Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

HiFi Guy said:
If you don’t care about used and a missing remote- this is a good sounding coaster reader.

www.ebay.com

Harman Kardon HD7600 / Single Disc CD Player / S166-02160 -- KT | eBay

Harman Kardon HD7600. Model: HD7600. Make: Harman Kardon. Digital converter: MN6471M, Bitstream 1 bit. Frequency response: 4Hz to 20kHz.
www.ebay.com
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Joe Mac said:
I think you are in player territory for that money because separate transport & DAC is usually higher end. It seems that the Marantz 6006 gets good reviews whenever I see it mentioned.
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I think if I'm willing to use the budget I would prefer new, don't want to deal with any lens and or laser issues. And I wasn't sure where the price would break on a transport. Music Direct has some discounted.......one was the 6006. Any thoughts or glaring specs that stand out with these?
www.musicdirect.com

Marantz - CD6006 CD Player **FACTORY REFURBISHED**

www.musicdirect.com
www.musicdirect.com

Marantz - HD-CD1 CD Player | Shop Music Direct

www.musicdirect.com
 
AnthonyI said:
I think if I'm willing to use the budget I would prefer new, don't want to deal with any lens and or laser issues. And I wasn't sure where the price would break on a transport. Music Direct has some discounted.......one was the 6006. Any thoughts or glaring specs that stand out with these?
www.musicdirect.com

Marantz - CD6006 CD Player **FACTORY REFURBISHED**

www.musicdirect.com
www.musicdirect.com

Marantz - HD-CD1 CD Player | Shop Music Direct

www.musicdirect.com
Click to expand...

The HD was a higher line than the 6006 but I’m pretty sure that it’s been discontinued now, maybe that’s why they’re being sold off at discount. I don’t know much about it as a player though sorry. @HiFi Guy did you have the DAC from that line at some point or am I loosing my marbles?
 
Joe Mac said:
The HD was a higher line than the 6006 but I’m pretty sure that it’s been discontinued now, maybe that’s why they’re being sold off at discount. I don’t know much about it as a player though sorry. @HiFi Guy did you have the DAC from that line at some point or am I loosing my marbles?
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No you aren’t. I still have it. I did get a Schiit Loki to warm it up a bit. At the end of the day though, the DAC is used 99% of the time for TV/Netflix duty.

To answer @AnthonyI though, those players are so similar you can pretty much choose by form factor. You still get the 60 day money back guarantee either way.
 
HiFi Guy said:
No you aren’t. I still have it. I did get a Schiit Loki to warm it up a bit. At the end of the day though, the DAC is used 99% of the time for TV/Netflix duty.

To answer @AnthonyI though, those players are so similar you can pretty much choose by form factor. You still get the 60 day money back guarantee either way.
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Awesome, so is there any benefit in picking up the HD for the DAC? The prices are so close and it seems like they fall into the same "quality" bucket. Or would the 6006 suffice running through the PL instead of running the HD through the NAD for the DAC?
 
AnthonyI said:
Agreed, I think we'll lean towards the 6006 and not get into the DAC world, lol
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Both of the ones you linked to are just players though. They both have digital outs to go to a DAC if you want it but neither requires it. Neither has a digital in to allow its DAC to utilised by another device either.

It really is a choice over which you think will look nicer on your shelf given that they are pretty much the same price 😂
 
Joe Mac said:
Both of the ones you linked to are just players though. They both have digital outs to go to a DAC if you want it but neither requires it. Neither has a digital in to allow its DAC to utilised by another device either.

It really is a choice over which you think will look nicer on your shelf given that they are pretty much the same price 😂
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We've had this discussion ad infinitum, DAC's confuse me for some odd reason and it's actually starting to irritate me, so I'm better off steering clear.......a nice CD player is fine, lol. I also looked at the specs and they're pretty much identical so it does come down to looks at this point between those two.

<-----looks for a copy of DAC's for dummies on Amazon
 
AnthonyI said:
We've had this discussion ad infinitum, DAC's confuse me for some odd reason and it's actually starting to irritate me, so I'm better off steering clear.......a nice CD player is fine, lol. I also looked at the specs and they're pretty much identical so it does come down to looks at this point between those two.

<-----looks for a copy of DAC's for dummies on Amazon
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I have an Oppo 105bdp and absolutely love it. I think a used Oppo 103, which is very similar, would be in your budget.
 
AnthonyI said:
We've had this discussion ad infinitum, DAC's confuse me for some odd reason and it's actually starting to irritate me, so I'm better off steering clear.......a nice CD player is fine, lol. I also looked at the specs and they're pretty much identical so it does come down to looks at this point between those two.

