hard drive/networked hifi vs CDs for classical music

[tgr]

I am considering options for investing in a system for listening to classical music. I had imagined some second-hand naim equipment e.g. cd player, pre-amp, power amp, headphone amp, suitable floor standers.

Set against this I wondered whether modern technological solutions are at the stage where they reach the same levels of sound quality. I am aware that naim is also getting into this area but am unsure of how their products compare to their cd players. (naim is just an example to illustrate the type of system, I am not particularly wedded to them).

Could anyone offer any advice? One relevant point is that my broadband connection is a bit flaky and I wouldn't like to rely on it for music. A multi-room solution is not necessarily required although I'm happy if it is an added bonus provided the main function is achieved i.e. super sound quality in the main living room for solo piano, chamber music, orchestral and opera.

Sorry for the rambling post, as you can see I don't really know what I'm talking about but I hope that's clear!

tg

[tgr]

Thanks both, food for thought.

I imagine the broadband speed/stability would be relevant for Spotify, which might be another option although I have no idea about its classical coverage or its sound quality

[tgr]

theboss said:

There are plenty of high-end streamers with good DACs which will rival or exceed the capabilities of any CD player and this is in pure audio terms

Thank you all for your comments.

Boss

A naim dealer I visited had a naim hard drive hooked up to naim amplification and sonus faber speakers and it sounded great, but I am a novice at this and didn't really know what I was looking/listening for. He compared the same track to one on CD and I didn't notice any difference.

He then recommended getting one over a high end CD player but I was dubious - you nevertheless agree I take it?

[tgr]

Thanks a lot everyone for their posts. Boiling it down, the advice seems to be that a hard drive will probably be better than a high end cd player as a source. I'm guessing that the main manufacturers (Naim, Linn, Meridian etc) all have their versions.

I'm still not sure I understand what streaming/networked systems will offer the best sound - in my basic mind the hard drive simply replaces the cd player and that I can cope with. What am I missing?

Ideally my music collection could be played back both in the lounge and the kitchen at the other end of the house

[tgr]

theboss said:

I don't know much about Naim or Meridians offerings - I believe they offer streamers with built-in hard disks as 'all in one' solutions - but Linn and most other manufacturers have developed streamers as strictly standalone devices with any data storage being external and accessed via standard networking technologies e.g. ethernet or WiFi.

There are pros and cons of each approach - generally simplicity vs flexibility.

Another stupid question then: how does one judge the quality of the streamer bit (either of an all in one or a separate)? Where is the quality of the reproduction coming from - the hard disk or the streamer? It seems to me that the more separates you have the more difficult it is to judge what is really making the difference to the sound (though you could say that about 'normal' hifi too I suppose