Pioneer PD-S703 to DAC or not to DAC

n4d5

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Hi All

Would I benefit from buying a DAC for my Pioneer PD-S703 CD player, and use it as a transport? If so which one's would you recommend from your experience to buy for a budget of £1000.00.

OR

Should I buy the Audiolab 8200CD and call it a day?

This is going to be used on some Vintage Hi-fi, a Pioneer Tuner Amp SX-1250, partnered with Pioneer CS-77 speakers. This combanation give you a nice warm sound.

Music I listen to would be instrumental, soul, r&b.

Your thoughts will be much appreciated.
 

Frank Harvey

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The Stable Platter Mechanism of the older Pioneer CD players was excellent, so if your player is still performing faultlessly, I'd stick with it, either as a CD player or as a transport. Adding a DAC will give you a different sound, but it's up to you if it's better - try a Rega DAC and see how you get on with that. The only downside to adding an off board DAC is that you'll no longer be using Pioneer's Legato Link, which attempts to put back in above 20kHz what is chopped off in the studio - whether this worked or not, it certainly gave the older Pioneer CD players a unique sound.

If you were to replace it completely, the Audiolab 8200CD would be one of my main recommendations.
 

n4d5

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eggontoast said:
n4d5 said:
This is going to be used on some Vintage Hi-fi, a Pioneer Tuner Amp SX-1250, partnered with Pioneer CS-77 speakers.
Very nice, the Pioneer SX-1250 is a gorgeous bit of kit I'm jealous.

Sorry I don't have any input on the CD player.

Thank you. I'm very proud of it, still going strong, I might have it recapped soon.
 
n4d5 said:
Hi All Would I benefit from buying a DAC for my Pioneer PD-S703 CD player, and use it as a transport? If so which one's would you recommend from your experience to buy for a budget of £1000.00. OR Should I buy the Audiolab 8200CD and call it a day? This is going to be used on some Vintage Hi-fi, a Pioneer Tuner Amp SX-1250, partnered with Pioneer CS-77 speakers. This combanation give you a nice warm sound. Music I listen to would be instrumental, soul, r&b. Your thoughts will be much appreciated.

Hi n4d5

Are you happy to also consider used/discontinued components?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 

eggontoast

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n4d5 said:
Thank you. I'm very proud of it, still going strong, I might have it recapped soon.
Quite a big job on those receivers, there are also some advisable modifications for the voltage regulator module if I remember correctly.

160 Watts per channel of pure bliss :bigsmile:
 

n4d5

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eggontoast said:
n4d5 said:
Thank you. I'm very proud of it, still going strong, I might have it recapped soon.
Quite a big job on those receivers, there are also some advisable modifications for the voltage regulator module if I remember correctly.

160 Watts per channel of pure bliss :bigsmile:

Your right, i'm going to have the all thing recapped, and the speaker terminals changed to accept banana plugs.

You was close with the Watts per channel, it's actually 165 rms per channel and yes BLISS!

I take it you have used or experienced the sound from one of these?
 

n4d5

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MUSICRAFT said:
n4d5 said:
Hi All Would I benefit from buying a DAC for my Pioneer PD-S703 CD player, and use it as a transport? If so which one's would you recommend from your experience to buy for a budget of £1000.00. OR Should I buy the Audiolab 8200CD and call it a day? This is going to be used on some Vintage Hi-fi, a Pioneer Tuner Amp SX-1250, partnered with Pioneer CS-77 speakers. This combanation give you a nice warm sound. Music I listen to would be instrumental, soul, r&b. Your thoughts will be much appreciated.

Hi n4d5

Are you happy to also consider used/discontinued components?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Yes I am, what do you have in mind?
 

eggontoast

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n4d5 said:
Your right, i'm going to have the all thing recapped, and the speaker terminals changed to accept banana plugs. You was close with the Watts per channel, it's actually 165 rms per channel and yes BLISS! I take it you have used or experienced the sound from one of these?
Yes a friend of mine used to have one, sounded great and looked even better. I would love to have one myself but due to the substantial size I haven't got anywhere to put it :cry:
 
T

the record spot

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You could seek out an Elite PD-91 if you can find one. Saw two of these on the bay a while back, both over £400...not bad for a 20 year old player!
 
T

the record spot

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No idea, you'd need to hear them, but the caveat with older stuff is ensuring parts are available in the event of a problem and what the general condition is. You're buying checklist is going to be different from one to the other.
 

n4d5

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I see your point, buying old does have some disadvantages. However the Pioneer stable platter CD players have been reliable from what I know. I'll have to hear the REGA Dac first and see if it catches my musical taste buds...
 
n4d5 said:
True thats the previous model the the 95 am I right? Still rare though, but i'll keep on looking. Thanks!

Hi n4d5

The Reference PD-93 J) was in between the Reference PD-91 J) and Reference PD-S95 J)

Btw, the PD-S95 was Pioneer first model to feature Stable Platter and Legato link and was released in 1992 priced at £2500. The PD-77 (model below the PD-S95) was released in 1992/1993 (priced at £1000) is also worh serious consideration.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 

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