Is it unwise to buy a state of the art CD player at this time?

Hello,

I'm in the same situation. I'm going back and forth between a one box product for example an Esoteric KX series transport/DAC player. I'm also considering a Meitner/EMM product. However, these units also have the ability via Digital inputs to attach a digital transport (Aurrender) etc.

When you state that the Spectral Player(I'm considering their electronics to replace my Pass INT in the future) doesn't offer the ability to import signals. It was my understanding that it does have a SPDIF in? Could you just purchase an Aurrender or similar product and connect to Spectral? Using the Spectral CD player's internal DAC?



Thanks

Unless you plan on not listening to your CDs because you're going to stream exclusively or whatever digital people are doing these days, how could it be a bad investment? But that's coming from someone listening to vinyl 99.99% of the time. When I sit in front of my system, I want to listen to a complete record with the finest playback available.

Go for it Russ!

It has been unwise for quite some time....

Mdp632 said:

When you state that the Spectral Player(I'm considering their electronics to replace my Pass INT in the future) doesn't offer the ability to import signals. It was my understanding that it does have a SPDIF in? Could you just purchase an Aurrender or similar product and connect to Spectral? Using the Spectral CD player's internal DAC?

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It has an SPDI/F output, not input; it's a closed architecture. Though the 4000SV sounds just incredible, I am probably going to wait for the DAC, for the reasons Russ stated.

ack said:

It has an SPDI/F output, not input; it's a closed architecture. Though the 4000SV sounds just incredible, I am probably going to wait for the DAC, for the reasons Russ stated.

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Very interesting. At the price point of that SV player it competes in the same area as both an Esoteric K01x and an EMM Labs XDS1V2. Both of which have the respective digital inputs (USB,SPDIF) to connect the appropriate products for networked playback.

Tough call as i'm sure the SV is very focused and purist product. A full Spectral "SV" front looks amazing and sounds (by owners comments) amazing. I'v never had the pleasure of listening.

Mobiusman said:

Amir,

Can you elaborate,

I am also considering cancelling the SDR 4000SL getting a better DAC than my current Meitner, which is quite good, and buying a better transport than the OPPO 103 D that I am currently using. I am considering the Ayon CDT DAC and Transport, but have never heard it, although I have heard other products by AYON and was quite impressive. While I would keep the OPPO for DVDS and SA CD's, I would get something for the Meitner and save on buying another set of MIT IC's, which is quite a savings compared to the alternative.

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Russ,

Based on your comments selling your MA-1 and using your Oppo strictly for video. If you like the Meitner sound I'd take a look at EMM Labs all in one unit. You will have more flexibility than the Spectral to add a network streamer/transport down the road should you desire. Or perhaps maybe an Esoteric K01x player also. You will have your entire digital audio front end contained in one box. I'm also investigating similar do I go with one box or buy an external DAC and use my 103D as a transport. My system is combination 2 channel/video.

Mdp632 said:

Very interesting. At the price point of that SV player it competes in the same area as both an Esoteric K01x and an EMM Labs XDS1V2. Both of which have the respective digital inputs (USB,SPDIF) to connect the appropriate products for networked playback.

Tough call as i'm sure the SV is very focused and purist product. A full Spectral "SV" front looks amazing and sounds (by owners comments) amazing. I'v never had the pleasure of listening.

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Providing the typical digital inputs in this player is pointless, as you probably won't find a better transport or way to interface with it than what they have built in. Long ago we had debated the lack of USB input in the 4000SL, and it was said the noise it would add wasn't part of their goals. So it's a purist, focused design, as you put it. But I am pretty sure a lot of us want hi-res as well, so hence the wait for the DAC.

I like this short list of affordable CD players: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/2016-buyers-guide-cdsacd-players-1000-4000/

If you are a music lover having a large collection of CDs that listens a lot to CDs, after reading your posts I suggest getting the SDR 4000SL. I also listen mainly to CD (more than 90% of the time), as the music I enjoy comes mostly in this format and do not see my listening habits changing immediately.

