Playback Designs MPS-5 vs. Cary CD-306

Keith_W

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2012
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Melbourne, Australia
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I thought I would repost this review here, which I posted on Audiogon a few years ago. A-gon is dead and I am hoping that WBF will be my new "home" :)

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I recently upgraded my CDP from the Cary CD-306 SACD player, which I bought new in 2006. Over my years of ownership, I have compared the CD-306 with multiple other CDP's and SACDP's including Moon, Musical Fidelity kW, Sony XB940 and 777ES, Marantz SA-7, Esoteric X-03 and X-05, Accuphase, and probably a few more which can not remember. In every case, the Cary either comprehensively trounced them, or equalled them. The only player thus far which had beaten the Cary was the Esoteric X-03, but I felt that the margin was not sufficient to justify spending any money.

I have NOT compared the Cary to any of the other CDP's considered "top of the line" - i.e. DCS Puccini or EMM Labs.

A few months ago, a local dealer kindly loaned me a brand new Playback Designs MPS-5 for evaluation. I was massively disappointed with the sound - it was closed in, congested, had a narrow soundstage, and lacked dynamics and excitement. I rang him and told him that the Cary was better. He pointed out that the player was brand new and had never tasted any mains power, so he asked me to leave the CDP on repeat, and he would come over in a few days. By that time, the sound had improved somewhat, but I was still unconvinced.

I was then told that the MPS-5 requires 500 hours of burn-in. He put the burn-in time on the player and extended an open invitation for me to re-audition the player. Alas, lack of time meant that I could not, and he subsequently sold the player to someone else.

Last week, I enquired about making another comparison. He told me that he had received another shipment of players, and he had put 500 hours of burn-in on his demo player. Looks like he has learnt his lesson :) The player was duly brought over, and I set it up roughly on my coffee table and pressed play.

Even without switching players, I could immediately tell that the PBD MPS-5 was clearly superior. This time, the difference was like chalk and cheese. No need to rely on my dodgy audio memory. I had never heard anything defeat the Cary so comprehensively before.

The most striking difference was with resolution. Sometimes, a rising top end can give the impression of more resolution - but the way to tell is to put on something with a lot of top end and listen for sibilance, or screechiness with violins and female vocals. With this test, the MPS-5 sounded both more neutral, and imbued each instrument with more inner detail. Particularly impressive was the way it seperated out sections in complex orchestral pieces into groups of musicians with their own space.

In terms of tone, the Cary has an attractive midrange warmth which can sound very inviting with some discs. In particular, violins have more body and more punch. However, the same midrange warmth can get in the way of other discs. The MPS-5 is far more neutral in this regard.

Both players have that analog-like quality where musicians are portrayed in realistic scale with respect to each other. Some digital players have a tendency to exaggerate the top end, making some instruments sound more forward while the others are recessed. While the Cary does a very good job, the MPS-5 has even more of this quality than the Cary.

On first blush, the bass of the MPS-5 seems to be less ample than the Cary. Listening closer, the bass is tighter, with better definition, and is full of texture. The bass seems to rumble instead of boom - an indication to me that it is handling the micro-dynamics exceedingly well.

The MPS-5 feels like a higher end product than the Cary as well. While both players are solidly constructed, the MPS-5 has more of the "hewn from a solid block" feel. The CD tray opens and closes completely silently on the MPS-5, whereas you can hear a whir on the Cary. The MPS-5 reads the TOC much faster than the Cary, although with both players there is a slight delay when asked to read an SACD. Both players can be used as an outboard DAC for other digital sources.

In terms of usability, the best feature has to be the giant numeric display on the MPS-5. I no longer have to squint at the player from my listening position, I can see great big red numbers!

Now for the big question. Is the MPS-5 better than my turntable? Sadly, the answer is no. It isn't. The TT still has more natural sound, and it still has better dynamics. MUCH better dynamics. My TT (which is relatively inexpensive compared to some other setups here on the 'Gon) loses out in detail retrieval, the sense of timing, and a noticably looser and flabbier bass.

As a music listener of the more analytical type, I like hearing deep into the recording to hear what the musicians are doing. I often do what many conductors do - try to shut out the sound of every other instrument and follow what one particular section is doing. For this reason, I need a highly resolving source and the MPS-5 delivers it in spades.

I ended up emptying my wallet and buying the player.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I agree about Audiogon and welcome here Keith

Welcome to the owners' circle for Playback Designs as there are many of us here :)

The one thing that always impressed me is that you never see a used one for sale. We owners are just too pleased with the sound
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
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I had the pleasure of sharing a room with Cary at RMAF a couple years ago. I had brought my MPS-5 and the rest of the system was the Cary CAD 211 monos, SLP 05 pre and the CD 306. After a few hours of playing the CD 306 and MPS-5 side by side, the CD 306 became a static display and the MPS-5 was used for the next 3 days. We happened to win a Positive Feedback Audio Oasis award that year for our sound.
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Aren’t CD players as at least as archaic as turntables to the common man now days? Having to get up, find your jewel case CD, remove the CD, plop it into the player, and go sit down and listen is almost as much work as playing LPs. That is so 1990s.

