Quest for a new CD player

[hifikrazy]

I have recently been searching for a new CD player to replace my Rotel RCD1070 currently paired with Unison Research Unico amp and B&W N805 speakers (not the 'S' version). My quest has led me to do head to head comparisons between the following CD players:

Cambridge Audio 840C and 640C v2, Naim CD5i, Rega Apollo, Primare CD21 and CD31, and Cyrus CD6s.

Try as I might not to like the Cyrus, because of its least appealing aesthetics and ergonomics, and its rough and noisy CD tray, I found it to be the most impressive performer of the lot. Detail, transparency, bass definition/tightness and timing/rhythm were particularly impressive. But it wasn't detailed to the point of being clinical - it could also project the emotion of voices and the naturalness of instruments.

Frankly, the Cyrus' level of performance really surprised me, considering it's diminutive 3.1kg was going against players like the 840C (8.1kg) and the CD31 (10.5kg). It really proved that size doesn't matter!

Anyway, I was wondering if there were any other suggestions that I should also shortlist? I rather like the looks of the recently 5 Star rated Pioneer PD-D6 but I guess it's not in the same category as the Cyrus - Am I wrong to assume that?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Glad you agree with us that the Cyrus CD6s is a truly exceptional player - that's why it's won Awards two-years running: we haven't heard anything that comes close to it for some time now - the Pioneer's good at its price point, but the Cyrus is in a different league.

It's a shame we haven't seem more competition at the @£600 level, as as Cyrus is unlikely to make the CD6 even better until it faces some serious competition.... (and yes, we hate the disc-tray, too - many a knuckle has been skinned by ejecting CDs over the years).

The Cyrus sonics would also add the final touch of pace to suit your excellent Unico amp. If you've got more money to spend - and if you're looking at the superb Primares, i'm guessing maybe! - you could also add a PSX-R power supply (£450), which would boost performance even further.

 

[hifikrazy]

Thanks for the confirmation that I would be making the right choice to bring home the Cyrus this weekend. I also noted from my What Hi-Fi mags that the Roksan Kandy player was only rated 4 stars in 2006 but in more recent issues, that rating has gone up to 5 stars. What happened? The Roksan is priced exactly as the CD6s, so would you have any opinions on which might be the better player of the two?

One more thing - During the course of my auditions, I also put to test a Denon DVD-1930 to see how it fares against dedicated CD players. The conclusion?....Even the Marantz CD5001 at about half the price of the Denon was clearly better at playing CDs.

 

[Thaiman]

Cambridge audio 840C is my choice............I haven't heard anything less than a grand that can top the natural sound of CA. I have a ilttle demo of Cyrus yesterday afternoon (pre-power and CD8XT) and I was very surprised how good they are, the cdp is better than amplification. However I found them very midrange happy and too airy up top for my taste. My MF cdp is still a prefer choice to Cyrus but I can see why they are so poppular. As for rating are concern I wouldn't loose sleep over 1 star different as the end of the day it's down to personal taste, you will be the one that pay for it and listen to it so it's your ears that count. By the way, I don't rate Kandy at all as it sound oh so digital! If I was on the panel it would get 3 stars at the most! (now you see what I mean about rating)

 

[hifikrazy]

For me, a 4 star or 5 star equipment goes on my shortlist of those that I need to audition, and then I use my ears to determine which I like best of all. After all, each of us may have different priorities in which audio traits are more important. 3 star or under I don't bother with.

I compared the 840C directly with the CD6s and found it to lack the transparency of the Cyrus. On the weekend, I compared the Roksan Kandy to the Cyrus and found the Cyrus clearly better again, so I finally bought the Cyrus.