Old Dog, New Tricks (New front end required)

[admin_exported]

Hi guys,

I have a system that me and the Missus have been happy with for many years:

Marantz PM80 amplifier

B&W Matrix 2S2

I bought these sometime in the 80's (VERY expensive at the time).

I intended to buy a good CD front end for it but I picked up a Pioneer LCD-1600 Laserdisc player when I was in Japan on impulse: it had 1 bit DAC and very good sound quality to me so I never did buy a specialist CD player (Marantz were all the rage at the time).

The Pioneer is now deceased and I need something to play CD's on. I'm using a bog standard Yamaha DVD player to play the CD's at the moment but it's not in the same league as the Pioneer in terms of sound quality.

I can't decide whether to buy Marantz or Cambridge Audio CD player or whether to get a Universal player in order to be able to play SACD and DVD-A disks too. I have a 46" Samsung LCD TV (1080p) too.

I'm on a tight budget these days so I've been looking at discounted stock, specifically these models:

Marantz DV7600

Marantz DV6600

Yamaha DVDS2700

Would these match or surpass my old Pioneer laserdisc for sound quality? Would I be better getting a straight CD player in the £200-£300 range?

Not sure what to do.

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

I'm... ahem... not familiar with the laserdisc player of which you speak. However, whatever your budget you will always get bet CD playback by spending the money on a dedicated deck. In that price bracket the Marantz PM6002 and Cambridge Azur 640 v.2 are the obvious contenders.

 

[Anonymous]

It is/was 25 years old. I think the PM80 and B&W speakers were reasonably well thought of at the time.

Thansk for your input!

Dave

 

[Gerrardasnails]

tractorboy:I'm... ahem... not familiar with the laserdisc player of which you speak. However, whatever your budget you will always get bet CD playback by spending the money on a dedicated deck. In that price bracket the Marantz PM6002 and Cambridge Azur 640 v.2 are the obvious contenders. Give the Denon DCD700AE a listen too - you can pick them up for £200ish and I use one with better quality partners and it works really well.

 

[Anonymous]

Will do.