You have an all Spectral system and I have read great things about this CD player. IMHO unless you valuate highly the alternative formats I suggest you should keep your order of the Spectral player and enjoy it thinking you are listening to the best player for your system. There are many cheap DACs with decent performance that you can get for second source if needed.

If we rationalize to much this hobby we will never enjoy it!

I would get the most up to date and best DAC you can afford and use something like a 2nd hand ML31.5 tranport

If you spin cd's as your primary source or primarily as a digital source it's a good purchase. If your tempted by hi rez and streaming then you should pass.

I'm mostly playing lp so my focus on improving my turntable and phono pre. I keep my Ayre C5xe and have no plans for a dac or replacement. I think a lot of digital focus is on software and dac chips. The digital to analog conversion is critical but the analog output stage is just as important. Spectral excel at both and I think that is evident in most experiences with Spectral's latest player.

If I was looking for digital it would likely be the player I would buy as I have no interest in replacing the latest dac every two years.

Good luck with your decision.

Another option is to buy a used Cary Audio 306 SACD or the 306PRO version. GON price is $2,700 +/- and has the ability to use the unit's DAC.

Very musical CDP and an outstanding piece IMHO.

Auditioned the Esoteric K01 recently. Sent it back.

Hi

I don't see this as a wise investment. Get the DAC you like and rip away. I The best would be to be able to rip while you're listening and that can be accomplished by a number of devices . The most available being your PC. I know we're audiophiles and eternalize on little things but keep in mind that for the most part the money we make, the money we use to make all our purchases is increasingly a bunch of files and those files "get there" reliably and accurately ...without losing a cent or a trillionth of a cent so, transferring the digits to a closeby HDD is a trivial task with available technologies nad ... The time of transports is the past. Some companies will continue to reap revenues from our OCD and sell us updated, optimized CD transports that , of course, sound better than files, it won't stop what is happening : Soon the majority of audiophiles will only listen to files.

FrantzM said:

Hi

I don't see this as a wise investment. Get the DAC you like and rip away. (...)

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High-end has never been a wise investment. IMHO it is not the DAC we like, it is the sound we like more. And we must consider that most probably currently it comes from the Spectral CD player for someone who appreciates the sound of Spectral and owns a Spectral system - see http://spectralaudio.com/bulletins/0416.pdf.

Surely everything would be simple if Spectral had a DAC with the same quality - but they felt that a separate DAC would be a compromise for redbook. Probably some day they will have it, but not now.

And yes, concerning high-end, I am not a wise man!

If you think you will treasure this piece, the kind of player where you stop looking and cannot stop playing enough CDs everytime you flip on the system, go for it. If you think it is extremely good (for now), and suspect you may wonder what is coming around the corner or what else may be out there, i would hold off. For me, after I heard the Zanden 8 years ago now, i went for it. Yes, i purposely went 2nd hand and i also have had 8 years of enjoying it...but i can say i have continued to listen to the latest digital and it is only recently when i can say there are 3 digital sources which i would consider seriously along with Zanden. And at this stage, owning the Zanden, none have certainly convinced me to even consider going out of my way to part with the Zanden to get one of them.

So for me, the Zanden was the former of the 2 situations and i have never regretted it. In fact, I have appreciated it more and more as i have continued to get more and more out of it through good isolation, cables, tubes and emi/rfi shielding. the voice i enjoyed the first 20 minutes i heard it is the same, just more.

So if you think of the Spectral piece this way, go for it. Good luck and please keep us posted.

Mdp632 said:

Russ,

Based on your comments selling your MA-1 and using your Oppo strictly for video. If you like the Meitner sound I'd take a look at EMM Labs all in one unit. You will have more flexibility than the Spectral to add a network streamer/transport down the road should you desire. Or perhaps maybe an Esoteric K01x player also. You will have your entire digital audio front end contained in one box. I'm also investigating similar do I go with one box or buy an external DAC and use my 103D as a transport. My system is combination 2 channel/video.

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I run an MA-1 as well. I love the flexibility of a DAC. Nagra CDT for red book and USB input for flac on the NAS and Apple Music. I would not surrender two digital streams just for red book only.

