Off tomorrow to audition a non B&O CD player!! Thinking about this one! Have actually already bought the Musical Fidelity Headphone Amplifier and decided I needed a good CD plater. My CD-50 has just gone on strike and the headphone socket on the BC2 is simply dire!!

Also a bit cheesed off with B&O at present and don't feel like giving them any more money!! (Not cheesed off with Beoworld!) Therefore going to audition a couple of machines at Lintone in Gateshead. I am taking my trusty Beogram CDX as a reference! Don't suppose they will have had a 14 bit set in for a while!!

Taking Pachelbel Canon  and DSOTM as test CDs. Pachelbel because you can hear the strings being drawn and DSOTM because anything that can make the recording work will have to be good!

Also on the look out for a Beogram CD5500 - Lee is on the case! 

Peter:

Also a bit cheesed off with B&O at present and don't feel like giving them any more money!! (Not cheesed off with Beoworld!)

Glad it's not just me then! Let us know how you get on with it Peter. Did you say this is seperate to the amplifier?

Come on Peter - cheesed off with B&O - please elaborate! (dealer or product issues?)

What does kikinoko actually stand for, if anything...

Just planning on a CD for now. I should get the headphone amplifier tomorrow, I hope, and may consider a Musical Fidelity amplifier at some stage. It will however have to wow me!!

I think it will be instructive to have something non B&O around so I can be more objective! Tim is less than impressed - he says that British Hi-Fi is all snake oil and cheap parts! I am going to use my ears!! 

Good luck - let us know your thoughts after you have auditioned it.

Also, if you buy one, I'll have your CD5500!

I want that as well!! I have bought the headphone amplifier for the headphone test really! We need to organise something! I have the Grado RS1s now.

I know that you'll know me to be ever the sceptic but I can help but wonder exactly what the valve preamp is adding to the specs.

Me too! That is why I am taking the CDX!! Harmonic distortion I would guess!

You are not in Gateshead mid afternoon are you!?

You're not alone!

Am currently listening to a minidisc walkman recorder connected to a Beosystem 1000, which also has a Sony D-50 CD player attached. Oh, the shame! At least they're too small to look out of place.

Cheers,

Steve 

Unfortunately not - Hartlepool in the morning and sunny Spennymoor p.m.

I would be tempted with the CD5500 and put the rest of the money into the Lab5/Lab9 fund.

As a thought would it be worth waiting for the CD5500 for comparison purposes rather than the CDX.

Peter;

What is it exactly inside this unit that makes it better ?  ( Sales testimonial aside )

Any ideas ?

Peter:

Off tomorrow to audition a non B&O CD player!! Thinking about this one! Have actually already bought the Musical Fidelity Headphone Amplifier and decided I needed a good CD plater. My CD-50 has just gone on strike and the headphone socket on the BC2 is simply dire!!

Also a bit cheesed off with B&O at present and don't feel like giving them any more money!! (Not cheesed off with Beoworld!) Therefore going to audition a couple of machines at Lintone in Gateshead. I am taking my trusty Beogram CDX as a reference! Don't suppose they will have had a 14 bit set in for a while!!

Taking Pachelbel Canon  and DSOTM as test CDs. Pachelbel because you can hear the strings being drawn and DSOTM because anything that can make the recording work will have to be good!

Also on the look out for a Beogram CD5500 - Lee is on the case! 

 Hi Peter,

 I have an alternative for you, that you should consider. Put a DAC between your Mac and your B&O amp.

I have tested the Benchmark DAC-1 and the LAVRY DA10. Both process up to 24bit, at various rates. Both accept digital inputs of various kinds, and output an incredible analog signal. The Benchmark is jitter free for all practical purposes, and the LAVRY ditto, though they don't make the same claim re jitter as does Benchmark.

Here's how I have it set up.

Wireless to an Airport Express.
TOSLINK optical from AE to DAC.
DAC connected with RCA unbalanced PHONO to a DIN plug converter going into TAPE2 on my Beomaster 7000 (the other into the Beolab 5000). Wonderful sound that beats any but the very, very high-end CD-players, and it's better to read off a harddisk than off a CD for stability of signal.

The LAVRY builds an incredible, 3-dimensional soundstage, with depth you won't believe. The Benchmark falls a touch short of the LAVRY, in my ears. Have also run a signal from the DACs to my BeoLab 3s with great results.

