Hi-Fi upgrade - replacing a Denon DCD620

[SteveM46]

Hi all

I've got a late 80s separates setup of a Creek CAS4040 amp, B&W DM110 speakers, Linn Axis turntable and a Denon DCD620 CD player. I'm a low to moderate user, and I'm not likely to be replacing everything any time soon, but I think the CD player could do with an upgrade. Given the limitations of a 35 year old amp and speakers, will I be ok with something like a Rotel CD11 Tribute at £299 or a Cambridge Audio AXC25 at £279 (both Richer Sounds), or will there be a noticeable difference if I was to go up to something at nearer the £500 mark?

My question is mainly about how much it would be sensible to spend, although I would be pleased to hear product recommendations. Looking at some product specs, I notice that it might be possible to get a CD player that will also receive Bluetooth, which would allow me to play music from my phone into my hi-fi setup. That would be a real bonus!

Thanks

Steve

[TEKNOPUG]

I would buy the Rotel. The Cambridge, like your current Denon, lacks a digital output. So it's less flexible for any future system or components you might get - like a music streamer/DAC/Bluetooth/Pre-Amp etc.

Do you have anything else you'd like to connect - like a TV, PC etc?

Edited by TEKNOPUG on Tuesday 17th January 10:45

[sean ie3]

I think that I would keep the components you have, minus the CD for viny listening and buy a modern set up for your digital needs.

[OutInTheShed]

TEKNOPUG said:

I would buy the Rotel. The Cambridge, like your current Denon, lacks a digital output. So it's less flexible for any future system or components you might get - like a music streamer/DAC/Bluetooth/Pre-Amp etc.

I don't think I'd buy a CD unless I was happy with the DAC it had built in. There's no reason for it not to be as good as an external DAC.
If I was going to stream my music around the house, it would likely be ripped and stored, unlikely to use a CD player to feed a streamer?
OTOH, a chap I used to work with had separate Left and Right DACs at one point....

So I'd probably buy whichever sounded better, if I could tell them apart.
Other than that, I'd consider which had the more sensible front panel.
My current CD player is a bit annoying, too many buttons on the front panel and you can't find the two you need (open/close and Play), with the room lighting low. As it sounds fine and cost £20, I'll live with it.

Digital out does seem like an odd omission, especially as Cambridge sell DACs?

[TEKNOPUG]

OutInTheShed said:

TEKNOPUG said:

I would buy the Rotel. The Cambridge, like your current Denon, lacks a digital output. So it's less flexible for any future system or components you might get - like a music streamer/DAC/Bluetooth/Pre-Amp etc.

I don't think I'd buy a CD unless I was happy with the DAC it had built in. There's no reason for it not to be as good as an external DAC.
If I was going to stream my music around the house, it would likely be ripped and stored, unlikely to use a CD player to feed a streamer?
OTOH, a chap I used to work with had separate Left and Right DACs at one point....

So I'd probably buy whichever sounded better, if I could tell them apart.
Other than that, I'd consider which had the more sensible front panel.
My current CD player is a bit annoying, too many buttons on the front panel and you can't find the two you need (open/close and Play), with the room lighting low. As it sounds fine and cost £20, I'll live with it.

Digital out does seem like an odd omission, especially as Cambridge sell DACs?

It's just about options. If you bought a music streamer for Bluetooth/Wireless/Network/Internet radio etc, it would mostly likely have a DAC as well. It will have digital inputs but maybe not analogue ones. It may also work as a pre-amp with a remote, so you connect all your sources to it and then feed it to the amp of your choice. You may prefer the sound of the different DAC. If the current Denon had a digital out you could just use it as a transport and get a modern DAC, rather than the 30+ year old DAC and technology in the current CD player.

[SteveM46]

Hi all

Thanks for the replies. My ignorance is showing, but I had to scuttle off to read up on DACs, realising how little I understand of modern developments.

