Finally bagged a new cd player............

Gerrardasnails

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..............well, it's actually a dvd player (Arcam FMJ DV27A). I cannot wait to hear it in action. I think it will compliment my CA 840A really well. I've been looking at getting a second hand, oldish, high endish dvd player for a while. I think they offer amazing value for money. Audiophiles don't seem to touch dvd players as such. Home cinema fans don't seem to want to know a dvd player without hdmi, hence these players are going cheap. I've read quite a few reviews from around 2004 and they all say that the 27A is as good as a lot of £1000 cd players - now I'm assuming that cd players haven't improved that much in four years. I paid just under £300 for it (original rrp circa £2000) and I have Denon DVD1940 and DCD700AE to sell and make some of the difference - oh and an hdmi cable that I won't need now as well! I will post my findings......
 

Gerrardasnails

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plastic penguin:Well done Gerrard. It's good to have the occassional new toy to keep the interest topped up. Was your old machine becoming a bit creeky, or did you have it in mind for some time?

I've not had my Denon for long and it is a great budget cd player but my amp is too good for it in my opinion and I reckon a better disc spinner will really ask it some questions. I know the Arcam sound is not everyone's cup of tea but my Denon has been described as warm and the RS6s are on the brighter side. Add that combo to the beefiness of the 840A, I'm confident it will marry up nicely.
 

Thaiman

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Nice one buddy....enjoy
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Anonymous

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some DVD players are great CD players. i use a Denon dvd2800 with Cyrus Pre/Power and its sounds better then the Teac and Cambridge transport and DAC it replaced. also its great for integrating HI-FI and home cinema together if you don't have much room. I payed £160 for it because its before HDMI.
 
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the record spot

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Good snag - I got the Samsung DVD950-H a couple of years back and it's doing SACD and DVD duties at home. Brilliant at both. CD not bad, but I have a dedicated player for that. No reason why a decent universal player can't be all things to all formats!
 
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Anonymous

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record spot: I have that DVD player and only just realised it does SACD's. Now Im tempted to go buy a SACD to see what they sound like. How have you got it hooked up to your hifi?

I have an offboard DAC (Cyrus DAC-X) will this be compatible via the digital outs?
 
T

the record spot

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Hooked it up to the CD input on the amp - it's a good player; I got it in a Richer Sounds clearance for almost half price, so was pleased with that. Have a listen to it with or without the DAC and see how it goes; I don't have one so have to take what I get like it or not (fortunately, I like it)! I'm assuming you can use a DAC with it anyway? I'll be interested to hear how it sounds.
 

JoelSim

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An immediate difference. The dvd was ok, but the cd was far more rounded and detailed, better timing and more involvement. Only needed to listen to 30 seconds of each it was that clear cut.
 

Gerrardasnails

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JoelSim:An immediate difference. The dvd was ok, but the cd was far more rounded and detailed, better timing and more involvement. Only needed to listen to 30 seconds of each it was that clear cut.

But Joel, with the utmost respect (I know you know your Arcams) the 27A (being from the FMJ range) is a better machine than your Diva 79. It was priced at around £2k when first produced and still costs around £1600 now. The 79 was the first hdmi unit from Arcam and cost under £1k. I think that there was more emphasis on the visual through hdmi than the cd playback. I might be wrong and will let you know soon. I'm expecting a lot - my cd player is a budget (rrp £250) Denon, which I feel is great value but budget all the same.

I just think that you can get really great cd playback from oldish high end dvd players for brilliant prices at the moment. This is down to audiophiles not wanting to use a dvd player and film fans not wanting a dvd player (no matter how good) which doesn't have hdmi.
 
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Anonymous

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Gerrardasnails:..............well, it's actually a dvd player (Arcam FMJ DV27A). I cannot wait to hear it in action. I think it will compliment my CA 840A really well. I've been looking at getting a second hand, oldish, high endish dvd player for a while. I think they offer amazing value for money. Audiophiles don't seem to touch dvd players as such. Home cinema fans don't seem to want to know a dvd player without hdmi, hence these players are going cheap. I've read quite a few reviews from around 2004 and they all say that the 27A is as good as a lot of £1000 cd players - now I'm assuming that cd players haven't improved that much in four years. I paid just under £300 for it (original rrp circa £2000) and I have Denon DVD1940 and DCD700AE to sell and make some of the difference - oh and an hdmi cable that I won't need now as well! I will post my findings......