In all instances, these small and convenient DACs outperform all other CD players in the house, plus a couple I have tried them against for fun. Many audiophiles have sold their high-end CD-players and bought a cheaper CD-player with digital out to connect to these DACs. I really like them for what I get when connected to my MACS - and the wireless piping of a digital signal to the Airport Express is a great bonus. (Stereophile tested the AE digital signal, and found that it was an exact replica of the original test signal at full CD-resolution).

I'm going to return the Benchmark and get another LAVRY as I really enjoy their sound. And you will hear strings being drawn, plucked and twanged with a fidelity that you need to be in a concert to hear otherwise.

Both are very inexpensive, compared to a truly high-end CD-player. About € 1000-1200. 

http://www.lavryengineering.com/productspage_da_10.html 

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/

http://www.studioreviews.com/dac1-da10.htm 

Edited

So why is everyone so unhappy with B&O lately?

 

-michael

Your not the only one Peter.I myself tested the 808 Meridian CD player, simply because of the gap in high-end sources within the B&O range. Why do they produce superb speakers and average sources; and they are average: the Meridian was superb.Good look with the test; MF are always too dry a sound for my taste but will be interested to hear your views.

Peter, You can't say something like that and then just leave it in mid-air!
What's got you riled? Tell me in the afternoon if you wish.cr

Andy T.

Peter, then B&O is not going to develope a new hi-end CD player, is that right? Any news about it?

I was so disappointed with my BeoLab 3s that I went and bought a good hi-fi system. It consists of Musical Fidelity 3.5 CD Player and matching Amplifier with B&W 805s speakers. The depth of sound and the soundstaging leaves the BL3s for dead.  Although I auditioned the BL3s, I was swayed in their favour by brand loyalty. In this case, a mistake. Until B&O release a bookshelf speaker to compare with the best, as they have done with the floorstanders, BLs 5 and 9, I'll be staying away. Anyway the point of this is to say that Musical Fidelity is a terrific product. The first CD player I received was faulty. The dealer came to my apartment and swaped it for a new one. No questions asked.  I have to say this was better service than I have ever received from B&O here in Sydney. A lesson learned.

Which is where I leap to defending the BL3s! I'm very happy with mine.

Did you run them in? Takes them about 250 hours to settle in properly. 

The DAC idea is a good one. I'll certainly bear that one in mind.

I am going to have a listen - no commitment!

I agree with Soundproof about the BL3s. I am very sceptical about running in speakers but in the case of the BL3s, it certainly was my experience as well.

I'll report back! 

 

Peter:

I agree with Soundproof about the BL3s. I am very sceptical about running in speakers but in the case of the BL3s, it certainly was my experience as well.

I am sceptical as well although I have never had a new pair!

Is there not an arguement that after 250 hours the listener just gets used to the sound!!!

I have purchased numerous pairs of Lab 6000's and some 8000's where the seller has become oblivious to the fact that one or both tweeters are blown. They've just got used to the sound.

I once went round to a house where i noticed the powerlink cable was detached from one of the partially hidden 6000's at the rear of a surround set-up.  He said he had always thought it lacked a little on the rear left ever since he bought the system... 4 years ago!

My BL3s are well and truly run in. I've had them since they were first released. I use them with a BeoCenter2. When first installed they buzzed. This was sorted out by the installers by moving the cabling in the wall cavity to avoid electrical interference. They are the correct cables. 

joeyboygolf:

Peter:

I agree with Soundproof about the BL3s. I am very sceptical about running in speakers but in the case of the BL3s, it certainly was my experience as well.

I am sceptical as well although I have never had a new pair!

Is there not an arguement that after 250 hours the listener just gets used to the sound!!!

Hi Joey,

I put it to the test by running in a pair of new ones, and then taking another pair, fresh out of the box, and comparing the two. Definite difference between the speakers - with the bass becoming more precise and the tweeter rounding off, being better part of the overall blend of sound, while not losing its edge.
I also have a pair of Dynaudio Focus 140 speakers that both the manufacturer and Stereophile recommended a long run-in for; and the sound did change. I had pieces of music I couldn't listen to during the first hour of play, that became more than just right when the run-in was over.

(I was once in a B&O store where the BL5s were both set to right channel, and no one had noticed, for weeks.)

===

And I agree on the B&W 805s, excellent speakers. The person who owns the store where I buy my classical music has a pair, and swears by them for his musical needs. He has them together with a subwoofer, to fill out the orchestral sound.

I use my BL3s as headphones ...