Best CDP within Rs.40 to 50 K

Hi Myriad....

Arcam is good, your marantz too is good but if you want to stick to marantz the the KI series are better than the OSE. You could trade your OSE for a KI(ken Ishitawa, marantz designer).

Arcam is also sold Cadence guys in India. Mahendra dave of Cadnece told me that they have also started to import the Audio Note Tube output CD players. So that might be good. i dont know the pricing yet. if you want i can get ypou in touch with him for Arcam and Audio Note.

There are the Rega's which are available also but I would prefer Arcam and Audio note or the Marantz KI.

Manek.

Thanks Manek!
Couple of months back i called up Sushil Anand of Nova Audio for Marantz 6000 KI. He said he has run out of Marantz stocks and was soon expecting their newer models. He recommended me Perreux instead of Marantz 6000 KI which was way over my budget. Then i called up Mr. Phalke at Cadence and he also had the same answer that he has run out of stocks. He had only FMJ series in stocks which again was way over my budget.
These upgradations happen when one goes crazy with enough cash to spare.
I will contact Cadence but before that i need to find a buyer for my CDP and enough cash to spare:).
By the way have u heard Cadence VA1 Tube Amp partnered with Diva?

Myriad,

From what i am hearing these days marantz budget/entry series is not perhaps a very good choice. In spite of rave reviews in Hifi choice etc..it apparently has quality problems especially in the lens & transport areas with a ovehaul required sometimes even in 2 years time.

Also the KI in a marantz , from what I have heard, does not mean as much as the BEE in the NAD, as it does not have design changes but only component upgrades ! hence you may not notice much of a difference. would give you more of a "upgrade" if you could get just the Capacitors, the diodes and if required the Op amps upgraded. You will not believe the difference. FYI, I just had the same along with minor changes done to my nad 521BEE and the difference is amazing with even Old Rafi/lata CDs which use to be earpiercing earlier sound very musical..that too with no loss in detail. In fact on a test with the MSBlink DAC as well as the Arcam 82 this did much better in resolution !

Arcam, in the new series 73T etc have hit a winner with great detail as well as finnesse..they have changed their DAC to a better suited one from their old Ring DAC's. hence that definittely, if within budget, is a good choice and worth waiting for..better not be hasty with the only choice now..somethings are worth the wait

Of course the NAD542/Rotel RC02 are also great CDPs from know Value for Money companies !!

I think you are right.
I don't want to be hasty in my decision. My problem is i cannot audition most of the hi fi before purchase. In Calcutta we have only couple of home theatre dealers. I don't want to call them hi fi dealers because what they have is Onkyo, Yamaha and Denon receivers and DVD players. I have sourced my stereo from Mumbai and Pune and you can well imagine that it's not always possible to upgrade without an audition.
I have also read rave reviews of Arcam CD73T. Maybe i should shortlist this player for future upgrade.
Thanks for your advice.

myriad,

I have heard the Va 1.0 with the diva's and yes....it does sound fantastic. Since you have the nad 370....it takes the pants off the VA1.0 on power but definately does not have the delicacy and refinement of the VA 1.0.

I dont think your Cd player is bad or anything....unless you really want to change it. The CD 6000 OSE is supposed to be a good CDP so dont be in a hurry. Maybe you could try to find a good second hand DAC which may enhance your sound and use the marantz as transport only. Ot the Audio note tube Cd players could be your other route.

Arcam is always a good bet. The NAD 542 is also very good.
Your best bet would be a swap of Cd player with your old one, buyback in calcutta. I dont have Calcutta market details but Cadence does have a dealer in Cal. What does he stock for CDP's ?

Manek.

Manek,

HiFi hardly moves in Calcutta. People who love hifi have less buying power and the ones who are richie rich go the home theatre way. Due to that the dealers out here don't stock hifi. They take orders and source it from their respective distributors. Due to that an audition is impossible and ,we, a miniscule hifi lovers of Calcutta have to rely on reviews and word of mouth to make our purchase.

u poor guys.....then I suggest you stick with your marantz as it is a good player until you are completely sure of your purchase of a new one. Take your time.

Hey Manek, do you know the prices of the Audionote CDPs in Mumbai ?
i think their cd2 is the entry level...

I dont know off hand in bombay. The Audio note CDP's have just been imported and by the cadence guys in Pune. I can check and let you know.

Manek.

I have the NAD C542 and I'm very happy with it. I paid $400.00 US Dollars for it. I think the Price X Performance ratio is great.

It's a HDCD Player, and I have many HDCD Discs.

Quite often I play Disc after Disc while I'm working, and the C542 just keeps belting out the music. It's not unusual for me to play 6-8 hours of music, straight through the day...while I'm working. The C542 handles it all very well, without a glitch.

NAD sure makes decent stuff.

Well, this (C542) is the first NAD product I've had, and so far.......it's been very good. Certainly, there are much better CD players out there, with better parts.....better sonics.

But I'll tell you, this (C542)player sounds real, nice to my ears.

In another month or two, I'm going to get the Quad 99 CD-P to match with the 22L's. I'm very interested to do some comparisons between the two. There's a rather large price difference between the two.

Should be very interesting.

I think the 542 will do well with your 22l's. You may not want to pay that large difference.

What amplification do you use or would you be using with 22L ?

Well, you have to remember that the Quad 22L speakers are going in my home office (where I work every day).

The NAD C542 is in my Living Room, where I have my Audio/Home Theater system. The Living Room is also where I'm looking to place the Wharfedale Opus 2, if I love their sound.

In the Living Room (at this time):

Paradigm Monitor 9 V.3 Fronts

Anthem MCA50 Power Amp

Hafler 110 Pre Amp (this is an old Pre Amp from the 1980s, which I will also replace)

Marantz DVD VC5200

NAD C542 CD Player

Pioneer CLD-D606 Laserdisc/CD Player


Current Plans for Living Room Upgrades and Additions:

Speakers: Wharfedale Opus 2, Opus Center Channel and Tripole Surrounds. (this is if my audition of the Opus goes well. If I love them....this the way I'm going)

Audio/Video Pre Amp Processor: Anthem AVM20 v.2 ( with the lates upgrades already installed).


For my home office (strictly 2-channel Audio):

Quad 22L Speakers

I will audtion the Quad 99 CD-P when I pick up my 22L, as well as autioning the Quad 909 Power Amp.

I'm still undecided on the components. Along with the Quad CDP and Power Amp, I'm also considering the Anthem TLP1 Pre Amp/Tuner, Audio Refinement Pre-5, the McCormack Pre Amp...and few others. I'd like to go with one of the Conrad-Johnson Pre Amps, but they're a bit steep in price. Maybe I can find a used one.

As for the CDP for my office , to go with the Quad 22L. I still have a horde of CD players to listen and audition, other than just the Quad 99CD-P. So it's all still up in the air. Same with the Amplifier, I have quite a few on my list to audition for the 22L speakers.

We'll see what sounds better.

I've heard good things about Mcormack pre-amps. I have heard the RLD-1 and it is very good.

manek.

I called up Cadence to find out whether they had Arcam CD73T in the stock. They said they only stock their AV stuff nowadays. They get their CDPs and Amps only on pre order.
Further, i was told, not they but one of their dealer in Pune is importing the Audio Note stuff.