best bass cd player?

[admin_exported]

I'm looking to upgrade my cdp, i know Plinius cdp would be a good match(to my Plinius intergrated), but 3k is too much for me. I'd like to improve the bass reproduction, my preference would be deep and tight bass, with realistic soundstage and organic timbre. My budget is around 2k, i don't mind 2nd hand equipment.

Here's my shortlist:

Roksan caspian m-1 series

Ayre cx7e

Bryston bcd1

Sony SCD 5400XAE

cheers

andy

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I don't mean to hijack (I have no experience of the cd players you are talking about) but how do you rate the Havana? I am seriously considering one of these as a replacement for an Arcam CD192 and would love to hear from an actual owner (owners are thin on the ground). (To be paired with equipment in my signature)

I'm sure someone with experience will be along to advise you regarding the CD players soon enough.

Best regards, Lee

 

[Anonymous]

With that list I would have suggested you buy my Ayre C5xeMP - but I just sold it ........ oh well!

My Ayre had good bass, so the 7 may well follow suit .....

 

[RCduck7]

I would add an other not well known to that list if it was me.

Try to audition one of the tubed MHZS players, i had one for audition at home and bought one when i heard it. It sounded simply better and muscular bass, a lot like you describe in the sound your after. I compared it to my Xindak DAC-8, and that one was allready better in some area's compared to my modded DacMagic. This view reflects of coursse my experience and from many other but every system and ears of the person are different, so audtioning is advised at any time of coursse. Prices start low on the MHZS players and they are built like a tank. A cheap easy modification can make them sound even better. One of the best kept secrets for price, quality and performance but google can be your friend.

 

[MattSPL]

A Krell cd player like a Kav 280cd or an older Kav300 cd. Or Krells sacd standard, all available used. Great for bass.

Also Wadia players are excellent in every way, especially bass. A used Wadia 301 or 302 would be in your budget. I hope to own one someday as they also have a built in volume control so you can connect directly to a power amp for super sound.

I would imagine a Wadia hooked upto some active ATC speakers would be mind blowing

 

[Dan Turner]

I know it's not on the list, but I had an Arcam CD37, and the bass was exceptional. Deep, tight, detailed with great tonal expression.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lee,

Havana is truly a quality DAC(great price!!), I have no intention to sell it at all. If you are not familiar with NOS DAC's presetation, Havana gives you a very raw kind of sound. It reproduces the most organic timbre i've ever heard(I think it takes at least 2k cdp to beat Havana in this aspect). The sound become so much more alive and present and there's never any moment I heard anything harsh, silky violin sound etc. For example, the sort of drum snare sound you get from Havana is just delicious, great on vocals and accoustic stuff, though I've not yet written it off for rock and pop stuff cuz it's influenced by my CEC cdp, which gives pretty laid back presentation.

I think that's what brought me to the point where I decided to get a forward sounding cdp, hopfully one notch higher than CEC with much better bass, to give a better balance.

Anyway, highly recommend to give Havana a listen, it made me wonder if a cheap NOS dac can sound this good, imagine another NonOverSampling DAC by Audio Note, costing more than double the price, it's just pure music!! But if you are into analytical stuff, than you might find it mediocre and smooth sounding.