I've got a big CD collection, and I still rip a lot of it to iTunes so I can transfer it to my iPhone and listen to it on the move. Years back I ripped the whole collection to an MP3 player - was it a Creative Zen Touch 160Gb? Something like that - but since that bit the dust (also many years ago) I've been locked into my old-fashioned hifi plus a bit of digital. I like the tangible quality of vinyl and CDs and I haven't quite brought myself to signing up to Spotify or Amazon Music when I've got such a big investment in CDs and vinyl.

I think from what you're saying and what I'm reading that a CD player with a built in DAC so I can stream from my phone when I want to would fit the bill. I don't connect anything else to the hifi (TV, for example), it's just for listening to music. A built in DAC would allow me to dip my toe into the analogue-digital waters without having to set up a whole separate system.

On that basis, I don't think either of the CD players I suggested would do the trick, but I'll keep looking around. If anyone can suggest a suitable machine they are familiar with I would be interested to investigate.

[alabbasi]

If there's nothing wrong with the CD player. Add a DAC and call it done

[SteveM46]

alabbasi said:

If there's nothing wrong with the CD player. Add a DAC and call it done

My thinking was that of my current setup the CD is the weakest link and is 35 years old. For a few hundred pounds I should be able to improve noticeably on the sound quality of the DCD620. On top of that, I quite like the idea of being able to stream from my phone so Bluetooth would be a big bonus.

[OutInTheShed]

SteveM46 said:

alabbasi said:

If there's nothing wrong with the CD player. Add a DAC and call it done

My thinking was that of my current setup the CD is the weakest link and is 35 years old. For a few hundred pounds I should be able to improve noticeably on the sound quality of the DCD620. On top of that, I quite like the idea of being able to stream from my phone so Bluetooth would be a big bonus.

You could easily find yourself where I am with a Marantz CD player.
It's old, the transport and/or laser is playing up.
I'd be annoyed if I'd recently spent good money on an external DAC to use with it, only to find I needed to replace the whole thing.

I suggest having a think about what you want.
You can either get a new CD player as a direct replacement of the old, or you can think about the whole streaming and bluetooth world of options.
Whether those options are better kept separate from the CD player is a matter of taste.
A lot of people are finding their CD players sit idle while most of their music goes from digital store to some sort of jukebox/streamer gadget...
If I fancied investing in that sort of functionality, I'd be keeping the CD player as is, and spending on a box which stores the music and plays it to my amps.
(I do have this, based on a Raspberry Pi and a DAC, I often prefer to play CDs)
If someone demo'd me a CD player and it sounded £300 better than my existing one, I'd be tempted.

[TEKNOPUG]

alabbasi said:

If there's nothing wrong with the CD player. Add a DAC and call it done

The CD player doesn't have a digital out.

[TEKNOPUG]

SteveM46 said:

alabbasi said:

If there's nothing wrong with the CD player. Add a DAC and call it done

My thinking was that of my current setup the CD is the weakest link and is 35 years old. For a few hundred pounds I should be able to improve noticeably on the sound quality of the DCD620. On top of that, I quite like the idea of being able to stream from my phone so Bluetooth would be a big bonus.

If you have a lot of CDs and they are easily accessible (not in boxes in the loft), then definitely get another CD player (or disc spinner at the very least). And bluetooth/wireless functionality is an obvious improvement. How you achieve this depends hugely on budget. You could have an all-in-one system that you just plug your record player and speakers into. You could buy a seperate CD player and media streamer. A CD player and bluetooth/wireless dongle. A CD player with bluetooth. A CD player and integrated amp with bluetooth functionality.....etc.

At a minimum I would consider a new CD player and a new amp.

[alabbasi]

TEKNOPUG said:

The CD player doesn't have a digital out.

Hook it to the amp

[SteveM46]

TEKNOPUG said:

SteveM46 said:

alabbasi said:

If there's nothing wrong with the CD player. Add a DAC and call it done

My thinking was that of my current setup the CD is the weakest link and is 35 years old. For a few hundred pounds I should be able to improve noticeably on the sound quality of the DCD620. On top of that, I quite like the idea of being able to stream from my phone so Bluetooth would be a big bonus.

