Click pics to enlarge. Top, Inside the CDB-262.
NY Diary (19-20) More on Old CD Players
This article is really an addendum to my post on old Magnavox CDPs (2 posts down, or here). Soon after I wrote that, I got to test another one, the Magnavox CDB-262. Like the CDB-492, this one is also low-end, employs the 16-bit TDA-1543 and has the CDM-4/16 mechanism. There is much less on the internet on this model than the 492, but as the circuit board and layout look virtually identical to the 492 (though resistors and caps may be different in make), I assume this is also a Non-Oversampling (NOS) player. Some paper sticker must have fallen out in the back, but I assume it was made in Mexico. Not sure which comes first, the 262 or 492, and I don't know its Philips equivalence (if any reader knows, please let me know).
Come to think of it, I have heard yet another one from this era. I just realized that the first CDP I bought (new from 阿二) when I went back to HK was the Philips CD-502, also a TDA-1543/CDM4-19 player (I wasn't into chips at that time), though that one differs in employing 4x oversampling. In a small space, I was using a clone Marantz 7 a student DIY'ed for me, Dynaco ST70 and Spendor LS3/5A (11 ohm). It sounded very good, but I was bothered by a bit of coarseness that I couldn't eliminate.
At that time, DAC just became a fad and I wanted to try some, so I then (big mistake) bought the Philips 920 (again from 阿二), which has a coaxial digital out. By itself, yes, the bitstream player (with CDM12.1 laser) was definitely smoother, but it fared poorly in rhythm and pace and it nagged at me. I was going to try a DAC anyway, so I used it as a transport into the Audio Alchemy Digital Decoding Engine 1.0. Although the AA DDE 1.0 is also bitstream, it was a vast improvement, allowing me to enjoy the music, particularly the large-scaled stuff I favor (though the later and cheaper multi-bit Dac-in-the-box DITB appealed equally to me). Let me not detour any more and get back to the CDB-262.
As I wrote, I listened to Neil Young's Tonight is the Night (This Round's Pick, top right corner) and, just now, Jimmy Smith's The Boss (Verve, CD), just one of many in his under-rated oeuvres. The live album is impeccable in its easy-going musicianship with both Smith and guitarist George Benson. Smooth, yes, but it impressed me with its finely spun lines and easy musicality. The audience noise is very low level, but the ambience is crystal clear. On Shirley Horn's May the music never end (Verve, CD), the distinctive and instantly recognizable vocal style, with its inimitable pauses, silence and cadence, are poignantly cast; believe me, this kind of music fails badly on most modern gears, usually coming across as staid. Incredible, though one must keep in mind the substantial contribution of my LTA MicroZOTL 2.0 (here).
These Old CDPs I wrote about are great stuff. I shall be listening and writing more on this. Funny thing is, red-book physical CD is now considered a thing of the past. Me? I don't think so, and if you still have CDs you owe it to yourself to listen to a few for beer money. Come to think of it, a couple of so-called craft-beer or the even more expensive newer "natural" stuff can easily buy you a machine!
Since that article, I have been using exclusively these old CDPs. I must get my FD-3000 repaired, the sooner the better.
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