no need to tell me Gerrad! you may have noticed my thread about my recently acquired DV88 replacing my CD72T. well i went one step further and got myself a another DV88 - this time though its the DV88PLUS version which has a few tweaks and the ability to play DVD-A. not bad for £125!!!
now i have one for the bedroom and one for the lounge. as for how they compare... well as you may expect they are similar, very similar infact. however, the PLUS is a little more neutral (the DV88 seems to favour the bottom end of the frequency range). the PLUS has a very clear and detailed sound though sometimes i do miss the little extra warmth and grunt the DV88 bought. oh well i can always swap them round!
 

Gerrardasnails

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JoelSim:Would be interested to hear a review Mr asnails

In fact I'm going to do a test on my dvd vs cd now

I'm not that good at explaining what I hear but here goes. Set everything up last night - because of my rack being heavy and the dvd player has different connections to my old one - I didn't get to listen to a cd until this morning. Put on Alicia Keys' latest album. One thing I noticed was that I turned my amp up higher than normal. I'm not sure if this is because the Arcam has less grunt than my old Denon cdp or that there is no brightness even at high volume levels. The sounds is fantastic. I'm hearing breaths between bursts of song, everything seems wider and more spaced out. The bass is amazing. All in all, I was expecting a lot and I haven't been let down. I will playing all day! Joel, I like Arcam.
 

JoelSim

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Good man. I know exactly what you're saying and hearing. Enjoy - the best time to listen is after a couple of glasses of red wine, much better for music than beer.
 

Gerrardasnails

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JoelSim:Good man. I know exactly what you're saying and hearing. Enjoy - the best time to listen is after a couple of glasses of red wine, much better for music than beer.

Lucky I'm a big wine fan! I will open a couple of bottles tonight. A little bit of Paul Weller and maybe some Back to Black - I know she is an idiot but it's one of the best albums ever made in my opinion.
 
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Anonymous

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Nice one, glad you hear a substantial improvement.

Just looking at your kit, how comes you are using such expensive cabling? That's outrageous overkill isnt it? I wouldnt have thought the components would have let you hear differences between your cables and more modestly priced alternatives. Id be interested to hear your findings.
 

Gerrardasnails

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thfcwestlower:
Nice one, glad you hear a substantial improvement.

Just looking at your kit, how comes you are using such expensive cabling? That's outrageous overkill isnt it? I wouldnt have thought the components would have let you hear differences between your cables and more modestly priced alternatives. Id be interested to hear your findings.

I know what you are saying but I got good deals off ebay. I bought the first Anthem for £130 (I think it was) and sold for £170ish. I then saw a buy it now on a Signature for £175, I bought and sold for £310 and then I got the Anthem 2 for £180ish.

I noticed a difference when I had my old £250 cd player. My amp retailed at £750 and my cd player (dvd player) retailed at £1900. I don't think it's overkill anymore and as I've mentioned, I got it for a good price. I suppose I could upgrade my speakers (if you look at retail prices of the rest of my kit) but I love them and won't bother for while yet.
 

JoelSim

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Try a few of these tonight:

Rumours - track 3 and 8
Jack Johnson
Damien Rice
Everything but the girl - amplified heart
Groove Armada
 

Gerrardasnails

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JoelSim:Try a few of these tonight:

Rumours - track 3 and 8
Jack Johnson
Damien Rice
Everything but the girl - amplified heart
Groove Armada

I only have Johnson and Rice. I do like Fleetwood Mac as well but don't have any of their stuff. Maxwell's first and by far best album is sounding sweet at the moment though!
 

Gerrardasnails

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thfcwestlower:
Ah I see, that's some pretty impressive eBay trading!

I've been 'baying for years now. I always check certain searches newly listed items and sometimes you get people who are under valuing their stuff. The signature cables were on for about 15 mins when I saw them! To be honest, I didn't notice much different from my Anthem when I listened with the sig. That was when I had my budget cd player. I couldn't resist selling it for the profit. As Joel said, cables don't go bad and you can always upgrade your components to match your cables. The Anthem 2 however is a substantial leap in clarity from my previous Cobra 3 and Crimson.
 

JoelSim

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I suggest you get Everything but the girl - Amplified Heart, it will become a staple for many years to come, it's a superb album that suits Arcam brilliantly.
 

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