dac advice

[colin1958]

Hi,need alot of advice here regarding adding a dac.i am currently using a quad 909 power amp with a quad pre-amp & quad cdp 2 [cd player].i also have the upgraded Pink Floyd x-10v3 with the Pink Floyd Pinkie V3i powering it.would there be any huge advantages to add a dac & if so what would it if anything improve?
cheers colin

[mrarroyo]

I have never listened to a Cambridge Audio CD-Player, however many seem to like it. I bring Cambridge Audio because they now have two CD-Players the 740C Azur and the 840C Azur which have the ability to acept digital inputs (2) in either optical or coaxial. Note, the 840C allows for balance out which may be something you may not need.

Then you would use the internal DAC of the 740C or 840C to process the signal and feed your amp. It might be an option worth exploring. For more information go to: www.cambridgeaudio.com/categories.php?CID=3

[Deleted]

Miguel
That is interesting about the digital inputs. That is something that I had wished for for a long time. Almost certainly out of my price range though.
BTW, I have an Arcam Alpha 5 plus ,on a temporary loan at the moment, and I was told I can keep if it I want. These guys start off with polypropylene caps etc too.
Alex

[leo]

The Quad 2 is not a bad cdp, you may get better performance from an external dac but its going to take something thats not cheap to be a worthwhile upgrade.
Only thing I can say here is try a few units first if you can, you may feel the performance gains are not worth it.

Alex, may I suggest you keep that Alpha 5 cdp, these are extremely capable machines, Ihave one here I have done a lot of work to.
It was taken to a hi-fi shop to compare against a couple of new units, my uncle was thinking of buying a particular unit in the shop so my hotrodded A5 was used as a comparison.
The shop owner laughed when he seen the A5 but upon listening to it the smirk was soon wiped off his face

[leo]

mrarroyo said:

I have never listened to a Cambridge Audio CD-Player, however many seem to like it. I bring Cambridge Audio because they now have two CD-Players the 740C Azur and the 840C Azur which have the ability to acept digital inputs (2) in either optical or coaxial. Note, the 840C allows for balance out which may be something you may not need.

Then you would use the internal DAC of the 740C or 840C to process the signal and feed your amp. It might be an option worth exploring. For more information go to: www.cambridgeaudio.com/categories.php?CID=3

I've not heard this one yet myself but also heard from others its supposed to be a very good unit.
The spdif input is a fantastic idea and something I'm looking into myself