Just upgraded my system with a slight accident in the form of a pair of Sonus Faber Cremonas. The rest of the system is Electrocompaniet ECI-2 amp, Cambridge Audio CD4SE cd player and mf-vdac fed by my mac.

I was planning to buy an Electrocompaniet ECC1, but its over budget now though I could stretch to a PC1 if pinched. Assuming I'm right in thinking I should be looking at upgrading the source, which would give the the greatest improvement over the CDS4SE? The Harman Kardon has the advantage that I can dispense with the v-dac, while the Yamaha plays SACDs, of which I have a couple.

Your thoughts , please

This is my first post but I have also put this on the HFC forum, but without too much hope of a reply these days.

Hi brov, welcome onboard, sorry I can't help on that one but we've some good lads on here who'll be along to help you out soon.

Does it have to be one of those three? To your list i'd add Marantz, very good sounding CD player plus they have the added bonus of being able to play SACD discs.

If not and you just want a CD player I chose the Electrocampaniet player, I've always been impressed by the gear they make.

Dumb question so slap me hard if you want, but why do you want a CD player?

To play CDs?
Yes, the other option would be to get a better dac, but the choice is still a bit limited.

Can you use the Cambridge as a transport?

What about a Benchmark DAC? Apart from that I think the Marantz suggestion is a good one, and I think rooney was thinking maybe you was ripping you music to a hard drive?

What is your budget approx?

Yes, that's true, I've ripped half my CDs onto a hard drive, but the computers not on a lot of the time. That's also while the ideal solution would be a CD player that allows you to use the onboard dac for streaming also, hence the thought about HK. However, it's difficult to get much info on the HK stuff short of buying it.

Ideally I'd like a source the equal of the rest of the system. I play CDs and also stream from my computer.

Hello, the HK looks the better player out of the two (Yamaha), but I'm not that convinced it's going to be a huge improvement over the quite decent Cambridge player already in your possession, i'd be very careful if I was you and try to get to a decent dealer that will allow you to compare your current cambridge over the HK, if they don't allow you compare the two players then walk away.

Thanks Timbo good idea. I've just checked with one of the dealers and there's no problem with that. He's also said I can take the unit home and compare there.

A dealer also suggested I try a Micromega DAC. I remember Micromega from years ago as being excellent sonically but not over reliable - any thoughts on their new stuff?

The Micromega DAC is a lovely DAC, if it the DAC that was part of the stage series it's a real beauty as I had one a few years ago and it still remains one of the best bits of kit I've ever owned.

The sound is very power and rich, it comes with a huge soundstage and manges to sound quite analogue in it's presentation, I'm sure you love it. It took a California Audio Lab to beat it, they were about 600 pound when new.

They are very reliable, it was the Micromega transports that gave problems, luckily in about the 7 years of ownership I had with mine it never stopped working, so I have found memories of Micromega. I believe they are now under new ownership plus a new distributor in the UK.

Thanks for the info, Adam. Just called the dealer and it's a Duo BS II. They have two in stock, one never opened and the other on display, both of which they've had since 1995.

I'm picking one up to-morrow for a home trial. If it's good with a bit of luck it could be a bargain!

Th Duo DAC I believe was the dAC beofre the stage DAC1, it's a small rectangular box, I've never heard it so I comment comment on it.

Good luck with it, f its even half as good as the DAC1 it will be a corker, Micromega got the sound right, they got their reliability wrong.

I've got a Micromega and I preferred it to a Naim CD player, mines still going so fingers crossed, the sound awesome, I bet it still holds its ground well even today.

The Micromega is home and connected, and for what its worth here are some initial impressions.
It's fuller in sound than the CD4SE, more like Marantz in presentation, that is if my memory of Marantz is correct.
I was initially a bit dubious about the treble, because on my standard test CD, No Frontiers, it seemed to be squeaking. Listening more closely I realised it was the sound of fingers on strings during chord changes - good detail, just hope it won't spoil my enjoyment of this cd now I'll be listening for it.
In fact, having gone through some of the usual suspects (Crowded House, Hilary Hahn, Richard Thompson) it's the detail and separation which shows a real improvement over the CA. The bass is definitely fuller, but I'm still not sure about the treble which is a touch more forward.

I'll see how it goes to-morrow, but initial thoughts are positive save for that caveat.

Give it at least 2 weeks to see if you can live with it, that's why quick demos never work you need time to see if you can live with a new product because at first it may sound impressive but at a later stage you tire of the sound, so give the Micromega a bit of time as you probably need to get accustomed to the extra resolution it's brought to the party.