15-Apr-2020, 11:14
I think you can combine @thumb5 's words of caution with my relevant, although admittedly limited, experience.
Consider that I find that a maybe 7 year old Blu-ray / CD player sounds rather better than a 20 year old dedicated CD Player. OK - A Musical Fidelity CD player is not quite in the "Exotic" category, but the modern equivalent of mine is probably about £2200 today, and this is beaten by a more modern non-dedicated CD player that would cost less than half that new.
You mention Cambridge Audio - A modern Cambridge Audio player is highly likely to be much better than my Arcam Blu-ray player, and could fall within your budget new.
So taking all this together, if you go second hand, I would aim to get something reasonably new. I think the progress of technology (modern clock are better etc.) is likely to beat the appeal of the older "exotic", even if the older exotic might look nice on the shelf. On top of this you have the risk of performance degradation for the reasons Thumb5 mentioned.
Consider that I find that a maybe 7 year old Blu-ray / CD player sounds rather better than a 20 year old dedicated CD Player. OK - A Musical Fidelity CD player is not quite in the "Exotic" category, but the modern equivalent of mine is probably about £2200 today, and this is beaten by a more modern non-dedicated CD player that would cost less than half that new.
You mention Cambridge Audio - A modern Cambridge Audio player is highly likely to be much better than my Arcam Blu-ray player, and could fall within your budget new.
So taking all this together, if you go second hand, I would aim to get something reasonably new. I think the progress of technology (modern clock are better etc.) is likely to beat the appeal of the older "exotic", even if the older exotic might look nice on the shelf. On top of this you have the risk of performance degradation for the reasons Thumb5 mentioned.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
