pioneer 989 - dedicated cd player needed?

[alpina]

hi guys,

we have now been using our 989 for a few weeks on our 5060 plasma and we love it - far superior to anything we have owned before in terms of picture quality.

as we are using the 989 for cd listening also, we are now curious to know if we would benefit from having a dedicated cd player also? not talking a huge $$$ one but something like the cambridge audio azur 640c v2 comes to mind.

firstly would something like the 640c outperform the 989 for cd listening? and if so, is there something better than that 640c that we should be looking at for the same $$$?

cheers,

julie

[David Meek]

Julie,

You'll definitely gain some quality on Redbook playback by going with a dedicated player. Simplistically, DVD players are optimized for that media whereas CD players are focused (pun intended) on getting the best out of CDs and not DVDs. Now, whether or not the amount of improvement is enough is another question entirely. I definitely recommend auditioning your intended purchase at home before taking the plunge, or make sure that your dealer has a good return policy.