CD sound quality

Rich,

I was trying to make a point that even at the $8,000 level( and beyond) of CD playback vinyl is superior. My original vinyl rig cost a fraction of this and blem my cd player out of the water.

The idea here is to get him to think about this old medium as a way to get the sound he is looking for. When I got into this no one ever explained/showed me the difference. There is nothing wrong with saying "Hey there is an alternative out there." I was also really into cd's until I was shown the light.

Bonvoyage, if you were going to stick to cd then I recommend checking out the Linn Genki. Though it may not be the most analytical player in the world it is very musical. I think you could be quite happy with it.

Bonvoyage, Are you saying the vocals sound a littled recessed or are you saying it sounds like it is broken. how bad is the problem? If you are talking a little bit recessed, a different player may help. If you are saying it sounds like it is broken, i.e. almost no sound/vocals/center image/etc, it may be a setup issue.

Does your DVD player have 6 RCA Analog outputs for 5.1 playback? How it it attached to your amp? What CDs exhibit the problem ( you said "some CDs"). Is it possible that you are playing mulit-track material and are only hearing the L&R front outputs, and not all of the 5.1 output?

Just curious. I've owned lots of DVD players and CD players. Some are better than others, but none actually sounded like the system was on mute when being played. This sounds like a setup issue, a media issue, or a broken player to me.

Enjoy,

TIC

Nrostov & Seanl:

I wasn't looking to stomp on anyone's parade. I left vinyl behind about 10 years ago for a host of reasons and admittedly, I am sometimes tempted to buy a turntable, because I really like turntables, not vinyl. I just understood the question, as well as bonvoyage's previous other post, to be ... hey, I just acquired the NAD & the Evo's and it's not sounding right ... what do I do. I never even entertained that it could be how the DVD hook-up was done. Duh!

I think that I obscured my main point which was ... as for the NAD C320/C720, despite what NAD claims in its manuals ... the associated equipment and cables matter a lot. The only CD player that I was ever happy pairing with the NAD was the Music Hall. The others ... and there were at least 2 other CD players and 3 other DVD players that were tried ... did not do the trick.

So to add to the original question ... given a $1500 set-up (list price), what turntable and phono preamp would make sense? If we are talking about $300 as a possible price, does one of the packages that KAB USA offers make the most sense?

Regards, Rich

Regarding cheap DVD players as CD players: I have a Samsung HD850 and there's no way I could live with it as my main CD player. How does it rate compared to the DVD players that are considered acceptable?

Rich,

If you are looking to get back into vinyl on a budget I would look for a used "Logic" table. One helluva lot of table for the money. They are quite a bit better sonically that the VPIs and way better than the Regas and they cost $200 when you can find one. Most people that bought them keep them.
Also, there are guys that add a suspension to the old AR turntable and it becomes essentially a Sondek. Throw the AR arm away and put a used Grace 707 on it and a Koetsu Rosewood and you will have a no joke audiophile rig that will run with the best of them for about a grand (and $800
of that is cartridge) The old Supex 900 is the forerunner of the koetsu and is even cheaper and sounds great.
I have info I can send on the AR and Logic turntables if you want.
Hope this helps.

Ross