Shanling vs Cary Audio CD player

[Nik]

Ok so my jump into audio quality has started. I have located two tube cd players, Shanling CD-S100 Mkii vs the Cary Audio CD-301. The Cary is older but from what I have found has more/ higher feedback. In all awards issued at a 97-98 CES type show, every system featured the Cary. I have also read many a great things about the Shanling (none are thru MLs or the liking). I sadly have no way of hearing these- its more or less an impulse buy for my small cd collection.

Which would you all recommend and why?

Nik

 

[twich54]

Nik, I can't comment directly on the 301, but since I own the Cary 303/300 I can recomend it without reservation. If the sonic signature is carried through the Cary line then the 301 , although older and less flexible than the 303/300, it should be a winner.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Cary CDP1

Hi Nik,

For alot less change, you should consider auditioning this unit. Retail is $2K and I believe it has much of the same technology as the tubed models do without paying for the tube section, including the upsampling feature, which I frankly love.

However, if you do check out the unit, make sure its broken in. My dealer, Ron Hedrick of Marigo Audio, feels very strongly that the unit takes 500 hours to burn in. Based on my listening experience, I would concur.

Good luck

GG

 

[MiTT]

I'd agree with Dave and Gordon - The Shandling is a very nice exercise in Industrial Design, and does sound "nice", but the Cary stuff I've heard is a true sonic gem. I'd lean towards the Cary in my system...

 

[twich54]

Hi Nik,

My dealer, Ron Hedrick of Marigo Audio, feels very strongly that the unit takes 500 hours to burn in. Based on my listening experience, I would concur.

Good luck

GG

Could someone please explain the LOGIC behind a 500 hour burn in ??????

I for one don't see how ......FACT, nobodys memory is good enough to recall the difference between hour number one and hour number 500 !!

 

[Nik]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, Cary Audio sounds like the way I am going to go. Will let you know how it turns out! :music:
Nik

 

[Gordon Gray]

Burn in

Hi Dave,

I totally agree with you and this topic drives me somewhat crazy also because there's no rational explanation / logic as to why. I know there are many people who believe some amplifiers, such as the Parasound JC 1's, take a substantial amount of play time before they sound like they should. With my Pass Labs, the manual states that the amp needs to be "on" for one hour before it performs as specified. Many years ago, I had a Classe Audio SS preamp. The manual stated or my dealer told me that the unit needed, if I recall correctly, 300 hours of playing time before things started to gel. With this particular piece, it sounded so terrible "out of the box" that I thought it was defective. Bright, no bass, no soundstage, no imaging. Gradually, things did smooth out.

Prior to shipping the CDP1, Ron played the unit for about 350 hours.

When I got it, I ran it 24 / 7 for 6 days or so and did some listening each day so the period of time to hear the changes was somewhat short. I definitely heard the mid bass / bass warm up and become less anemic over that period of time with the result that the overall presentation became much better integrated.

My experience for what its worth.

G

 

[Wardsweb]

OK I'll buck the trend here and say I like my Shanling T100 CDP. It is very flexible with both a solid state and tube outputs. You can also switch between direct and 24bit/96 kHz upsampling. You can even voice the tube output with different tubes. It allowed me to dial it in with the rest of my system. Now in all fairness, I will add that I have a used Krell CD-DSP coming. So I'll see how they compare.