Cambridge Audio Azur 650C & Other Budget CD Players

[Quagh]

Regarding the Marantz 63 CD Mk II K. I........what other units in their product line are similar? For the most part I can only find this particular model offered for sale in the UK. And with the value of the dollar dwindling and $100 for shipping, one might as well buy Nate's Arcam CD73!

AND, if anyone could let me know what units are "warm and muddy" sounding like the Rega Planet, I would be interested to know that as well.

 

[Art K.]

Regarding the Marantz 63 CD Mk II K. I........what other units in their product line are similar? For the most part I can only find this particular model offered for sale in the UK. And with the value of the dollar dwindling and $100 for shipping, one might as well buy Nate's Arcam CD73!

AND, if anyone could let me know what units are "warm and muddy" sounding like the Rega Planet, I would be interested to know that as well.

I'm not sure what you are asking. No current Marantz CD player sounds like the CD 63, for better or worse.

As for the "warm and muddy" like the Rega Planet question....

 

[Art K.]

A month after starting the journey with the CA 650C I must say that the player is a bit too forward and edgy in the upper midrange for me. Some folks will like that and I can attenuate it enough to use it by dumbing down my cables a bit. That is not how I want to listen..now what. This player is clearly not good enough to keep me from moving on and perhaps quickly.

Spoke with the dealer today and they stated that they have a Music Hall 15.2 in stock however they have only sold 2 and they both had service issues...yeah I want that! So I asked "what about that little Teac player" (talking about the Teac PD-H600)? They are sold out but still have the floor model and it was recently put out. This little player was an Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award winner in 2010 and has some trickle down from the Esoteric line. It's also in a half size case like the Brio-R.

Well I will be demoing it next weekend against the CA650C as it was shipped out today from the East Coast. This should really be fun. I sure hope it is the answer. Meanwhile my wife really likes her 650C.

As an aside they confirmed the issues with 3 of the 4 NAD's I sent back and stated that the 4th one was somewhat noisy as well. Talk about bad luck...here's to having it turn around!!!

 

[Mr. Lin]

As for the "warm and muddy" like the Rega Planet question....

He might be referring to my comment on the last page that I find the Planets sound warm and murky compared to better Cd players, but I don't know what he's trying to ask now.

A month after starting the journey with the CA 650C I must say that the player is a bit too forward and edgy in the upper midrange for me. Some folks will like that and I can attenuate it enough to use it by dumbing down my cables a bit. That is not how I want to listen..now what. This player is clearly not good enough to keep me from moving on and perhaps quickly.

Spoke with the dealer today and they stated that they have a Music Hall 15.2 in stock however they have only sold 2 and they both had service issues...yeah I want that! So I asked "what about that little Teac player" (talking about the Teac PD-H600)? They are sold out but still have the floor model and it was recently put out. This little player was an Absolute Sound Golden Ear Award winner in 2010 and has some trickle down from the Esoteric line. It's also in a half size case like the Brio-R.

Well I will be demoing it next weekend against the CA650C as it was shipped out today from the East Coast. This should really be fun. I sure hope it is the answer. Meanwhile my wife really likes her 650C.

As an aside they confirmed the issues with 3 of the 4 NAD's I sent back and stated that the 4th one was somewhat noisy as well. Talk about bad luck...here's to having it turn around!!!

Your bad luck with quality control benefits us here on AK, because now we get to read about another new CD player, and for me, another one I've never heard but have read about. Woo hoo!

 

[JohnVF]

I look forward to the Teac comparison. I came to a similar conclusion with my Cambridge 640cV2 as you did with the 650. I think its a player that has many positive aspects, but its not for me. I found it forward and 'edgy', too. Mostly I felt that it just got timbre wrong on acoustic instruments. It sounded 'electronic'. I keep saying that lately about things I haven't liked- must be a pet peeve of mine.

 

[Art K.]