I thought one of the benefits of migrating your digital stash over to a hard drive besides convenience was better sound. Maybe we need another poll to see how many people think CDs played back over a mega-expensive CD player sound better than the same CD ripped to a hard drive. But then, maybe not. If you own a mega-expensive CD player, you have probably already made that decision.

Having said all that, one of the cool features of the MP-5 is that you can use it as a standalone DAC and it will play DSD files. That keeps you in the future though DSD files are starting to show up at a virtual store near you.
 

TBone

New Member
Nov 15, 2012
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Over my years of ownership, I have compared the CD-306 with multiple other CDP's and SACDP's including Moon, Musical Fidelity kW, Sony XB940 and 777ES, Marantz SA-7, Esoteric X-03 and X-05, Accuphase, and probably a few more which can not remember. In every case, the Cary either comprehensively trounced them, or equalled them. The only player thus far which had beaten the Cary was the Esoteric X-03, but I felt that the margin was not sufficient to justify spending any money.

Extensive digital resume ... my experience with Cary players has been somewhat indifferent. In comparison to other players, they could sound a bit too grainy, and those optional filter models added a hazy/ill-defined perspective to the overall sound, depending on filter choice. They just didn't float my boat.

As per the other units above, I much prefer the sound of SIM digital, but my problem with SIM in the past, (and certain other companies who ...) was how they introduced and then quickly discontinued certain models ... an activity that offers very poor value to any potential customer. Never a big fan of Sony digital or analog, and the vast majority of MF digital proved painful to my ears. I've heard Marantz, Esoteric and Accuphase, at different times, often in limited auditions, and generally walked away impressed.

That said, I've always been a very big fan of Meitner gear/digital.

Now for the big question. Is the MPS-5 better than my turntable? Sadly, the answer is no.

Not that long ago, IMO only a handful of digital players could compete along side good analog. Nearly every digital player I once owned or tried prior to my current player ended up being nothing more than a static device on a shelf, simply because they could not longer compete musically when compared to my ever improving turntable.

I realize that "us" analog devotees have certain "musical" criteria when it comes to choosing digital playback. First and foremost, it must compete at a level "near" analog. It does not have to be as resolute, but it still needs to be impressive.

That's a requirement that, in my experience, has always separated "better" digital from the rest.

tb1
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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Not that long ago, IMO only a handful of digital players could compete along side good analog. Nearly every digital player I once owned or tried prior to my current player ended up being nothing more than a static device on a shelf, simply because they could not longer compete musically when compared to my ever improving turntable.

I realize that "us" analog devotees have certain "musical" criteria when it comes to choosing digital playback. First and foremost, it must compete at a level "near" analog. It does not have to be as resolute, but it still needs to be impressive.

That's a requirement that, in my experience, has always separated "better" digital from the rest.

tb1

+1.

digital does not need to equal analog, it simply must be complimentary to analog and be comminicative in the same way and not be distracting. i want to be able to switch from digital to vinyl to tape and focus on the music and not the format....while enjoying the full benefits of more of the good stuff with the analog but still getting good stuff from digital.

the PD MPS-5 does that for me. and now that i stream dsd and dsdx2 from my server thru the MPS-5 all the better.
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
3,139
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It would interesting to compare the mps 5 with the new emm labs dac2x. Same price range, same design principles, but a few years more current. Surprised none of the playback designs owners have not tried a shoot out yet, just for kicks.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Both excellent machines. I own the MPS-5. I did own a Meitner CDSE DAC6 combo which in retrospect didn't compete with the MPS-5. A friend of mine and fellow member here has the XDS1 which we did compare. Definitely different flavors but one thing that we did agree upon is that there was a more defined bottom end with the XDS1. Now I am sure fellow PD owners will say nonsense but there was little doubt that this in fact was the case. Having said that the Meitner is pricier than the PD but when all was said and done, I remain eternally happy with my MPS-5
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
3,139
14
36
Smyrna, GA
Both excellent machines. I own the MPS-5. I did own a Meitner CDSE DAC6 combo which in retrospect didn't compete with the MPS-5. A friend of mine and fellow member here has the XDS1 which we did compare. Definitely different flavors but one thing that we did agree upon is that there was a more defined bottom end with the XDS1. Now I am sure fellow PD owners will say nonsense but there was little doubt that this in fact was the case. Having said that the Meitner is pricier than the PD but when all was said and done, I remain eternally happy with my MPS-5

The dac2x is supposedly a step up from the XDS1, and sells for 15k. If you don't need the cd transport the dac2x is definitely a contender. I own one myself but have no idea how it compares to other megabuck DACs. I do know it trounces the perfect wave mkii
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
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Both excellent machines. I own the MPS-5. I did own a Meitner CDSE DAC6 combo which in retrospect didn't compete with the MPS-5. A friend of mine and fellow member here has the XDS1 which we did compare. Definitely different flavors but one thing that we did agree upon is that there was a more defined bottom end with the XDS1. Now I am sure fellow PD owners will say nonsense but there was little doubt that this in fact was the case. Having said that the Meitner is pricier than the PD but when all was said and done, I remain eternally happy with my MPS-5

Eternally is an awefully long time Steve.
 

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