Arcam Alpha 8 CD vs modern budget CD

[admin_exported]

Can anyone suggest whether my Arcam Alpha 8 CDP would be much worse these days than a modern budget CDP (e.g. Marantz 6002)?

 

[chebby]

Why should it?

An Alpha 8 has a digital coax output (I think) so you could try just using it as a transport and plug it into a good budget DAC...

http://www.beresford.me/others/main.html

http://whathifi.com/Review/Beresford-TC-7510/

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:Why should it? An Alpha 8 has a digital coax output (I think) so you could try just using it as a transport and plug it into a good budget DAC... http://www.beresford.me/others/main.html http://whathifi.com/Review/Beresford-TC-7510/

I just assumed that technology moves so fast these days...

 

[Dave_]

stick with the arcam, it has a co-axial out so as chebby suggested you could add a bersford dac

 

[John Duncan]

Or a DACMagic........

 

[matthewpiano]

Why not take your Alpha along to a dealer and audition it against some current machines. Personally I think you would find that the Marantz wouldn't be much of an upgrade but if you could move up to Rega Apollo/Cambridge 740C level you would see substantial improvements. I think you would also find an Arcam CD73 a step up and there are some great deals around on the last few units.

 

[Anonymous]

Or you could upgrade the opamps and capacitors for better quality parts. That's easy to do, very cheap, and you can have some fun while doing it! You can also damp the chasis to make it more anti-resonant. This will cost you only a few pounds.

 

[chebby]

JohnDuncan:Or a DACMagic........

A DACMagic is almost twice the price of a Beresford (DACmagic = £200 according to WHF review and Beresford is £119 according to their own website) and given that both are 5 star products and the Beresford is out there already - and therefore proven - that is the reason I recommended it.

The key word (to my reading of the OP's post title) was 'budget'.

 

[Anonymous]

Audition both and decide for yourself. I would personally go for the Alpha 8.

 

[John Duncan]

chebby:JohnDuncan:Or a DACMagic........

A DACMagic is almost twice the price of a Beresford (DACmagic = £200 according to WHF review and Beresford is £119 according to their own website) and given that both are 5 star products and the Beresford is out there already - and therefore proven - that is the reason I recommended it.

The key word (to my reading of the OP's post title) was 'budget'.

Yeah but its blue lights are cooler

I still think the DACMagic is a budget DAC (though better made and more versatile than the Beresford, to my mind), but then everybody's ideas of that are different - the OP may consider it too dear for what it does, and be perfectly happy with the Beresford.