Advice on where to go after 20 years (polite responses please)

Oxfordian

Well-known member
After 20 years I have finally been able to get my hifi gear out of the loft, connected up and working, well that is what I hoped.

Unfortunately there was a leak in the roof that was repaired last year but it has done some lasting damage to some of the gear.

The box with my Rega Planar 3 was directly under the leak and has rusted solid, not a good start, the vinyl collection seems a bit warped so that part of the collection is a bit of a no go.

Now the working kit, CD Player is a 33 year old Marantz CD50SE running through an Arcam Alpha 8 amp and into KEF Q35 speakers bi wired.

The LP's that have been ruined wasn't a big collection so unlikely that I will replace the vinyl or deck, my focus will be on getting the most from a sizeable CD collection, so I would welcome some suggestions on which direction to go with my kit.

My initial thought would be to upgrade the CD Player but to what? Budget for this change would be upto £750 but could push it a bit if necessary.

Any suggestions, input or feedback to help me get the best from my CD collection would be very welcome.

Thanks .
 

Wil

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May 8, 2020
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My initial thought would be to upgrade the CD Player but to what? Budget for this change would be upto £750 but could push it a bit if necessary.

Any suggestions, input or feedback to help me get the best from my CD collection would be very welcome.

Thanks .
Can't possibly get any more polite than initially pointing you towards:
And you can Tab to previous years' winners.
 
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Gray

Well-known member
My initial thought would be to upgrade the CD Player
Why?
It may be 33 years old but if your CD50 is in full working order, why buy new?
There are people actively seeking out those older players because of the TDA1541 chips in them and the sound they give.
If you did want a more modern type sound, you could put the digital output of the Marantz through an outboard DAC (a DAC that would cost a fraction of your spare £750 and perhaps have other inputs for, say, TV and / or PC output).
Maybe even put a streamer through the same DAC - not saying you should - many people are happy playing CDs, but storing them on a HDD is an option (these days with no compromise in quality).
 
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I bet your records will clean up and be as playable as they were before.
dont bin them.
Even if they did he still has no deck and you can't clean up a warp. Guess it depends on how badly warped..... and you will not know that until you have something to play them on.

To the OP:-
Welcome to the forum,
Grays' advice is sound.
If a new CD player is a must then I would not get one... I would get the Audiolab 6000CDT (transport) and a decent DAC like the Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus or the excellent SMSL SU-9 (if you can find one)
However, that's just me.
PS: I will happily take your old vinyl and assess it for warpage :)
 
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jjbomber

Well-known member
After 20 years I have finally been able to get my hifi gear out of the loft, connected up and working, well that is what I hoped.

Unfortunately there was a leak in the roof that was repaired last year but it has done some lasting damage to some of the gear.

The box with my Rega Planar 3 was directly under the leak and has rusted solid, not a good start, the vinyl collection seems a bit warped so that part of the collection is a bit of a no go.

Any suggestions, input or feedback to help me get the best from my CD collection would be very welcome.

Thanks .
Where to go? Claim on your house insurance would be my advice.
 
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Oxfordian

Well-known member
Where to go? Claim on your house insurance would be my advice.

Tried that but the assessor stated that maintaining a roof is a householders responsibility, so as the leak was not the result of storm damage they wouldn't honour the claim. Apparently maintaining the roof and walls in good order on your property is down to the owner, the ingress of water through lack of preventative maintenance is not covered, at least on my policy.
 

Oxfordian

Well-known member
Even if they did he still has no deck and you can't clean up a warp. Guess it depends on how badly warped..... and you will not know that until you have something to play them on.

To the OP:-
Welcome to the forum,
Grays' advice is sound.
If a new CD player is a must then I would not get one... I would get the Audiolab 6000CDT (transport) and a decent DAC like the Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus or the excellent SMSL SU-9 (if you can find one)
However, that's just me.
PS: I will happily take your old vinyl and assess it for warpage :)

Like the sound of a transport and DAC, definitely something to consider if I upgrade. As far as the vinyl goes a lengthy discussion took place last night and into this morning with the outcome being that we are going to assess the collection and then decide whether to invest in a new deck and I think we probably will.
 
Tried that but the assessor stated that maintaining a roof is a householders responsibility, so as the leak was not the result of storm damage they wouldn't honour the claim. Apparently maintaining the roof and walls in good order on your property is down to the owner, the ingress of water through lack of preventative maintenance is not covered, at least on my policy.
Ouch!
 
