Advice needed : Cambridge audio 740C or Harmon Cardon 990 ?

[lduarte1973]

I want to buy a new upsample cd player , tought of these two , any advice is welcome , but i want to keep under 750€.

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=272&Title=Azur+740C+upsampling+CD+player

http://www.harmankardon.com/product...&Language=ENG&cat=CDP&prod=HD 990/230&sType=C

 

[Mario Pankov]

Why don`t you consider a used CD player? For that price you could get a used but in good condition player which will be far superior to these. In this budget range a Parasound CD 1000 transport/Parasound DAC 1000 would fit ideally and will outperform any new player under 1500 euro.

If you`re up to these two players only, my vote is for the CA, I`ve not listened to it, but I have heard the 640C and for its cost it is a good buy. I have had HK CD-players ( I still have one laying in my storage ) and I have listened to their new model line - they`re all crap. The one I still have was outperformed by a DVD player Toshiba for 50 euro...

There are older CD players like the Pioneer PD-9300 and PD-8500 which sound very very well when modified correctly. My experience with CD players shows that single bit players ( Delta-Sigma ) sound lean and have weaker bass response when compared with a multibit CD.

 

[lduarte1973]

i would gladly buy a used cd player , but i want a upsample cd player or a dac with 384 khz upsample capability.

 

[Mario Pankov]

Well, in this case I would go with the Cambridge Audio.

Cheers,
Mario

 

[lduarte1973]

thanks Mario , i was leaning towards the harmon kardon , cause it´s half the price ... now i see why ...

Seems it´s the cambridge audio for me then ...