league. The 17 offered 10% improved sound quality. 10% doesn't seem like alot but in audio terms 10% is a nice gain, IOW a justified upgrade. If another tube player comes along that I feel can best the 17, I may go for it. As long as its areasonable asking price. I pd $1K for the 17 so am willing to fork out $2K if I can get another 10% better resolution. But that 10% gain is doubtful, 5% may be more like it, and that may not be enough to justify spending another $2K.

Does the Audio Aero Capitole present a 8X's(800%) better musical image vs the Cayin 17? All I know its 8X's the price.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
The last 10% of improvement in digital sources will only be revealed if the rest of the system is capable. Many systems are not up to the task, and their owners are not aware of the deficiency.

That's been my experience.
martykl
3,563 posts
 
It's interesting to see some of the experiences here. A year ago, when I contracted for a new home, I - as you might expect- began the search for some new equipment. Specifically, I wanted a second turntable and a pair of speakers. During the course of that research I saw a used Shanling CD player at a very low price. I asked the dealer to switch out the Esoteric CD player he was using for the MBL demo and use the Shanling instead. I've always been a bit skeptical of differences among CD players and would not have been surprised to hear little/no difference. Instead, the difference was dramatic. That started the process of looking at current players which I partially described in my post above.

Overall, I did not hear vast differnces when I was A/B ing similarly priced players. I found Ayre vs ARC, Esoteric vs Accuphase, Cary vs Musical Fidelity (etc) sessions inconclusive. However, I also tried to include one cheaper player in every A/B session. The differences were always audible - and usually pretty convincing to me. The new Rega fared best of the cheaper units. I hope this provides one more data point for you.

Marty

PS - I ended up buyinng 2 players: A Rega for my den and a Cary for my listening room.
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