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Oxfordian

Well-known member
Why?
It may be 33 years old but if your CD50 is in full working order, why buy new?
There are people actively seeking out those older players because of the TDA1541 chips in them and the sound they give.
If you did want a more modern type sound, you could put the digital output of the Marantz through an outboard DAC (a DAC that would cost a fraction of your spare £750 and perhaps have other inputs for, say, TV and / or PC output).
Maybe even put a streamer through the same DAC - not saying you should - many people are happy playing CDs, but storing them on a HDD is an option (these days with no compromise in quality).

Okay, this response took me by surprise, I genuinely assumed that upgrading a 30+ year old CD player would be the way to go, a new CD player would give me more but maybe I need to sit and revisit the collection first.

There is an issue opening the CD tray, it does require a bit of persuasion but if we had been sat couped up in a box for the best part of 20 years we would be stiff, once moving it is okay but does get stuck when closed overnight.

But the sound from the combination is nice, I'm not qualified to say whether the sound is bright, warm, transparent or harsh, it is just a musical sound which is not unpleasant, certainly Randy Crawford sounds pretty good on Rainy Night in Georgia which is playing as I type this.

So maybe I need to get down to my local HiFi store when they re-open and spend a bit of time listening to some set-ups and see how they compare, they may also be able to help with the deck which by the way is a Rega Planar 3 from the end of the 80's or early 90's.

Thanks for the feedback
 

Oxfordian

Well-known member
Just a brief update on the CD side, I have spent a very enjoyable morning listening to a variety of CD's, I did find Adele's 25 a bit hard going but that could be my tastes rather than the system. Overall a productive morning which has given me plenty to consider whilst deciding whether to part with any hard earned cash.

The issue of the CD tray not opening was present again this morning, even between CD's, and took further persuasion to open, but otherwise the sound was good albeit kept at a sensible level and not pushed too high.

Now time to investigate the state of the vinyl.

I'll update the thread in due course.
 
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Just a brief update on the CD side, I have spent a very enjoyable morning listening to a variety of CD's, I did find Adele's 25 a bit hard going but that could be my tastes rather than the system. Overall a productive morning which has given me plenty to consider whilst deciding whether to part with any hard earned cash.

The issue of the CD tray not opening was present again this morning, even between CD's, and took further persuasion to open, but otherwise the sound was good albeit kept at a sensible level and not pushed too high.

Now time to investigate the state of the vinyl.

I'll update the thread in due course.
You might just whip the top off that CD player and check the drawer opening mechanism, might just need a spray of lubricant.
 
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Gray

Well-known member
Tried that but the assessor stated that maintaining a roof is a householders responsibility, so as the leak was not the result of storm damage they wouldn't honour the claim. Apparently maintaining the roof and walls in good order on your property is down to the owner, the ingress of water through lack of preventative maintenance is not covered, at least on my policy.
....and even with storm damage, pretty sure the bastards would find a way out of paying.

In bed at 6a.m. one morning, sudden massive gust of wind....enormous crashing sounds.
Frightened the **** out of me :eek:, was scared to look. Opened the loft hatch and saw the sky.
3 massively heavy ridge 'tiles' (more like 4 foot long concrete half pipes) had blown off - no question they could have instantly killed someone......lucky it only cost me £240 to put right. (Ins excess probably at least £200 so didn't bother with claim).

EDIT: I like the way this site puts 4 asterisks where I typed the actual word above :LOL: (poxy nanny state).....'bastards' gets through unscathed though :).
 
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....and even with storm damage, pretty sure the bastards would find a way out of paying.

In bed at 6a.m. one morning, sudden massive gust of wind....enormous crashing sounds.
Frightened the **** out of me :eek:, was scared to look. Opened the loft hatch and saw the sky.
3 massively heavy ridge 'tiles' (more like 4 foot long concrete half pipes) had blown off - no question they could have instantly killed someone......lucky it only cost me £240 to put right. (Ins excess probably at least £200 so didn't bother with claim).

EDIT: I like the way this site puts 4 asterisks where I typed the actual word above :LOL: (poxy nanny state).....'bastards' gets through unscathed though :).
So do carp, foch, and schit........ we will catch your drift :)
 
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Oxfordian

Well-known member
....and even with storm damage, pretty sure the bastards would find a way out of paying.

