Best one-chasis CD/SACD player under $15000?

My current system is all top of the line Electrocompaniet (including the EMC-1 UP CD player) driving B&W 800 Diamonds. However I'm planning to move to entire Classe amplification quite soon. The problem is Classe gave up on digital sources. Of course I can still use EMC-1 UP but I would like to use this opportunity to upgrade it to a higher level player. I would love to stay in one chasis (don't have enough rack space for transport/DAC not to mention multi-chasis monsters) but I still hope to find a CD/SACD player with robust, huge and absolutely neutral sound. No colorations, sweetening, tubes etc. Just music the way it was recorded. I heard dCS Paganini is a good candidate though slightly more expensive than my budget. Any other ideas?

 

Accuphase, Moon or WADIA come to mind first but which sounds the most neutral ? Definitely NOT Tube or coloring players. I'd try the big Moon first but that's just from looks..MOON 750 D.
Also worh checking is of course steve Jobs favorite brand..well what's their name again starts with E from California silicon valley..The AMS from Musical Fidelity might be to your liking as well and costs only half of your limit.
http://www.simaudio.com/moon750D.htm

 

Oops there is even a bigger one available now from MOON but in 2 chassis
Andromeda
http://www.simaudio.com/moonandromeda.htm

 

I would highly suggest the Sim 750D as well

 

You might find a dCS Puccini at that price if you call around, right? Wouldn't Esoteric and Playback Designs come under consideration too?

 

The Simaudio MOON 750D and Andromeda are CD only right? ;-)

 

This: http://www.playbackdesigns.com/products/mps-5/

 

Nice cd player budget.

 

Rega Isis?

jc

 

Please send me your old schtuff after you are done wif it.

Fanx.

 

You're right. Sorry about that...

The Wadia 781i was a great player, not sure if it's still in production though.
Great SACD performance.

 

+1
Have had mine for 3 yrs and it has performed faultlessly. Unless you buy used I really doubt you could get a better SACD player for the money. The only thing I wasn't keen on is the red LED display but as I turn it off when playing it is really not an issue, it is certainly easy to read from 3.5m. I would now find it hard going back to a non-Esoteric transport, they read SACDs as quickly as CDs and track selections, rewind etc happen instantly. One thing to keep in mind if you listen to an MPS-5 it needs to have 400+ hours up (a long time I know). Good luck.

 

Which other single unit SACD players compete with the MPS-5 in this price range? Anyone compare with a comparable Esoteric (K-01 or 03)? dCS Puccini seems like a terrific longer term solution. Upgrade the clock in a few years, etc.

 

Ayre C5 or the C7 if you prefer a slightly less detailed but warmer sound. I dragged home many players, some in the crazy priced range and ended up with the C5mp. Still think it's the best at any price.

 

Absolute "best" or best value?

For SACD playback, the natural competition for the Cary CD 306 Professional Version are the Ayre CX-5se ($5950), reviewed by Wes Phillips in July 2005, and the Krell Evolution 505 ($10,000), reviewed by Fred Kaplan in September 2008.

The Ayre has the advantage of playing DVD-As and -Vs as well as SACDs and CDs. But the Cary just edges out the Ayre, I think, in terms of soundstage depth and the sheer silkiness of its high frequencies. Stereophile JA

I would expect the MPS-5 to easily beat the Ayre or the Cary. Same with the Puccini. Perhaps the OP will be able to audition, but I don't think this is much of a leap.

 

Absolute best. Lets keep in mind thats a personal preference, and I'm mating it with Ayre's KX-R preamp, a match made in heaven.

 

All fine players, and though I've not heard the dCS or the new Esoterics I think it would be a matter of the system it's going into and personal taste as to which would be preferred (though the K-01 & Puccini/clock are a few more $)

 

I had the chance recently to audition the dCS Puccini in my system. Fantastic player!
I have not heard all digital players that are out there but through the years I have heard various Ayre, Cary, Sony, Electrocompaniet models but the Puccini is the one that has made the best impression on me.

 

If you are looking for a somewhat warm and beautiful sound, the Burmester 061 or 089 will fill that bill wonderfully. The 089 is outside of your range, but, it is a nice single box machine. You would have to spend a lot more, and perhaps go to multiple box units, to find a similar sound.

I am partial to the Naim 555, the unit I have, but that is considerably more expensive and it has two boxes--a main unit and a smaller power supply.

 

How would you compare the sonic difference between Puccini and Electrocompaniet? Also did you use it with or without the clock?

 

Curious to find if you reach for the Puccini without the clock. I'd expect it to be a large step up from any well received under $10 grand player, but there are likely some comparisons out there. Perhaps Jeff has a view. Anyhow, if the basic Puccini does the trick for now, then you'll be in great position for an upgrade in a few years.

There must be a few more single box SACD players aside from the Playback Designs MPS-5 and the Puccini. Hope the OP will be able check out both.

 

Avoid Accuphase. A local friend had one on audition for a couple of months-the $17K one. Not good to be polite about it.

 

The Electrocomaniet is a great player. If you are already an owner, you know they have a slightly warm, "un digital" sound. As the Classe stuff has a drier, slightly more sterile sound than the Electrocompaniet gear you now have, whether that's a good thing or not is up to you. I really enjoyed the multi format player we had in for review.

Might want to check out the Ayre for about 10k too. It plays everything, SACD, DVD-a and BluRay music. Even if you don't have the other discs in your collection, it does give you the option, just in case you see something you want in an alternate format.

 

No, it was without the clock. About the Electrocompaniet (EMC1 UP) and the Puccini, I did not compare them side by side under the same conditions and with the same material so I would like to not to talk about it since I do not think that I can offer any meaningful comparisons.

I can talk a bit more on the Puccini. I am mostly a vinyl guy but I often listen to cd/sacd mostly because all classical music after the 90s is released exclusively on these formats. I have to say that most digital players however good they might be leave me cold and this includes my current player the SONY XA5400ES which is a very good player BTW.

Not the Puccini. It was the first time that I said wow, analogue is not better just different! All the qualities that I love in vinyl were also in the Puccini. Warmth, tonality, rhythm, an expansive soundstage. I don't mean to say that it sounded like analogue because this would be misleading. Analogue is analogue and digital is digital.

What I am trying to say is that it was the only player that has convinced me that someone can listen to digital exclusively without missing much if any of the great aspects of analogue.

 

Gotta agree with you there.

And, I really like the fact that the dCS stuff is so easy to upgrade, being built with a modular/upgradeable path from the beginning.