To my ears, the promise of streaming is still just a promise. I still prefer the sound of the Spectral 4000SL against a laptop going through a dac. I don't know if the 4000SV will really be better than the 4000SL. If you feel that the money for acquiring a 4000SV is too much for an activity that you think will get less important, you can try an EAR Acute or Eera Tentation CD player with your Spectral system. I have first hand experience with these combinations and I am just as happy with these combinations as I am with a full Spectral system. Speaking for myself, my decision acquiring a piece of equipment is not dependent on technology or the expected future but on the amount of enjoyment the equipment will give you.

microstrip said:

If you are a music lover having a large collection of CDs that listens a lot to CDs, after reading your posts I suggest getting the SDR 4000SL. I also listen mainly to CD (more than 90% of the time), as the music I enjoy comes mostly in this format and do not see my listening habits changing immediately.

You have an all Spectral system and I have read great things about this CD player. IMHO unless you valuate highly the alternative formats I suggest you should keep your order of the Spectral player and enjoy it thinking you are listening to the best player for your system. There are many cheap DACs with decent performance that you can get for second source if needed.

If we rationalize to much this hobby we will never enjoy it!

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I agree with this post and others on this thread in a similar vein.

I have heard hi-res digital, including Quad DSD, but the very best digital playback that I have heard was plain CDs on a dCS Vivaldi and a dCS Rossini. If the Spectral 4000SV is as good as the Rossini on CDs and I would have it, I would count myself a very lucky man. The quality of the playback gear trumps format anytime. The best CD playback will always be substantially better than hi-res on less optimal playback.

In hindsight I have to say -- no offense to anyone thinking and experiencing otherwise -- that one of the absolute smartest decisions in my entire audiophile life was never to give into the hi-res craze. I knew from the start that SACD was doomed as a format, and I have never owned a single SACD. What a relief! Now I see the efforts of those trying to find a great transport for that obsolete format and being frustrated that, for example, the dCS Rossini Player is CD only, because Sony stopped making the technology available needed for SACD transports. I am so glad I stayed on the sidelines and didn't waste time, energy and money on that format! And hi-res files? I think the most recent SOTA advances in CD playback that come much closer to reveal what is actually on those humble silver discs now let us hear the superb musical glory encoded on those discs. Again, I have not heard any hi-res playback that is as good as that, but then I haven't heard hi-res on a dCS Vivaldi or a dCS Rossini either, the machines that have revealed to me the stunning resolution and naturalness obtainable from CD.

Yet I am not interested in hearing hi-res even on those machines. CD is where all the music is found that interests me, and only 1-2 % of the music/performances that I listen to is available on hi-res. And not just quality of playback gear, but most importantly, mastering trumps format every time. Just recently I had an incisive, even ludicrous experience regarding this. At a friend's house we played the album American Idiot by Green Day, and it sounded very good. A week or two later I wanted to hear that again because of some recent gear changes in that system, and I was shocked. Incredibly small soundstage, very closed-in sound, no sonic impact, subjectively limited frequency range. I was already starting to think that something was horribly broken with the digital playback since the time before (vinyl had sounded good). But then I discovered on the iPad screen that it was the 24/192 version rather than the 16/44 file from the last time. I asked for the 16/44 (CD resolution) file and voila, the old good sound was back! Wide soundstage, very open sound, much broader frequency range, much bigger impact. It was obvious that the mastering of the 24/192 version was a complete screw-up, and the CD-resolution mastering was far superior (the CD also sounds excellent on my system). Mastering trumps format anytime. This ridiculous incidence, admittedly quite non-representative of hi-res as it may have been, only firmed up my resolve to, as I have done until now, never waste any money on a hi-res download in my life!

Even if I buy a Rossini Player sometime in the future, I will leave its high-res capabilities untouched and strictly use it for CD playback. That's where all the music is. And why should I go through all that aggravating pain of proper, optimal computer/server set-up for the unacceptably limited hi-res catalog? And if the CD-only Spectral 4000SV is as good, but saves me a few thousand dollars, I would gladly spend my money on that machine instead!