Sksfreund,
Sorry to keep you waiting but I haven't been back to A'gon since a couple days after I last wrote you - I caught that flu that's been going around. Now to try and answer your questions...
So, (deep breath) how do I know that the surface the Maverick was sitting on was "vibrating in time with the midbass exciting a resonance in the player's shell, which in turn constantly engaged the uber-sensitive skip protection circuit - causing the player to consistently sound cheap & BAD"? Simple, all I needed was a little background info. about how cd players function, my system, a cd, some deductive reasoning and my hands. Cd players have a process of correcting data errors by use of a fast-acting error correction circuit called a "CIRC." This is an acronym for Cross Interleaved Reed (Solomon) Code which is essentially a code that instructs a calculator circuit that turns on and "figures out" or "approximates" what the missing or misread data should (or might) be, combines it with the data-stream and sends this slightly incorrect and more mediocre signal on to the dac. This CAN be difficult to distinguish from a cheap dac (with poor quality parts), data mis-clocking artifacts (jitter) or a mechanically poor transport. It's always best (in high-fi anyway) to avoid a problem rather than try and correct it. I admit that it's difficult to discern, by ear, what the problem is but there are lots of things you can try to figure it out. To check whether I'm right you'll simply need to try the NORDOST Pulsar Points isolators (in particular because I can vouch for them and not neccessarily for others)...they aren't just "audio jewelry" -they really do work! You should hear an immediate increase in clarity and subtle detail simultaneously with decreased -if not completely eliminated- vibration. You can easily feel this vibration with your hands by placing them (your hands, not the isolators) on top of your player and your equipment rack.
You'll (assuming the "quick-fix" isolators don't actually "quick-fix" the problem) then want to go through your ENTIRE SYSTEM, i.e. the source cable, preamp, interconnect, amp. and so on, swapping out components listening for the phenomena to track down the culprit. After all, there's just no way that two players -especially as different as those two are from each other- should sound as similar as you're describing they do. Also, don't forget to pay close attention to the power (line conditioning, power cables, all electrical contacts even the wall socket) as your amplifier could be under strain (not getting enough juice as there may be a faulty, corroded or loose connection somewhere down the line.) Any of these "less than optimal" circumstances could be responsible for your system not having the resolving ability to discern these subtle differences. I can give you loads of useful info. on how to go about this and it's all cheaper than 1 set of isolators - but a LOT MORE work.
Secondly, A-B comparisons are not neccessarily always definitive, among other reasons, because the two cdp's don't actually share the same circuit (although I suspect that the problem would still exist if you swapped inputs on the two players) and because the problem is likely elsewhere in the system. Maybe the particular overall sound that the Cambridge has is similar to the MF but not as detailed. Maybe you are simply hearing bad sound that wasn't present in your MF dealer's listening room - like your particular room's acoustics. A-B comparisons aren't my style, but it would be a simple matter to check this theory of yours out by doing some legwork (since I believe that you don't already have another preamp that you could use to test with.) Just find a hi-fi retailer that wouldn't be opposed to letting you bring your 2 cd players in for a listening session/comparo with their high end cd players and amps. A good retailer wouldn't have a problem with that - as it sounds like you might be really serious about upgrading - a little devious & sneaky, but FREE :). If you have deeper pockets, you could just buy another preamp and bring it home, hook it up test it out and bring it back and get your money back. My retailer has no compunctions about doing that for me. Great hi-fi shops are few and far between however. How serious are you about getting the best out of your stereo? I hope that helped give you some options - short of actually returning the cdp and trying another one. I'm always eager & happy (at least to try) to assist a fellow music/stereo enthusiast...let me know. You don't happen to live in Arizona do you - a second pair of ears might help?
-Best of Regards, Bruce
Ps. If you can, try pulling out your speakers further from the front wall as that will allow you to more easily discover totally hidden or subtle staging nuances like whether a vocalist is standing 6 or 12 feet in front of the percussionist. These subtle details/differences can be the difference between the music sounding real or fake - in the room with you or you in theirs.