In bed at 6a.m. one morning, sudden massive gust of wind....enormous crashing sounds.
Frightened the **** out of me :eek:, was scared to look. Opened the loft hatch and saw the sky.
3 massively heavy ridge 'tiles' (more like 4 foot long concrete half pipes) had blown off - no question they could have instantly killed someone......lucky it only cost me £240 to put right. (Ins excess probably at least £200 so didn't bother with claim).

EDIT: I like the way this site puts 4 asterisks where I typed the actual word above :LOL: (poxy nanny state).....'bastards' gets through unscathed though :).

Similar, we had a ridge tile move, that prompted us to get someone in, they found another tile that had slipped a while back, this had allowed rain and birds in, the birds had caused a lot of damage inside the roof which cost £1850 to put right, joists, batons, liners and insulation were required. Underneath the damaged roof was the RP3 and LP's, the amp and CD player were further over. Now I pay for not checking my roof more regularly.
 

Gray

Well-known member
Similar, we had a ridge tile move, that prompted us to get someone in, they found another tile that had slipped a while back, this had allowed rain and birds in, the birds had caused a lot of damage inside the roof which cost £1850 to put right, joists, batons, liners and insulation were required. Underneath the damaged roof was the RP3 and LP's, the amp and CD player were further over. Now I pay for not checking my roof more regularly.
Don't beat yourself up too much. Even well maintained loft spaces can be fairly hostile environments for equipment (my loft is like a museum, much of it may be useless though).

Glad to hear your amp and CDP seemed to have survived.
 
Re older CD players, I recently resurrected a Marantz CD-52 mkII SE that I originally bought in 1993. (For over twenty years it’s been at my dad’s house). It worked very well. The matching amp from the same system, another Marantz, has anintermittent right channel, but otherwise seems ok.

I temporarily used my Primare amp to check the even older speakers - KEF Coda II from c. 1982. They were fine too after a few hours use, much to my surprise.

If you can fix the drawer I’d keep the CD player!

B4B26D42-63E6-4790-B07F-2ED59840B0CF.jpg
 

Oxfordian

Well-known member
Re older CD players, I recently resurrected a Marantz CD-52 mkII SE that I originally bought in 1993. (For over twenty years it’s been at my dad’s house). It worked very well. The matching amp from the same system, another Marantz, has anintermittent right channel, but otherwise seems ok.

I temporarily used my Primare amp to check the even older speakers - KEF Coda II from c. 1982. They were fine too after a few hours use, much to my surprise.

If you can fix the drawer I’d keep the CD player!

View attachment 2264

Thanks for the feedback, nice to know that these old CD players keep on going.

As for the drawer, I spent a good few minutes last night opening and closing it, came down this morning and tried to open the drawer and it worked first time, so it looks as though my money can stay safe in my savings account earning 0.000001% interest!

I have to say that I am impressed with the kit working after so many years of being boxed up, it's nice to have music flooding the house again.
 

Oxfordian

Well-known member
Just a brief update on the CD side, I have spent a very enjoyable morning listening to a variety of CD's, I did find Adele's 25 a bit hard going but that could be my tastes rather than the system. Overall a productive morning which has given me plenty to consider whilst deciding whether to part with any hard earned cash.

The issue of the CD tray not opening was present again this morning, even between CD's, and took further persuasion to open, but otherwise the sound was good albeit kept at a sensible level and not pushed too high.

Now time to investigate the state of the vinyl.

I'll update the thread in due course.


The vinyl was checked yesterday and the vast majority of it is fine, a few cheap compilation albums have a sizeable curve in them and when viewed the content made me wonder why on earth we had bought them in the first place so they are heading off to the skip. Otherwise the collection appears pretty good which was a nice surprise, whether they play correctly remains to be seen but the LP's that are being kept don't have any major warps, just need a working deck. Which leads me nicely on to...

The RP3 has gone off to a friends house who believes that the problems with it are superficial and that once he can get the rust off he can get the deck working, he loves to tinker with mechanical stuff so is happy to have a play. I have nothing to lose so we will see what happens.
 

LeoGooner

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Oxfordian, I have a 20year old Arcam CD player that I would not swop for anything. Having said that, I use it less and less as I ripped all my CDs into FLAC format, a bit of a task but well worth it in the end. I took the leap and spent £500 on a streamer and took out Amazon HD and I haven't looked back. If you are happy with the Arcam amp and KEF speakers, I would consider using your budget elsewhere . . . .
 
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