I'm fighting temptation to get another universal player for audio only. Nothing wrong with my current Cambridge 752bd but with a growing collection of higher Rez silver discs the idea of having a capable player in the house is tempting.

There's very little currently available and I don't want to go to a two box transport/dac set-up.
There are quite a few older Japanese players around though. Some quite highly spec'd units are within my budget but just how they would stack up against the 752 or even my Rega Saturn cdp for sound quality is a big unknown. I'd want something that could play dvd-a as well as sacd.
Happy to hear any thoughts on those Marantz, Denon etc players.[br

I’ve been “rummaging” around that area myself recently. I’ve got a Pioneer 969dvi universal player. Quite a bit earlier than your machine but great build and quite capable.

There are quite a few new builds available but seem to be upwards from $2.5k. I was surprised that even the most expensive are often only two channel SACD (Can’t abandon my multi-channel Dark side of the Moon!).

There’s been a few older SACD players on Trade Me but two channel mostly. Also no inputs so can’t run other sources through them I think for an upgrade for me I’d want to include some of the new developments in DACs. Probably a stand alone DAC for the CD side.

Not sure about the Cambridge but I don’t think my machine processes the DSD in the pure way but does the conversion to PCM or such though it does a great job with SACD. That might be another consideration if upgrading.

The CA employs 192/24 over-sampling and DSD to PCM conversion, unlike the similar Oppos - direct digital, no DSD conversion.

Never found it a problem as 99% of SACDs have been through at least one piece of PCM equipment.

Another CA 752 or a used Oppo 105 up with the ESS Sabre DACs would be a good buy.

Other machines like Denon, Marantz, Pioneer, Arcam et al can sound good but I have yet to find anything that is as truly universal as a CA 752BD or Oppo 105.

An Oppo 103 sold recently on Trade Me for just under $400. Some crazy prices being asked on Ebay for the 205.

I don't have any worries about the 752 converting DSD to pcm as I doubt I'd pick up any difference. Stuck with that anyway as both my amps are RCA inputs only.
I have noticed a few of the earlier Oppo players coming to light. I guess the biggest unknown is long term reliability as most of the second hand players are at least ten years old.
Never saw a used Cambridge for sale.

Oppo 103's can be found under $500 but they only have basic analogue audio - not even close to the 105 or CA 752.
Best used in a home theatre system with the 103 as digital transport.

In systems with RCA inputs, stick to the 752/105.

My 103 is 9 years old, 752 7 years.
Both still working well but I have experienced the occasional operational glitch.

Over the past year have seen a CA 752 (?) and CXU (sold $655) pop up on TradeMe, both were in rather ratty condition.

Pioneer had a couple of high end universals too - LX800, LX500
They were equivalent to the Oppo 203/205, included 4k UHD capability
Never seen on the used market.

How about Marantz DV9500.

That's going way back.

Decent enough.

Much like my old Denon DVD-3910 but...

There's a fair bit of music on Blu-Ray now so need Blu-Ray capability for true universalness,

Some BD music even sounds good !

Edit - Arcam had a universal too - UDP411

Super rare, never seen one in NZ.

No DVD-Audio though

I see there's an Oppo 203 popped up. Priced at $1200 and more that I want to pay at this stage for something that might not get regular use.
Still tempting but I would like to try something like a higher specked Pioneer or Marantz. I could probably live without the blueray option.

Finally made a decision and got a Marantz UD5007 universal player via TM.

This one seems to cover all the bases doing cd/sacd/dvd-a/blu-ray. I think it may also do hdcd which I have a few of.

One of the attractions of the Marantz is that disc type, files etc can all be done without needing to connect to a screen unlike the Cambridge 752.

Quite where it'll end up I'm unsure. Currently replacing a Rega Saturn in the bedroom system but eventually maybe the lounge replacing a cheap Samsung player.

Mar 27, 2023 20:44:55 GMT 12 cooksferry said:

Finally made a decision and got a Marantz UD5007 universal player via TM.

This one seems to cover all the bases doing cd/sacd/dvd-a/blu-ray. I think it may also do hdcd which I have a few of.

One of the attractions of the Marantz is that disc type, files etc can all be done without needing to connect to a screen unlike the Cambridge 752.

Quite where it'll end up I'm unsure. Currently replacing a Rega Saturn in the bedroom system but eventually maybe the lounge replacing a cheap Samsung player.

