Transport Test Results
The transports:
* Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player
* Yamaha CDX-10000 CD player
The Philips DVP642 DVD player was manufactured in 2004 and had an msrp of $169. It weighs ~ 4.4lbs. The Yamaha CDX-10000 CD player was manufactured in 1987 and had an msrp of $3500. It weighs ~ 55lbs
The DVP642 was hooked up using the toslink and the CDX-10000 by coax to Proceed PDP-3 DAC. The PDP-3 was manufactured from 1992 to 1994 and had an msrp of $2450. I did blind A/B switching between the DVP642 and CDX-10000 using the source selector on the PDP-3. Two presses of the selector button selected either the DVP642 or the CDX-10000. Level balancing was done by slightly reducing the gain on the CDX-10000.
The test results: the CDX-10000 won, but the results were much closer than I would have guessed. In blind A/B switching I picked the CDX-10000 100% of the time as the clearer and more pleasing sounding source. The DVP642 surprised me by sounding very good. The DVP642 sounded slightly veiled (apologies for using that overused "audiophile" term) and the imaging was less crisp than the CDX-10000. I have a hard time believing that an inexpensive DVD player can sound so good even through an external DAC.
The transports:
* Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player
* Yamaha CDX-10000 CD player
The Philips DVP642 DVD player was manufactured in 2004 and had an msrp of $169. It weighs ~ 4.4lbs. The Yamaha CDX-10000 CD player was manufactured in 1987 and had an msrp of $3500. It weighs ~ 55lbs
The DVP642 was hooked up using the toslink and the CDX-10000 by coax to Proceed PDP-3 DAC. The PDP-3 was manufactured from 1992 to 1994 and had an msrp of $2450. I did blind A/B switching between the DVP642 and CDX-10000 using the source selector on the PDP-3. Two presses of the selector button selected either the DVP642 or the CDX-10000. Level balancing was done by slightly reducing the gain on the CDX-10000.
The test results: the CDX-10000 won, but the results were much closer than I would have guessed. In blind A/B switching I picked the CDX-10000 100% of the time as the clearer and more pleasing sounding source. The DVP642 surprised me by sounding very good. The DVP642 sounded slightly veiled (apologies for using that overused "audiophile" term) and the imaging was less crisp than the CDX-10000. I have a hard time believing that an inexpensive DVD player can sound so good even through an external DAC.