<-----looks for a copy of DAC's for dummies on Amazon
Click to expand...
I looked at DACs for close to a year as I was similarly confused. I held out on the Marantz too long and it was sold out most places since it got discontinued. It’s pretty difficult IMO to figure out which to get because everyone’s reviews seem to be based on “sound” which is subjective. A bunch of reviews have actual graphs and stats of performance but that was like reading another language to me haha. Some people want DACs that are neutral and don’t color the sound at all. Some prefer ones that warm it up a little. It’s not all that different from cartridge shopping. There are tons of different chips and everybody seems to like a different one. And without being able to hear them, it’s hard to tell or know which I would like. I also debated a CD player for awhile but ended up buying a cheap external CD drive for my comp to rip CDs to get FLAC files. I figured that unless I got a multi-CD changer, I probably wouldn’t change CDs all that much with a physical CD player. Before things got shut down, I would usually just buy used CDs for cheap, rip them and then trade them to my local record store to get some of the money back.

I think digital makes sense if either you have a lot of CDs to rip or if you have a large FLAC library. I love Qobuz, but hate the idea that I don’t own that music. So one day an album can just be taken off streaming and I can’t listen to it. Or Qobuz could go bankrupt and I’d lose my library. I still use it but end up downloading or buying CDs of stuff I wouldn’t want to lose. Qobuz is my go-to on the go listening app now. At home, I use Roon, which is fantastic, especially for combining files you own and Qobuz streaming.

overall when getting into digital, I wanted to make sure I could get things that were modular/I could easily upgrade in my chain later. The Aries Mini was my streamer/Roon endpoint. It has a built-in hard drive and has a built-in DAC but you can also bypass it since it has USB out. I ended up getting a lightly used Singxer SDA2 DAC from the forums on head-fi.org for $500 shipped. It’s a balanced DAC so I’m using RCA outputs now but could move over to balanced XLR if I want later. I really dig the sound on it so far.
 
AnthonyI said:
I think if I'm willing to use the budget I would prefer new, don't want to deal with any lens and or laser issues. And I wasn't sure where the price would break on a transport. Music Direct has some discounted.......one was the 6006. Any thoughts or glaring specs that stand out with these?
www.musicdirect.com

Marantz - CD6006 CD Player **FACTORY REFURBISHED**

www.musicdirect.com
www.musicdirect.com

Marantz - HD-CD1 CD Player | Shop Music Direct

www.musicdirect.com
Click to expand...
I've got an older version of the 6006 which is a 5004 and love it. The sound quality is great to me. It's got a beefy transformer and discrete circuitry for left and right channels so excellent separation. The CD1 is probably just as good and it's Kallax-Fi if form factor matters. Get either one and don't look back.
 
Hey everyone...I've done some searching on the forum, but it's a little overwhelming to find a similar situation to what I'm thinking about. Please point me in a specific direction if this has been discussed before!

I have an Audio Technica LP-120 with an Ortofon red cartridge. Klipsch R-15pm powered speakers. I've had the AT LP-120 for about 7 years, and have been through the original cartridge, and have now replaced with the Red twice. I'm due for another cartridge replacement and it's got me thinking. I've been perfectly happy with the red. I could upgrade to the Blue and it sounds like that definitely makes a difference, but was thinking would my money be better spent on an entirely new turntable? Or new speakers? In theory, I could spend $500-$1,000 on an upgrade, but of course, would only want to do so if it's worth it. I'm pleased with my current set-up, but wondering about what could be better (insert joke about 7 year itch here). Just doing the upgrade to the Blue leaves more money for records, but I'm willing to take a bigger leap if worth it.

I don't consider myself a hardcore audiophile, but definitely noticed a difference going from Red to Blue. Pretty diverse record collection...jazz and rock being the biggest genres.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have - thanks!
 
hickmbr4 said:
Hey everyone...I've done some searching on the forum, but it's a little overwhelming to find a similar situation to what I'm thinking about. Please point me in a specific direction if this has been discussed before!

I have an Audio Technica LP-120 with an Ortofon red cartridge. Klipsch R-15pm powered speakers. I've had the AT LP-120 for about 7 years, and have been through the original cartridge, and have now replaced with the Red twice. I'm due for another cartridge replacement and it's got me thinking. I've been perfectly happy with the red. I could upgrade to the Blue and it sounds like that definitely makes a difference, but was thinking would my money be better spent on an entirely new turntable? Or new speakers? In theory, I could spend $500-$1,000 on an upgrade, but of course, would only want to do so if it's worth it. I'm pleased with my current set-up, but wondering about what could be better (insert joke about 7 year itch here). Just doing the upgrade to the Blue leaves more money for records, but I'm willing to take a bigger leap if worth it.