bruce30 March 31, 2006 18:51

CDP's often sound similar (especially good ones) and these similarities can be confounding. Before you give up on that player try some isolation. In fact, just try Nordost Pulsar Points. The reason I'm still badgering you about set-up (and isolation in particular) is that I've encountered a similar situation myself: I have an older Rotel player & borrowed a $1500 MusicHall Maverick to "test" what a new higher-end cdp could do for my system (i.e. how much should I allocate for one with my budget.) I was shocked to discover just how infinitesimally small a difference there actually was. I thought "what a frickin' racket this high end cdp market is!" I'm definitely not going to allocate more than $500 for MY source unit! Well, I put my isolators underneath and WHAM!, everything immediately snapped into focus! I swear it sounded like a TOTALLY different player. As it turned out, the surface the cdp was sitting on was vibrating in time with the midbass - exciting a resonance in the player's shell, which in turn constantly engaged the uber-sensitive skip protection circuit - causing the player to consistently sound "cheap & BAD." Maybe I'm WAY OFF BASE here but do think it's possible that MF is using the same anti-skip circuit that Cambridge is using? The differences I've heard between players (optimally set-up) are almost as profound as a new pre/power amp. My point is this: If your set-up is REALLY "not optimal" - you MAY not hear a big difference (or in fact ANY difference) when the music is passing through a cheap circuit DESIGNED to gloss over "potential disc read errors" in order to avoid skipping - likely, you won't hear anything better or indeed different from before (when your last player was -POSSIBLY- constantly in "skip protection mode.") I realize I sound like a butthead but I'm just trying to help out. As for the question of the two players being louder or quieter than each other - MOST cdp's output 2 volts. This is due to compatibility issues with multi-brand consumer product matching. If they (cdp mfrs.) all did totally different output voltages like 5 volts, 1 volt, etc., etc. - consumers could quickly rule their product out for input attenuation reasons. Hey, YOU asked. Just trying to help.

bruce30 March 08, 2006 17:24

Get isolated. I strongly believe there is nothing wrong with your gear - it's the set-up. If you won't/can't get that TV away from your music system...put it on a piece of mdf and put some isolation under it (so it'll reduce the resonating/vibrating of the plastic shell) I'd recommend getting your hands on some decent isolators like Nordost Pulsar Points or Bright Star Audio, etc...and stick 'em under your gear. 90% of a system's sound is due to set up. This means EVERYTHING BESIDES THE GEAR i.e. the choice of the listening room, the placement of electronics in the room out of bass nodes, the isolation of equipment from colliding soundwaves and highly resonant particle board "equipment racks," harsh sidewall reflections from speakers, etc., etc., etc.! ALL OF THIS STUFF ADDS UP. What I'm trying to say is that, YES, your comparison method is most certainly flawed. It's like trying to judge the finer differences between two similar Columbian coffees using dirty cups on different days. Clean-up the set-up. Also, I noticed from the pics you posted, you should think about pulling your speakers out (away from the front & side walls.) Speakers "come alive" when you decrease their interaction with room boundaries. The farther out they are, the less the soundstage is compressed, the more distinct images "appear."

Try this: If your bass sounds good where the speakers currently stand - measure this distance from the front wall (wall behind the speakers) to the speaker's baffle (the part of the enclosure that the woofer & tweeter are mounted to) and multiply by 2. Move your speakers out to that distance and listen for a 1/2 hour AT LEAST. Then toe-in or out both speakers listening to simple/familiar acoustic music with a centralized voice. If the image is too sharp or solid (compared with other instruments/vocals on the soundstage) then you've toed-in too much. If the center image is fuzzy and dull then apply more toe-in. The more symmetrical the speakers are with each other the more cohesive/realistic they'll sound. This technique will also help the speakers to "disappear" sonically - if not decoratively. You may be thinking "Yeah, but my wife isn't going agree to that." Well, most of the rest of us have those too, that's why we just put a piece of tape on the floor (to mark the spots) for the times we aren't listening to tunes - or better yet, a listening room. ------>Have fun!!! :)

bruce30 February 22, 2006 05:25

I vote for the Rega Planet.

bruce30 October 16, 2005 23:52

For God's Sake...get an LCD or Plasma to hang on the wall. That clunky tv is mutilating your center image and undoubtedly ruining the bass clarity/definition. You might also consider (after you buy-or remove altogether-the tv) spending some money on a decent equipment rack. To see if I'm exaggerating you should try 1) moving all the gear to the floor. 2) take the television set and OUT of the room- completely. 3) move the speakers out and AWAY from the walls. 4) Listen and be AMAZED at just how bad it was before. Sorry for my "slightly irrate" tone but a stereo (like yours) is a terrible thing to waste! Best of Regards, Bruce30

bruce30 September 01, 2005 08:24