Ha ha, I ended up with the bd752 that was recently listed. Noone bid on it and at $200 my bidding finger had a mind of it’s own. I’ve gone down a different route re playback but thought I’d give it a listen and flick it on if not thrilled.

The Marantz certainly wins on looks I’d say.

It looked a bit rough and of unknown provenance,

Plus labelled BD A / DVD 1 on the back,

But $200 was a fair price,

Let us know how it fares.

Mar 28, 2023 10:01:10 GMT 12 stuzzo said:

Mar 27, 2023 20:44:55 GMT 12 cooksferry said:

Finally made a decision and got a Marantz UD5007 universal player via TM.

This one seems to cover all the bases doing cd/sacd/dvd-a/blu-ray. I think it may also do hdcd which I have a few of.

One of the attractions of the Marantz is that disc type, files etc can all be done without needing to connect to a screen unlike the Cambridge 752.

Quite where it'll end up I'm unsure. Currently replacing a Rega Saturn in the bedroom system but eventually maybe the lounge replacing a cheap Samsung player.

Ha ha, I ended up with the bd752 that was recently listed. Noone bid on it and at $200 my bidding finger had a mind of it’s own. I’ve gone down a different route re playback but thought I’d give it a listen and flick it on if not thrilled.

The Marantz certainly wins on looks I’d say.

Interested in how you find the 752.

Bit of a learning curve with the Marantz in selecting disc options which is all done via a push button on the front face.
The manual wasn't a great help but found better advice via an old post on an AV forum. Initial selection must be done without a disc inserted.

Moved the Marantz from the bedroom system into the lounge for use as a DVD/blu-ray player for now.
Selecting cd/sacd and single layer dvd-a was achievable via the inbuilt display but anything with multi chapters like most DVD audio and blu-ray needs a screen/tv for navigation so in this regard not too different from the Cambridge 752.
Picture quality on a quick test looks pretty good but I'll have to haul it out to the music room at some stage and try via speakers for a better sq test.

The eagle has landed…chatty little thing! Quite a “beefy gal” too. Looks a lot darker in real life to the standard “grey” photo shots.

Fair dues to the seller it came well packaged and in good order other than the remote, though the replacement actually seems a nicer unit.

I don’t know what the collective noun for universal players should be, “luxury”, “obsolescence”, but I currently have three, my original Pioneer 969, a Sony UBP X800 (digital only), and the Cambridge. 

Interested in your thoughts on the 752.
I played some blue ray audio on mine yesterday and happy with sq.
I should use it more often.

My main interest in the 752 was as a CD player and possibly general DAC given it has digital inputs. And then do general duties as an all round player.

I got the Pioneer, had a lot of enjoyment with that and then I did the thing the audio people do and thought, “can I do better than this?” after you start to hear all sorts of imperfections that are probably in the music anyway.

So I got the Plinius CD101 which is a very detailed player but I eventually thought that it tended to emphasis the “sibilance” in music too much(a pet hate of mine). Perhaps to detailed for it’s own good I’m not going to be critical.

At about that time I started streaming music via a laptop and the Remote app. To do that I got the Music Streamer II USB DAC, which had reviewed well. I really liked this sound as it was good detail but not harsh or overly sibilant.

So now I use the Bluenote Node as a streamer and the MS II runs out of the USB output of that which is a better sound than Node alone. The other day I played CDs on the 752 and had the analog output into my preamp. I also had the optical out from the 752 into the Node (optical is the only ext. input (and possibly HDMI)) and into another input on the preamp.

This way I could directly compare the 752 DAC to the MSII by just changing inputs. I have to say I couldn’t tell the difference at all. Though I’d thought the MS might be better from previous days listening I couldn’t pick between them. Both very adequate sounding.

So I reckon these are probably 8 or 9 out of 10 for digital playback potential. I’ve got a power upgrade coming for the Node and I thought I might get a more modern DAC such as a Topping which seem to test very well for the price to see if there’s any more to get.

I’ll probably keep the 752 as I love the build and it gives lots of options. Haven’t tried it on SACDs but these players normally do a pretty good job there.

The 752 really is a universal player, I love it's versatility.

It's been my main CDP since my Marantz died years ago.

I think it does a decent job with SACD, some disagree as the 752 converts DSD to PCM for the analog outputs.

But most SACDs have been through at least one PCM conversion so the point is moot.

It can output native DSD but only through HDMI.