I look forward to the Teac comparison. I came to a similar conclusion with my Cambridge 640cV2 as you did with the 650. I think its a player that has many positive aspects, but its not for me. I found it forward and 'edgy', too. Mostly I felt that it just got timbre wrong on acoustic instruments. It sounded 'electronic'. I keep saying that lately about things I haven't liked- must be a pet peeve of mine.

Timbre is extremely important to me. Much more so than other detail in a recording. This is the one area that the NAD players excelled and are better than the CA's.

 

[Art K.]

Let me add, and I'm not sure if I commented on this anywhere else so forgive me if this is redundant. I am one of the freaks who do hear the small differences when running a player with the display off and it's an improvement. Very small improvement with the Rega players and the NAD players. In fact I played the NAD's with the display on. The CA players have a greater difference with the display off vs on than any other I've listened to. A lot of noise and hash leaves with the display off. Just a side note.

 

[JohnVF]

Let me add, and I'm not sure if I commented on this anywhere else so forgive me if this is redundant. I am one of the freaks who do hear the small differences when running a player with the display off and it's an improvement. Very small improvement with the Rega players and the NAD players. In fact I played the NAD's with the display on. The CA players have a greater difference with the display off vs on than any other I've listened to. A lot of noise and hash leaves with the display off. Just a side note.

I rarely turned the display off on my CA player, I should give it another shot just for kicks. I liked it more when it was in a system that I fell asleep to, with the display off- maybe that had a very small bit to do with it?

 

[Art K.]

OK so when the latest 650C came in I put my ole $639 Van den Hul Mainstream power cord (since none of you schmucks bought it...lol) into the player and moved down a notch in level of IC's from the Orchid to the Waterfall in VdH line. It improved the sound but not quite enough. Please understand I tried all combinations before I settled on this as the best. Today I have run the 650C all day with the display off and haven't been struck by edginess or brightness at all...perhaps the CA's get worse rather than better when they break in or perhaps I found a nice combo of cables that when combined with leaving the display off creates the outstanding sound I have been experiencing all day...who knows. Looking forward to putting the TEAC up against it.

 

[Art K.]

Another day and even better. I found the source of some of the ringing I've been experiencing and it was a poorly placed candlestick. I removed it and the ringing is gone and with it the balance of the irritation. With the change in cables and the display off the 650C is acquitting itself quite nicely. Actually the sound I'm getting today is pretty close to stunning. Even timbre which has been a bugaboo with this player seems right on. Drums, cymbals, piano keystrokes are percussive with just the right amount of bite and roundness all at the same time...drums, brushes, pretty much everything is the best it's been in this setup. I'm impressed. If the TEAC can better this I will be in hog heaven!

 

[Art K.]

Example: Listening to Miles Espanol Disc 2, Track 2, Flamenco Sketches, the flute is dry and well articulated, cymbals defined and separated..you know which is which...piano, cowbell, guitar, all of it is well defined and organic. Track 3, same thing, everything in it's place with excellent dynamics, articulation, timbre and definition. BTW I turned on the display for a brief second to check the track number...it's the friggin' display, it's the primary headache maker. I've never seen this before...too friggin" weird!

John, I know they made some changes for the 650C from the 640v2, so I'm not sure it's the same but you need to put a high quality power cord on the 640v2 and turn the display off, play for few hours and then tell me what you think.

If the TEAC is better then it would simply have to add just a bit more meat to the bones of each note...just a hair more color to the timbre. That would be a miracle at the price and a gift as well. Here's to hoping..and here's to not not being disappointed if it's not the case!

 

[Art K.]

If any of you CA 650C owners try the display off, keep in mind that you can hear a difference when switching between off and on, but it isn't until you use the player without it for hours that you know how profound the difference is...just sayin'!

 

[guiller]

Another day and even better. I found the source of some of the ringing I've been experiencing and it was a poorly placed candlestick. I removed it and the ringing is gone and with it the balance of the irritation. With the change in cables and the display off the 650C is acquitting itself quite nicely. Actually the sound I'm getting today is pretty close to stunning. Even timbre which has been a bugaboo with this player seems right on. Drums, cymbals, piano keystrokes are percussive with just the right amount of bite and roundness all at the same time...drums, brushes, pretty much everything is the best it's been in this setup. I'm impressed. If the TEAC can better this I will be in hog heaven!

