little money,which cdp

[paul.42]

been offered 2 cdp's arcam alpha 7 and a sony cdp-xb930qs,have listened to both,cant decide,or should i look at something else,got £150 or about $180 to spend.

[DocLorren]

Nad 542?

[Trebla]

Surely the best thing to do on a tight budget, is to buy a cheap player with digital out and a separate DAC.
Should result in a much better sound.

[lduarte1973]

Buy this

cambridge audio cd5 v3.0 - Boxed with remote! | eBay

or better try to find a Cambridge audio 340C

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAMBRIDGE-...item4ab039d81b

[lduarte1973]

i have a arcam 7 se and a cambridge audio 740c , the worst cambridge the 340c will be much better than the arcam 7 , trustme . i had a sony till a few years ago midline cd player , even worst than the arcam , i dont know the sony model you are talking about but if it is in the same league of the arcam , forget it.

And dont think a Dac will make them sound much better , it wont. i had the arcam pluged into a dacmagic , sounds the same , the upsample doesnt change the sound that much.

[lduarte1973]

i didnt read well your post , i´m at work i did not see the " free " part

i guess you have some skills to do some mods , you can always buy the board to upgrade the 7 to the alpha 9 and mod it from there.those boards are on ebay from time to time

still if you could get your hands on a used cambridge 640c would be your best choice , the difference between the 640c and 740c is the output stage nothing more , if you´re adding a dac later ... the 640c already does 24/192

[lduarte1973]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAMBRIDGE-...item2568f2843a

[sasha70]

Look for Cambridge Audio 540C or 640C reasonably cheap on e-bay or another auction sites.
Good luck.