I don't consider myself a hardcore audiophile, but definitely noticed a difference going from Red to Blue. Pretty diverse record collection...jazz and rock being the biggest genres.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have - thanks!
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I don't have experience with the Red or LP_120, but I went from a cheaper AT turntable to a U-turn with Blue as my first upgrade.

I will say it is a worthy upgrade. I didn't regret it. It might be just going with the Blue would be more than enough to keep you rolling for a while. That said... The a mofi Studio Deck for only a couple hundred more than your stated budget would give you a better cart AND a Table you can grow with. Honestly I don't think either option is bad. Someone else can comment on the LP-120 and how much of an "upgrade" a less expensive TT would be. My guess is not much. Go with what you can afford and keep buying records.
 
hickmbr4 said:
Hey everyone...I've done some searching on the forum, but it's a little overwhelming to find a similar situation to what I'm thinking about. Please point me in a specific direction if this has been discussed before!

I have an Audio Technica LP-120 with an Ortofon red cartridge. Klipsch R-15pm powered speakers. I've had the AT LP-120 for about 7 years, and have been through the original cartridge, and have now replaced with the Red twice. I'm due for another cartridge replacement and it's got me thinking. I've been perfectly happy with the red. I could upgrade to the Blue and it sounds like that definitely makes a difference, but was thinking would my money be better spent on an entirely new turntable? Or new speakers? In theory, I could spend $500-$1,000 on an upgrade, but of course, would only want to do so if it's worth it. I'm pleased with my current set-up, but wondering about what could be better (insert joke about 7 year itch here). Just doing the upgrade to the Blue leaves more money for records, but I'm willing to take a bigger leap if worth it.

I don't consider myself a hardcore audiophile, but definitely noticed a difference going from Red to Blue. Pretty diverse record collection...jazz and rock being the biggest genres.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have - thanks!
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I recently upgraded my TT and Cart to a Pioneer PLX-1000 and a grado gold and am much happier from my AT-120 and Ortofon Blue.

Only you can decide if it's right for you but I can say the difference was noticeable and huge. My issue with the 120/blue combo was that it's hollow frame resonated sound through the needle and my cart had an annoying hum. I could tap on the side of the table and hear it through my speakers. I would walk in front of the TT and hear my footsteps, sometimes skipping the needle.

(To be fair, my first blue didn't hum, so I may have bought from a bad seller on Amazon.)

I feel like I will have this table for a long time and I didn't feel that way with the 120. That and the sound quality upgrade was well worth it.

However, it sounds like you need a phone preamp if you get rid of the 120. Not a bad thing as the pre in the 120 is hot garbage, however that's another cost. Maybe the pioneer would blow your budget but there are plenty of better TT to consider paired with a preamp that would serve you well.
 
Ethos99 said:
However, it sounds like you need a phone preamp if you get rid of the 120. Not a bad thing as the pre in the 120 is hot garbage, however that's another cost. Maybe the pioneer would blow your budget but there are plenty of better TT to consider paired with a preamp that would serve you well.
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Does the 120 have a way to switch off or bypass the phono? If so a phono might be the best next step.
 
hickmbr4 said:
Hey everyone...I've done some searching on the forum, but it's a little overwhelming to find a similar situation to what I'm thinking about. Please point me in a specific direction if this has been discussed before!

I have an Audio Technica LP-120 with an Ortofon red cartridge. Klipsch R-15pm powered speakers. I've had the AT LP-120 for about 7 years, and have been through the original cartridge, and have now replaced with the Red twice. I'm due for another cartridge replacement and it's got me thinking. I've been perfectly happy with the red. I could upgrade to the Blue and it sounds like that definitely makes a difference, but was thinking would my money be better spent on an entirely new turntable? Or new speakers? In theory, I could spend $500-$1,000 on an upgrade, but of course, would only want to do so if it's worth it. I'm pleased with my current set-up, but wondering about what could be better (insert joke about 7 year itch here). Just doing the upgrade to the Blue leaves more money for records, but I'm willing to take a bigger leap if worth it.

I don't consider myself a hardcore audiophile, but definitely noticed a difference going from Red to Blue. Pretty diverse record collection...jazz and rock being the biggest genres.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have - thanks!
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First, welcome!

Your most cost effective move would be a Blue stylus. You can get a great price if you order from Analogue Seduction in the UK.

While I far prefer the UTurn Orbit to your A/T, I’d not recommend one on your situation. UTurns have a documented hum issue with powered speakers, which a couple of us couldn’t resolve. UTurn knows there is an issue. Their solution doesn’t work.

What I’d recommend is passive speakers and an amplifier. Your powered speakers limit your system in the long run.
 
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