It is great when one finds oneself in that incredible process of sound quality maturing! I'v e went through a similar process while enjoying my new CDP.....

 

[Art K.]

The TEAC is here and warming up. It sure sounds a lot different than the CA. I'm not sure how folks can claim to not hear the differences in CD players without the qualifier that they are also deaf...just sayin'. No judgements as to which sounds best to my ears as of yet.

 

[Dee Mento]

I'm not how folks can claim to not hear the differences in CD players without the qualifier that they are also deaf...just sayin'.

I dunno either, Art. Lots of system photos here indicate a failure to comprehend simple things like speaker placement. Throw in a nice worn out '70's receiver, dem old skool speakers, worn out caps in both and cassettes probably sound like CD. Put that rig in a basement room with bare floors and a 6' 6'' acoustic tile ceiling and may be everything does sound the same excepting speakers. I have a basement workshop like that, I have an old Sansui receiver running into home made speakers. It blows tunes at me in a somewhat inoffensive manner. I did take the time to put he speakers on stands, away from the walls, but beyond that the rig isn't worth much more time, effort or money.

I've been following this thread for a while. A couple years ago I bought a CA 640Cv2 to replace a mid '90s CD player, what a revelation that was. It's in my bedroom now, in a headphone system running through an external DAC. Out of curiosity, after following this thread I put it back in the main system last weekend. It doesn't come close to my Sony 5400, but it doesn't sound bad either, in a system that far outclasses it . I really like the CA players, I agree with most of your comments here. Haven't tried the display off.

I've helped a couple friends put together their first good systems this past year, both have 650Cs. I haven't heard anything I like better in that price range and a few above that I don't like as well.

 

[Art K.]

The TEAC PD-H600 has a lot of the Esoteric X-05's characteristic sound. It's quite detailed with outstanding timbre and allows you a beautiful window into each performance. It's considerably better than the 650C which is an excellent player for the money. It's a better balanced player than the Rega Apollo or Saturn. By that I mean it balances timbre, detail, PRaT, scale and finesse equally well. Probably not the best there is and it may not better the Apollo-R (don't know yet as I haven't heard it) but for now it's the one to beat at or near it's price point....IMO.

 

[Art K.]

Add another one to the mix folks...when the I receive my tax return I'll be picking up a Rega Apollo-R...just received the spousal blessing. Should be fun!

 

[Art K.]

Soon I am going compile a list of redbook only and universal disc players that I have owned since 2002 (last 10 yrs) and give a breakdown of what I remember about what I liked and didn't like about them as well as their reliability over the period that I owned them. Here is at least a partial list.

Rotel RCD 971 (modified and unmodified)
NAD C542
NAD C545BEE
Audio Refinement CD Complete Alpha
Denon DVD 2910
Rega Apollo
Rega Saturn
Cambridge Audio Azur 650C
Marantz DV6400
Marantz CD5004
TEAC PD-H600
Sony CDP CE375

I'll be asking anyone with experience with any of these players to please chime in...

....cool!

Also next month after I recieve the Apollo-R I will start another thread comparing the Apollo-R to the outstanding TEAC PD-H600.

 

[Art K.]

I am currently listening to my John Williams "The Baroque Album" and the TEAC/Brio-R combo is playing it better than any combo that has been here since the Sonneteer and Saturn. Beautiful, delicate and natural.

 

[Mr. Lin]

It is great when one finds oneself in that incredible process of sound quality maturing!

Strangely, I've become less mature in general since getting better CD players.

Add another one to the mix folks...when the I receive my tax return I'll be picking up a Rega Apollo-R...just received the spousal blessing. Should be fun!

Art, a few days back I opened up a new Audio Advisor catalog that came in the mail and saw a picture of the Apollo R for the first time. I had no idea how small it is! I can't think of another CD player I've seen that's that small, but is still a top-loader. It almost looks comparable in size to the older Audio Note CDT-Zero transport.