Budget and suggestions to replace CD player?

[Kevin Stephens]

I have a Musical Fidelity Elektra E10 amp and castle Durham 900 speakers on quality stands with lead shot, bi wire speaker cable and quality inter connects

The drive on my cheap Marantz CD, plyed through my cambridge Audio DAC4 is starting to play up, so it's time to get a new CD deck to replace the Marantz / DAC 4 combo

I don't minding investing in a quality deck, but not beyond the price where marginal benefit is limited by my amp and speakers (I wil eventually upgrade these but no plans for now)

What would be a sensible budget? Any suggestions on players to try / shop around for?

I listen to classical, rock, female vocalists etc

 

[respe]

Rega saturn or appolo, or the exposure 3010. If you want to spend more than that, the ayre or linn majic

 

[Kevin Stephens]

So it's really worth spending £1300 on a CD player to feed through amp and speakers that cost me £300 each around 12 years ago?

 

[respe]

The apollo is a bit less than that, but if you are doing the CD now, and amp and speakers later, do you want to do the CD player again later. It is very possible that the apollo will do everything you want and will ever need, especially given its handling of vocals When I changed my player It boiled down to 3, the Rega's and the Linn. In the end the Saturn won, I felt it had enough extra to justify the extra cost over the apollo, and I prefered it overall to the Linn. But that was my ears and system, your choice could be very different.

 

[matthewpiano]

I'd start by trying the following:

Rega Apollo
Creek Evolution 2
Cambridge Audio 740C
NAD C545BEE

These will give you four different sounds to try at what I think is the sweet spot price range before the law of diminishing returns starts to really set in. If you still feel something is missing, then look at the Roksan Kandy K2 and Naim CD5i.

 

[Kevin Stephens]

Thanks All

I look forward to trying the suggestions, particulary Cambridge 740 or 780, Nad C545BEE and Naim Nait 5i, possibly with a view to upgrading my amplifier at same time or later to same brand / price point.

I guess he performance of electroncs has improved a lot since I bought my original kit?

But how about my Castle Durham 900speakers? Are these likely to be a limiting factor on the above choices?, Will I be driven further down the upgrade road?, or will I now be able to enjoy their full potential? (I would get new speaker cables, but would hope that my Cambridge Azur Reference (AKA Sudio Reference?) interconnects are suitable for upgraded amp and CD player

 

[Kevin Stephens]

I've got the chance of an ex demo (discontinued ) Musical Fidelity A3.5 CD player at a good price, and look forward to demo-ing it with my existing amp and speakers compared to the newer options from other makers. I've heard that this CD player may need careful partnering with amp and speakers, bearing in mind that the MFA3.5 amp won't be available to me; can anybody comment on need for campatibility and suggest suitable amps (£500-£800ish)?