Novice looking for an upgrade

[r1jones]

Hi
I'm new to all this so I'm in need of advice. I currently have a Roksan Kandy MkIII amp and Quad 11L speakers, connected with QED Silver Anniversary cable. I have had a cheap Philips CD player for almost 15 years and still use the interconnects that came with it! I've wanted to upgrade for some years as I'm clearly not getting the best out of the amp or speakers.

I don't want to spend more than approx. £750 for a CD player and can fork out a little more for decent interconnects. After reading several reviews I am drawn towards the Cyrus CD6SE which I can buy for £720

I intend to listen to any products before purchase but would first like to get other people's opinoins as to whether this would be a good match or would such an expensive CD player be wasted on my current kit. I'm not looking to buy new speakers yet but this could be an option in a few years.

Secondly, as I DJ for a hobby I still play a lot of vinyl and listen to digital music through vinyl emulation software. I have an old, ridiculously long phono cable from Tandy running between my mixer and amp. Can anyone recommend a decent cable I can get about 4-5m long and (assuming it would be an improvement) is it possible to change phono cables on Technics 1210 turntables?

I think that about covers it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

This is the cable I'd get if a 5m length is required:

clicky

 

[Anonymous]

I can't help you on the latter question but as for the other question, I would definitely look at playing your music through an external dac. Rip all of your cds to wav or flac and then either through a usb connection from your pc to the dac, a wireless connection from itunes to the AE, or optionally if you have a ps3 which has a quiet fan, rip your cd's to a lossless format and then save them to an external hdd, then connect the ps3 to the dac via an optical cable and phono cables connected to the amp.

I can't describe what a superb difference this has made to my system but obviously if you are not interested in this route then apologies, I am not very knowledgeable about the more higher end cd's as it's not something I am considering anymore. Those are superb speakers and amp so clearly the source is the problem. For what I had in mind, look into the Beresford TC 7520 and the new CA Dac Magic (for the usb option) and the CA Dac Magic and the Beresford TC 7510 MK6/3 or MK6/4.

 

[d_a_n1979]

IMO with your set-up i'd be very tempted to look at the Rega Apollo CDP; its a stunner and IMO better than the Cyrus 6SE CDP when partnered with the Roksan Kandy amp.

 

[the record spot]

Yep, I think the Cyrus might be a little too keen sounding with your Kandy and the Quad combination. Brilliant individually, but could leave you with a very forward sounding system. You could add Exposure's 2010s into this category too I think, good thogh both players are.

Add to the Rega, the Marantz SA8003 or look out for a deal on the SA7001KI (the latter is superb, albeit with a leaner bass), and you might find a used Eastern Electric Minimax if you fancy something slightly different, or even a used Unison Research Unico player - all of these will be worth shortlisting.

 

[r1jones]

Cheers guys. An external DAC is something I've never considered before but is something I might look into as I build up my digital music library. And thanks for the advice on the CD players and cables. I think I'll go with the Chord.

I was first attracted to the Cyrus because of the upgradability, but I will seriously bear in mind the Rega, Marantz and others.

 

[up the music]

Yes the cable on the 1210 can be replaced. We did one at a club I worked at. You get at it with the turntable upside down and remove feet and bottom plate. You will need a soldering iron. We butchered a Cambridge Pacific cable I had spare. Cut one end off, stuck it through the hole into the deck, trimmed back the sheathing and resolder.
I would recommend a better cable though, we used that because that's what we had on the night and a DJ is useless without decks to play on.

I'd say the Chord Crimson is a safe bet, other cables from QED, Beldon, Canare etc should be fine too.

As you already have a PC see the other recent threads on PC vs CD before shelling out on a CD player.

You might be able to upgrade the PC to play lossless files and buy a Pioneer DJ CD deck for the same sort of money.