CD players ? my Myryad is dead

2 channel man · « **on:** 9 Oct 2011, 10:39 pm »

My Myryad cd player has bit it and I am looking at possible replacements . My budget is 800 - 1100
Cdn $$ . I have a Bryston B60r , Wharfedale 9.1 75th Anniversary , Energy Esw V8 , Creek Obh 8se , Denon Dp59l and Thorens td125 , Van Den Hul , Kimber , Audioquest . A few that have caught my attention , Audiolab 8200cd , Nad C565bee , Pro-ject Cd box Se , and Virtue Audio Piano although I may wait til new model is released . I do NOT want a huge cd player so think at least low profile if stanard width or shoe box sized .

eclein · « **Reply #1 on:** 9 Oct 2011, 10:56 pm »

I'd find a Piano now and grab it....I was listening to mine today and its as clean today as it was a year or so ago when I got it.....there is one on Audiogon. They have two left at Virtue....email them, even if you don't like it-which will not happen-you could resell it as they will be gone soon. Just a thought!!

bummrush · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Oct 2011, 11:18 pm »

Audio lab seems they put lots of thought into this one

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Oct 2011, 06:13 pm »

The Cambridge Audio AZUR 740 is $799 at a few places now....the reviews on it are stellar

Little brother to the AZUR 840 which has been lauded as the best CDP under $5K...costs $1800 or so

Rclark · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Oct 2011, 06:44 pm »

"as the best CDP under $5K"

That phrase just struck me as so normal sounding, but then I imagined telling it to the average person on the street..

geowak · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Oct 2011, 07:15 pm »

I would look at the REGA series. I have an Apollo and it has a great transport design, awesome DAC chipset and very smart engineering. The best thing is that it makes a TREMENDOUS transport should one decide on adding an external DAC. I use the Benchmark USB DAC1.

But as a standalone, it's awesome and would leave alot of cash leftover for any host of DACs you might like.

wilsynet · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 03:16 pm »

No way to talk you into computer based audio?

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 04:13 pm »

The Marantz 8004 SACD player is excellent! There's a mini review on this site somewhere.

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 05:39 pm »

Quote from: 2 channel man on 9 Oct 2011, 10:39 pm

I do NOT want a huge cd player so think at least low profile if stanard width or shoe box sized .

I just took a brand new NAD C 515BEE CD Player over to my Mom's house last weekend. I bought it to go with her NAD C 315BEE integrated amp and PSB bookshelf speakers. It is a very small, yet robust little CD player. It has some really nice feet on the bottom which give it a firm grip and a little isolation. It is easy on the eyes and easier to use. I paid $299 for it at Crutchfield.

Anyway, before I took it over to Mom's house I used it at my house for a few weeks. (I had to burn it in, right?

) I was really surprised how good it sounded for so little money. The balance was just right. It did not really emphasize any particular quality of the music, it just sounded balanced and lively. Sure, there was some magic missing compared to my more expensive player, but I didn't really care about that when I was listening to it because it never did anything wrong. I don't know how the DAC inside of their least expensive model works, but it might be different than the NAD that you are looking at. In other words, I don't know if that model will sound the same as this one. Also, I never tried the digital outputs. I just played CDs one at a time and enjoyed it while it was here.

It did take a good two weeks of "powered on" time to sound its best, probably to get the power supply caps to run in. There's a dimmer switch on the remote, so you can leave it turned on all the time but still turn off the display. I like that feature. I used DNM Reson unshielded solid core copper interconnects to connect it to my passive volume control.

For 300 bucks plus a set of interconnects, you could spend the rest on CDs and be a happy camper. I'm thinking about getting one for myself.

Good luck!

Mike Nomad · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 06:36 pm »

One of the new Oppo universal players will fit within your budget, and give you the ultimate in format flexibility (and HDCD decoding).

gooberdude · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 10:46 pm »

Would anybody recommend a modded cd player?

I bought a Tube Research labs modded Sony sacd player on a whim, it was cheap. Still blown away at how musical it is, throwing a big image w/great bass.

My budget was 1/3 of yours.

soundbitten1 · « **Reply #11 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 10:49 pm »

Is the Myryad fixable?

2 channel man · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 Oct 2011, 11:46 pm »

Quote from: soundbitten1 on 11 Oct 2011, 10:49 pm

Is the Myryad fixable?

No it has some weird quirks for a long time and of course these quirks didn't develop until after the warranty expired . It first started to intro scan ie play the first 10 seconds of every track and I found that quite intresting seeing has it did NOT have a intro scan feature

then a few weeks ago it would shut itself off then repower up on its own , at this point I popped the the lid to listen for clicks even looked for any obvious signs of heat stress or cracked traces but it looked bang on perfect . Finally it just shut off and has both power supply problems as well as logic control issues . Not worth repairing . As far as Myryad gear goes I do like their amplifiers but their other gear not so much

2 channel man · « **Reply #13 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 12:37 am »

Quote from: wilsynet on 11 Oct 2011, 03:16 pm

No way to talk you into computer based audio?

Hell I am not against computer based audio but I own around 1000 cds and 2 of my close friends own around the same amount so that is 3000cds , I would rather put your music (at least what I like) on my hard drive then I would have both

budyog · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 01:51 pm »

PM sent!

bummrush · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 01:56 pm »

Did you look at the Audiolab players?

toxteth ogrady · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 02:34 pm »

I haven't listened to digital in a while but if I was looking to buy a cd player with your budget the Audiolab would be my first choice. Not only do you get a great sounding cd player but if you ever decided to get into computer audio you could output through the Audiolab's Sabre dac. That feature alone sets it apart from many players.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 02:44 pm »

The Marantz mentioned above has a digital input as well plus a usb stick input on the front panel. And it sounds very clean and natural. I sold my Oppo 83SE to get it...and the Oppo is very highly rated and reviewed.

2 channel man · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 Oct 2011, 10:03 pm »

Seems like everyone has valid points to make about a recommendation . I haven't yet auditioned the Audiolab but it will be on the audition list for sure .
Same with the Rega I would love to listen to one . The NAD C565bee it seems no one stocks so if I can't listen to one then screw em ! . The Pro-Ject looks like it would er um look great with a Bryston B60r that said I don't buy hi fi just because it looks cool and I'm not sure about whimpy wall wart power supply . The Virtue looks like a niceky built piece and appears to be good value but auditioning it won't happen in Canada . The Marantz looks like it would be an audition as well . The Cambridge audio hmmm? I hate to say this but my friends system which is based around a home theater and not 2 channel based has the 840C cd player and yawwwwn whatever

at least with Onkyo and NHT no big deal just a big cd player . Thanks for the input I love to hear your thoughts . It appears this prcess of buying a new cd player may take longer than I thought

2gumby2 · « **Reply #19 on:** 13 Oct 2011, 11:34 am »

Onkyo is releasing a new CD player next month called the C-7070. Looks like it would be a nice unit and uses Wolfson DACs. I think it would be worth considering.