82 to 52 or CDX/XPS to CDS2?

Posted by: Henry Cosker on 16 February 2001

My dealer, who shall remain nameless but is a major player, has two guys who disagree about my next upgrade. System is CDX/XPS, 82/S'cap, SNAXO/S'cap, 2 x 250, SBL's. One says go for the CDS2 first, the other says go for the 52 first. I know source first is a reliable guide, but I do listen to lots of radio (NAT05), Nicam stereo TV and DVD. Help!

Posted on: 16 February 2001 by John

I just purchased a 52. The 52 will reveal the shortcomings of the CDX/XPS. I changed my CDX/XPS to a CDS1 before I went to 52. Mostly because I couldn't afford a CDS2 and 52 and was more attracted to the 52. The negative of the CDX/XPS is that the poor recordings don't get resloved well and can sound harsh or bright. The 52 will reveal this more. The 52 will bring out better musicality and musical color of the CDX/XPS. If you demo with this combination use bad sounding CDs as the well recorded ones might lead you to a wrong decision.

If you go for the CDS2 you will not get 100% of the benefit through the 82/Super but you won't receive anything negative.

Good luck!

Posted on: 17 February 2001 by Bob Edwards

Henry--

I have recently tried both permutations into SBLs and feel confident in saying that the CDS2 is a even bigger leap from the CDX/XPS than the 52 is from 82/Super. It sounds like you might end up doing both anyway, so do the CDS2 first. As special as the 52 is, the CDS2 is even more !

Cheers,

Bob

Ride the Light !

Posted on: 18 February 2001 by Henry Cosker

Thanks guys for your thoughts. I guess on balance the CDS2 looks favourite for the first move (Bob you're right, I do intend to do both, but it's going to be a long haul to the second step - I've just taken early retirement and income has halved!!
Still, patience is a virtue...

Henry