Replacing my Arcam CD92 - any point?

[Charlie Jefferson]

You can see my kit below, including recent speaker and amp upgrades. The only piece of Arcam hanging in there is my CD player. Would there be any substantive point to replacing it with either a Roksan Caspian or Kandy? Either of which I can obtain for the £500/150 mark, respectively. The former new, the latter second-hand. Or any other sub-£500 player for that matter? What % of my CD playback is dependent on the transport, as opposed to my long standing and much loved DAC. Curious and open to the usual slew of opinions. The majority of my playback is between vinyl and streamed, but I still have a vast swathe of my collection in CD form awaiting transfer to my external HD. So for the time being, CD is an occasional necessity.

 

[plastic penguin]

The obvious upgrade would be CD192. Far more attacking and dynamic thatn the 92, and gels well with all Roksans and can obtained for around £350.

 

[AL13N]

Charlie Jefferson:The majority of my playback is between vinyl and streamed, but I still have a vast swathe of my collection in CD form awaiting transfer to my external HD. So for the time being, CD is an occasional necessity.
For an "occasional necessity" I'd buy a CA 340C and hook it up to your excellent DAC.

Due to the new 350C being released, you should get a good deal on the 340C. Even more so if you find an ex-dem unit from RS.

Later on you could spend the money saved on a SB Touch. This will allow you to stream music without having to have the computer/TV switched on.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

plastic penguin:The obvious upgrade would be CD192. Far more attacking and dynamic thatn the 92, and gels well with all Roksans and can obtained for around £350.

Fair point, and though fairly obvious, not one I'd considered. Typical me!!!

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

AL13N:Charlie Jefferson:The majority of my playback is between vinyl and streamed, but I still have a vast swathe of my collection in CD form awaiting transfer to my external HD. So for the time being, CD is an occasional necessity.
For an "occasional necessity" I'd buy a CA 340C and hook it up to your excellent DAC.

Due to the new 350C being released, you should get a good deal on the 340C. Even more so if you find an ex-dem unit from RS.

Later on you could spend the money saved on a SB Touch. This will allow you to stream music without having to have the computer/TV switched on.

That's an interesting curve ball you throw, AL13N. I certainly hadn't considered ever setting foot in Richer Sounds again. But yes, it's a viable proposition.

Are you saying a relatively cheap (£150 if their website is accurate) CD player would surpass my Arcam 92?

The streaming tip is interesting too. As you may have deduced, streaming is hampered by my wife and daughter often being online when I'm using my iPhone/Remote app/iTunes configuration.

Don't know what an SB Touch is, but will "google" accordingly and find out.

Cheers.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Charlie Jefferson:AL13N:Charlie Jefferson:The majority of my playback is between vinyl and streamed, but I still have a vast swathe of my collection in CD form awaiting transfer to my external HD. So for the time being, CD is an occasional necessity.
For an "occasional necessity" I'd buy a CA 340C and hook it up to your excellent DAC.

Due to the new 350C being released, you should get a good deal on the 340C. Even more so if you find an ex-dem unit from RS.

Later on you could spend the money saved on a SB Touch. This will allow you to stream music without having to have the computer/TV switched on.

That's an interesting curve ball you throw, AL13N. I certainly hadn't considered ever setting foot in Richer Sounds again. But yes, it's a viable proposition.

Are you saying a relatively cheap (£150 if their website is accurate) CD player would surpass my Arcam 92?

The streaming tip is interesting too. As you may have deduced, streaming is hampered by my wife and daughter often being online when I'm using my iPhone/Remote app/iTunes configuration.

Don't know what an SB Touch is, but will "google" accordingly and find out.

Cheers.

To keep it in the Roksan family, I would get the Kandy for £150 and just use it as a transport to your DAC.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Charlie Jefferson:AL13N:Charlie Jefferson:The majority of my playback is between vinyl and streamed, but I still have a vast swathe of my collection in CD form awaiting transfer to my external HD. So for the time being, CD is an occasional necessity.
For an "occasional necessity" I'd buy a CA 340C and hook it up to your excellent DAC.

Due to the new 350C being released, you should get a good deal on the 340C. Even more so if you find an ex-dem unit from RS.

Later on you could spend the money saved on a SB Touch. This will allow you to stream music without having to have the computer/TV switched on.

That's an interesting curve ball you throw, AL13N. I certainly hadn't considered ever setting foot in Richer Sounds again. But yes, it's a viable proposition.

Are you saying a relatively cheap (£150 if their website is accurate) CD player would surpass my Arcam 92?

The streaming tip is interesting too. As you may have deduced, streaming is hampered by my wife and daughter often being online when I'm using my iPhone/Remote app/iTunes configuration.

Don't know what an SB Touch is, but will "google" accordingly and find out.

Cheers.

To keep it in the Roksan family, I would get the Kandy for £150 and just use it as a transport to your DAC.

 

[AL13N]

Charlie Jefferson:Are you saying a relatively cheap (£150 if their website is accurate) CD player would surpass my Arcam 92? The streaming tip is interesting too.
Sorry, my apologies. Just re-read your original post again (properly).

Do not buy any CDP. If you're not doing so already, simply plug the CD92 into the DAC. Once you've transferred all your CDs to HDD then you will be the one selling the CDP.

'SB Touch' is shorthand for Squeezebox Touch. You can use this to stream music via your computer or NAS drive. Or you can connect an external HDD directly to the SB Touch. The NAS/external HDD will allow you to listen to music without having the computer switched on.

As you're already using an external HDD, simply connect this to the SB Touch initially. Then as your music collection grows you can add a NAS drive later on. Whilst using the external HDD don't forget to have a copy of all your music on the computer as well. For backup purposes - you don't want to rip all those CDs again if anything goes wrong!

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

AL13N:Charlie Jefferson:Are you saying a relatively cheap (£150 if their website is accurate) CD player would surpass my Arcam 92? The streaming tip is interesting too.
Sorry, my apologies. Just re-read your original post again (properly).

Do not buy any CDP. If you're not doing so already, simply plug the CD92 into the DAC. Once you've transferred all your CDs to HDD then you will be the one selling the CDP.

'SB Touch' is shorthand for Squeezebox Touch. You can use this to stream music via your computer or NAS drive. Or you can connect an external HDD directly to the SB Touch. The NAS/external HDD will allow you to listen to music without having the computer switched on.

As you're already using an external HDD, simply connect this to the SB Touch initially. Then as your music collection grows you can add a NAS drive later on. Whilst using the external HDD don't forget to have a copy of all your music on the computer as well. For backup purposes - you don't want to rip all those CDs again if anything goes wrong!

Yes, my DAC is hooked up to my CD player, and sounds great, previously posted reservations notwithstanding. (The CD player part, not the DAC).

Because of my vast CD collection, last count 3,500 approx, I can't envisage having it all on my HDD anytime soon. Hence the CD player necessity.

Thanks for the SB Touch tutorial. Not sure if this overlaps what my iPhone app already does though.

Cheers.

 

[drummerman]

I can't see much point in changing looking at your system unless I'm missing something or you have some gripe with your player/transport. Not if you mainly stream.

As always, my opinion only.

 

[AL13N]

Charlie Jefferson:Thanks for the SB Touch tutorial. Not sure if this overlaps what my iPhone app already does though.
Yes, it does.

The only differences would be you don't need a computer running and you can stream 24bit files.

If neither of those are an issue then just keep things as they are. Especially with your DAC, you definitely don't need to upgrade your source.