Page 1 of 1

#1 A Silly Question That Must Be Asked

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:25 am
by Freddo
I've recently built some large speakers that, to my ears, sound absolutely outstanding. Better than anything I've heard--ever. And they're from a design on this website.

And get this; I'm feeding them with a Denon AVR9100 receiver and an old Pioneer dvd player!

With a budget limit of about 250 quid, is there any CD player anyone could recommend that would sound much better than the Pioneer dvd player?

#2

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:04 am
by pre65
Have you considered going digital ?

(ie converting your CDs to FLAC files on a hard drive and using a media player like Sonus or Squeezebox)

PS What are the speakers ? :)

#3

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 9:23 am
by Nick
Try using the DAC in the receiver against the analog output of the DVD, see if there is a difference. Maybe look at one of the cheap DAC kits off ebay, maybe look at the t-amps and that sort of thing. What I am suggesting is may be able to get more improvements by keeping the DVD as a digital source and updating what follows.

#4

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:04 am
by steve s
Nick wrote:Try using the DAC in the receiver against the analog output of the DVD, see if there is a difference. Maybe look at one of the cheap DAC kits off ebay, maybe look at the t-amps and that sort of thing. What I am suggesting is may be able to get more improvements by keeping the DVD as a digital source and updating what follows.
Thats true Nick, i've tried loads of cd/dvd players and i've now got the veiw that any old player can be pretty good as long as a good external dac is used, the differences are quite big as you know... But some of the budget dacs i've had have made little difference
The new bushmaster i would guess would be in there, i would guess yours is slight over the budget..
and with a t amp... i bought a caseless t amp for £30
It gets used off a 12 vt battery, sounds much better than it should for the cost

#5

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:18 am
by pre65
Those EBay AK4393/4396 DACs take some beating at that price , even in standard form. :)

I still use a first generation Yamaha CD player in my office system.

#6

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:53 pm
by Freddo
Thanks everyone for your suggestions;I'll give some of them a try.

Pre65: I'd love to tell you what the speakers are but I can't. The designer didn't give details so I had to work it out myself. And I have to respect his wishes to keep the design private.

#7

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:00 pm
by pre65
Freddo wrote:
Pre65: I'd love to tell you what the speakers are but I can't. The designer didn't give details so I had to work it out myself. And I have to respect his wishes to keep the design private.
Say no more, nudge nudge. :wink: :lol: