Is it worth upgrading my CD Player (after 18 years) ??

[admin_exported]

Reading the title to this question your immediate answer would be of course it is.

But back in 1991 I shelled out just under a grand on a Meridian 206B CD Player and today it still serves me as 1 of the 2 input sources for my system (the other being a DAB tuner). The rest of the system comprises of Audiolab Pre/Power and original Acoustic Energy AE1's on their proper stands - still sounding as awsome as they day I first auditioned them, although I did have to replace the driver units 8 years or so ago.

Anyway, 18 years is a long time in electronics and I am starting to wonder how my 206B would fair against something like a Cyrus CD8SE, which if I did upgrade would be the limits of my budget?

So what I am asking is will I see a noticeable difference between the technologies worthy of tempting me to part with £1200?

I know the answer to this question will be in an audition but i thought I would get the general consensus of here as well

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

the meridians were and still are very good ... I was after the meridian 207 (think it uses the same chip as the marantz cd-7 (TDA 1541a52 double crown which is highly regarded) ...

so if your cdp is working fine, and you wish to upgrade, take it with you to a hifi shop, and listen and compare it to new cd players (you may end up servicing it and keeping it)

 

[Overdose]

As with all things, technology in hi-fi has moved on, particularly with improved design,but not so much in the component department, although there must be a fair amount of snake oil thrown in to tempt people out of their obviously over the hill 18 year old components and shell out for new gear! At the time, I'm sure the reviews of your kit were outstanding (not to mention what it actually sounds like), with eulogies heaping praise on the ever so realistic and detailed sound, the clarity, the 'sense of air', soundstage etc. The fact is, that what was good then is still good now, but maybe not quite as good. The difference may well be a lot less than you'd think. To draw an analogy or two, the 100m world record was 10.1 seconds 35 years ago, that's only 0.5 seconds slower than todays record and imagine how rubbish shampoo must have been 35 years ago, without all the gimmicky technological wonder ingredients of todays ultimate hair cleaning products (soap).

The only way to know for sure is to get hold of the Cyrus and try it in your system. I would say that you might well hear an improvement, but not a grands worth of difference. When your CDP packs up for good, then is the time for a new investment and it will be for replacement not upgrade if that makes any sense?

Mind you, if you've got a spare £1200 and feel the need to spend it, there's a lot worse things to buy.....

 

[Anonymous]

i checked the serial no. and I have a revision 2 model so it has a Philips CDM4/21 transport mechanism with a bitstream DAC - as you say will be interesting to see if this technology has stood the test of time and how it compares with What HiFi's £1200 benchmark Cyrus CD8SE

 

[Anonymous]

Have you considered buying a DAC and using your Meridian as a transport only?

I think my Meridian 506 (20 bit) has an excellent transport mechanism - one where the entire laser assembly is built into the drawer which slides out - but things were improved when I bought a Cambridge Audio DacMagic.

I think a modern DAC may enhance your DAB listening to.

Also prices are a fraction of the £1200 for a Cyrus and if you Meridian packs up you can still buy an older CD player secondhand as another transport.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes have also thought about a DAC only upgrade as the 206 transport has the laser built into the drawer like yours. Ive picked up a lot of threads praising this transport so I may be better off just upgrading the DAC - whats the best DAC upgrade on the market these days up to £1k ?

 

[Thaiman]

dim_span:
the meridians were and still are very good ... I was after the meridian 207 (think it uses the same chip as the marantz cd-7 (TDA 1541a52 double crown which is highly regarded) ...

so if your cdp is working fine, and you wish to upgrade, take it with you to a hifi shop, and listen and compare it to new cd players (you may end up servicing it and keeping it)

Meridian 207 sounded few class below Marantz CD7 and the DAC use in that is a single crown not dual double crown as Marantz.

Back to the OP question, the external DAC is seem to be the way to go, the DAC X is pretty good or even better, Cyrus 8XPD, as you get DAC and amp combine in one.

 

[Anonymous]

My only experience is of my own Cambridge Audio which I am delighted with but the number of DACs that have appeared on the market since computers became a 'viable' music source.

I have read good things about Lavry engineering DACs and particularly Benchmark products. There are now a number of reviews of these although the Cambridge still rates very highly even up to £1000.

 

[a91gti]

I reckon a demo of the Cyrus in your system would be the way to go, as it seems does everyone else.
I would add though that you might consider having someone convert your cdp's existing dac to non-oversampling. The already great 1541 becomes amazing when liberated (I did mine myself but there are firms who'll do it) so.

 

[Anonymous]

i have a roksan kandy cd player and a mission pcm 7000 and a dacmagic....i prefer the mission, its got to be made in circa 1995? sounds nice through dacmagic...

 

[plastic penguin]

i have a roksan kandy cd player and a mission pcm 7000 and a dacmagic....i prefer the mission, its got to be made in circa 1995? sounds nice through dacmagic...

Ahem... look at the date of the thread.

 

[GSB]

:doh:

 

[Anonymous]

i have a roksan kandy cd player and a mission pcm 7000 and a dacmagic....i prefer the mission, its got to be made in circa 1995? sounds nice through dacmagic...

Ahem... look at the date of the thread.

lol...whats a few years in the world of hifi? have i a commited a forum foe pus? hahaha....ill shuffle off to the recent posts then?

 

[GSB]

it was an interesting thread too...

 

[Anonymous]

i thought so too. im not at all convinced modern cd players are better? they are different...the problem seems to me is the makers of cd players, speakers etc have to keep selling the product...i guess by saying this new whatever has this,that and the other..which improves on what was before...so us who have bought the product before? are then bound to rebuy it, the new improved version? grrrrr.....i have a pair of wonderful acoustic energy AE1 mk3....i was surprised to see one of the bods at aforementioned company now saying the se version is better, improved? are my speakers now not as good as before? its the same throughout hifi equipment...by saying this or that isnt now as good as it was..because of the new version...what happens if i get some much better speakers? does this mean i can keep my not as good cd player? or does it then show the limitations of my aged player? lol....im going to keep my old stuff for as long as i can...so there

 

[plastic penguin]

That could be said about all components. New doesn't necessarily mean better, but above all else you need to factor in reliability, or if it needs repairing are the components available?

 

[Anonymous]

That could be said about all components. New doesn't necessarily mean better, but above all else you need to factor in reliability, or if it needs repairing are the components available?

good point, my mission does starting smelling funny after a couple of hours..lol so i dont leave it on for extended periods...if it packs up i wont get it repaired, ill buy another for 50 quid and take my chances, i also have a denon 260 tuner, what a stonking tuner it is...its going through my 2k speakers...my quad 909...my super esoteric interconnects...it just sounds better and better...im amazed by it.

 

[plastic penguin]

That could be said about all components. New doesn't necessarily mean better, but above all else you need to factor in reliability, or if it needs repairing are the components available?

good point, my mission does starting smelling funny after a couple of hours..lol so i dont leave it on for extended periods...if it packs up i wont get it repaired, ill buy another for 50 quid and take my chances, i also have a denon 260 tuner, what a stonking tuner it is...its going through my 2k speakers...my quad 909...my super esoteric interconnects...it just sounds better and better...im amazed by it.

Cracking tuner for £20.00, although it doesn't out perform my 40 year old Marantz, which still works well. The only reason for buying the Denon was due to some signal interference, so I was looking to see whether the tuner was peggin' out or a genuine poor signal.

If you have have old gear make sure you have a fire extinguisher (foam not water).