If you have a lot of CDs and they are easily accessible (not in boxes in the loft), then definitely get another CD player (or disc spinner at the very least). And bluetooth/wireless functionality is an obvious improvement. How you achieve this depends hugely on budget. You could have an all-in-one system that you just plug your record player and speakers into. You could buy a seperate CD player and media streamer. A CD player and bluetooth/wireless dongle. A CD player with bluetooth. A CD player and integrated amp with bluetooth functionality.....etc.

At a minimum I would consider a new CD player and a new amp.

Yes, lots of CDs and all accessible. I'm slightly nervous about nudging too far down the upgrades route though (new amp); At some point I might find myself with Spotify and a bluetooth/wireless-based system, but for now I am seeing my old hifi as a standalone system for my old media (I've also got a Marantz tape deck from the same era). The CD player is beginning to play up, and a new player must surely be a big improvement on it. I'm not going to spend another £200-£300 on bluetooth, it was just a nice thought given what I've learned here.

Just to bring this to life a bit, I'm a (very) amateur guitarist and I often play along to my hifi (typically CDs). It would be great if I could get YouTube backing tracks playing over bluetooth on the hifi.

[TEKNOPUG]

alabbasi said:

TEKNOPUG said:

The CD player doesn't have a digital out.

Hook it to the amp

It's already connected to an amplifier.

[pete_esp]

I just went for a Marantz ND8006, it's a CD player, Network Streamer, Bluetooth receiver and DAC all in one.

They are like hens teeth now and you'd need your combined Bluetooth & CD player budget but I have no compliants.

Except I can't decide whether I prefer the DAC in my amp or the one in the CD player. They do sound very different.

[TEKNOPUG]

SteveM46 said:

Yes, lots of CDs and all accessible. I'm slightly nervous about nudging too far down the upgrades route though (new amp); At some point I might find myself with Spotify and a bluetooth/wireless-based system, but for now I am seeing my old hifi as a standalone system for my old media (I've also got a Marantz tape deck from the same era). The CD player is beginning to play up, and a new player must surely be a big improvement on it. I'm not going to spend another £200-£300 on bluetooth, it was just a nice thought given what I've learned here.

Just to bring this to life a bit, I'm a (very) amateur guitarist and I often play along to my hifi (typically CDs). It would be great if I could get YouTube backing tracks playing over bluetooth on the hifi.

Buy the Rotel CD Player.

See this thread for similar Bluetooth/wireless query: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Presumably you have a spare DIN input on the amp?

Edited by TEKNOPUG on Tuesday 17th January 18:47

[OutInTheShed]

SteveM46 said:

Yes, lots of CDs and all accessible. I'm slightly nervous about nudging too far down the upgrades route though (new amp); At some point I might find myself with Spotify and a bluetooth/wireless-based system, but for now I am seeing my old hifi as a standalone system for my old media (I've also got a Marantz tape deck from the same era). The CD player is beginning to play up, and a new player must surely be a big improvement on it. I'm not going to spend another £200-£300 on bluetooth, it was just a nice thought given what I've learned here.

Just to bring this to life a bit, I'm a (very) amateur guitarist and I often play along to my hifi (typically CDs). It would be great if I could get YouTube backing tracks playing over bluetooth on the hifi.

I quite often play youtube material through an amp and speakers, using a laptop as a source. I've also done so by plugging into the headphone jack of my phone, which I guess makes my phone old. There are plenty of Bluetooth DACs available which would receive from your phone and feed your amp. I have a Prozor one which cost about £20, some people say terrible things about these, so I won't recommend it. There are many alternatives from sensible money up to comedy audiophile mortgage level expensive.
From there, it's a short hop to looking at streaming devices which are controlled by your phone rather than simply receiving a bluetooth stream from your phone.

[alabbasi]

TEKNOPUG said:

It's already connected to an amplifier.

The DAC you don't own?