"Sathyan Sundaram" wrote in message
om
Can you recommend an entry-level ($400 or less, used is fine)
HDCD-capable external stereo DAC? It will be used with a Pioneer
DV-563 as transport. Either Optical or Coaxial is fine. The overall
system is mass market HT (Onkyo electronics, KLH speakers, Radio Shack
interconnects) so audiophile-grade is not necessary. At present I
can't listen to HDCD's as HDCD's. Redbooks sound a bit veiled and
lacking final definition in imaging. (I didn't notice this until
listening to SACD's) Or am I better off getting a Cambridge Audio
dedicated CD player (500SE)?

I recommend that you forget about HDCD. If you have some and they play
off-level it would make more sense to rip them on a computer, fix the tracks
up with a digital editor, and burn CD-Rs unless you have lots of them. This
medium was always a solution looking for a problem. Now, its been obsolesced
by DVD-A and SACD, both of which are probably on their way to a nearby part
of oblivion.