A Low Cost Pleasant Sounding Used CD Player?

This might suit you:

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/onkc7030/onkyo-c-7030-compact-single-disc-player/1.html?gad_source=4&gad_campaignid=17336934381&gbraid=0AAAAAD_tMtJ4xAMm1XAxFwJ_PPhY0qXoZ&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjo7DBhCrARIsACWauSk5dJk1L0W3v4kbwl8sM2ZT07w0B7AXrCeUiDHgI4E-PrxURn_-O38aAiG0EALw_wcB

The Tascam 200 is also a nice player for a couple of hundred more. This might be an option as well, good luck!

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/dendcd600ne/denon-dcd-600ne-cd-player-with-al32-processing/1.html

Thank you for your suggestions! 

You are most welcome. Good luck with the hunt!

I'm very happy with Rotel CD11 Tribute...also Marantz CD6006 ...

Used. Pioneer Elite DV-37.  Used to carry $1000 but now sub $100 you could pick up a decent looking one from eBay.  Sound pretty good especially digi-out to a capable external dac.

So many suggestions, thank you. (Yes, I would be using an external DAC.)

If using an external DAC consider a transport.
If redbook CD’s is all you have a Shanling ET-3 is less than $1k.
Yes I own one. 

Jolida 100A

Well reviewed years ago.  I've had one for years and no complaints.  Responds well to tube rolling. 

I’ve had good success with my Rotel CD player and there are used ones available online.  

Cambridge CXC great low cost transport 

I have Audiolab 6000cdt. Decent transport. Very affordable on a used market. 

I have a Marantz CD6006, Pioneer Elite DV-45A, and NAD C542 sitting in boxes.  I've never directly compared them. 

I had the Marantz in my main system for a while. It got excellent reviews.  I'd say it's nice for the money, but on the warm side in my opinion.  Might be perfect if your system is a tad bright. 

My Denon DCD-1700NE was a big step up, but probably not in the low cost category. 

hbarrel: transport only might be the best bang for the buck. (I bought the Majik because the transport mechanism was machined in Scotland by Linn!)

At the risk of sounding trite, what does it sound like?

Thanks for another good idea... 

@tsampa better than all the CD players I have owned. Replaced a highly rated Sony NS. Noticeably improved my system. Originally purchased because my DAC only had a USB input. And the Shanling had USB out. I have no regrets.  

I would like to suggest that when a Shortlist is produced or a CDP is selected that is looking to be your Objective to acquire, furthering the investigation is done prior to the purchase.

Used CDP's can live on for a  very ling time if the Part are available to support them when required. Some Models are valued and up to date parts are discovered by advocates that are exchangeable.

It will not take long to learn how a CDP Model can be kept in its finest working fettle.

The Linn Majik may be discovered to be repairable without Linn involved?

https://www.hifikabin.me.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4282

For under $200 you can get a new universal disk transport from Sony which plays CD, SACD, Bluray and 4K including a vast range of audio formats including multi-channel and Dolby Atmos.  You get two HDMI outputs, one purely for audio.  Don't even bother comparing the purpose-built HDMI with USB ...

buy a used Rega Saturn and replace the laser  you will love the sound.

Happy Listening

Good suggestions above.  Let me suggest another way to go.  If you have a DAC then you can use a CD Transport.  You can also use a CD optical player that when attached to a hard drive can rip your CDs or can just play them when attached to a DAC.

 My NAS is a Melco N 100.  I use the Melco optical device primarily to rip CDs but every now and then I just play it from the device.  I’ve done the same thing with Apple Optical devices.

  The OP said he rarely plays his CDs, so if he is interested in ripping them to a server an optical device that both plays and rips might make sense

I have had good results from NAD CD players from the early 2000's like the the CD 521 BEE or even the earlier CD 520. They sound good via their native DAC's or as transports. Unfortunately, prone to failures and burnt out displays. Also Rotel's from the same era such as the RCD 951 are good transports. The native DAC's are less listenable (except for HDCD's) but they are built like tanks.

I also have had excellent results with NAD CD players. I still have one in my secondary system. They are smooth sounding, no digital glare. I also enjoyed my Rega Apollo-R, again very smooth. I would have kept it, but when I reconfigured my system, there was no room to accommodate the top loading lid.  

@tsampa Do have SACD cds or planning to buy them?

Regrettably, I don't have any SACDs, though I am very curious to hear one on a decent player.

Richardbrand: Are you suggesting something like a SONY UBP-X800 universal player?

 I have the The Marantz Professional PMD-326C it is a well-regarded commercial CD player known for its high-performance features and versatility, particularly in professional settings like retail, education, and hospitality. It supports CD playback, USB thumb drives with MP3 files, and has a 3.5mm AUX input for other audio devices. Key features include front panel lock, power-on play, direct track access, memory of settings after power loss, and balanced XLR outputs. You can get these under $200, I think I paid $100 and like you I only use once in a while and it sounds good to me. The only draw back is there's no power on/off on the remote, You'd have to turn on/off on the unit , or I hooked mine up to a smart plug controlled by Alexa which it works good.

+1 on the Onkyo C-7030...excellent sounding player!

Also, the Rotel RCD-1072 is wonderful.

Oppo used lower model

See if you can find a Parasound.  Their DAC's and CD players always sounded really sweet to me. 

A lot of the CD players will play newer [post 2000] CD's well but not the older ones.  If you are like alot of us here, we have a bunch of old ones we wish would sound better than they do.  One brand that does is Musical Fidelity.  I have two of them now.

Lots of good suggestions above.

Another vote for OPPO 103, and 203

Onkyo C-7030

Another vote for the Cambridge Audio CXC transport.  I bought an new Open Box unit about a year ago, best $400 I've spent on audio in years.  Like you, I don't play CD's often, but when I do I want good sound.  The CXC checked all the boxes.  Happy shopping.

What DAC are you using?

Might be better to go with a CD player VS a transport depending on what it is.

Also, what is the budget?

DeKay

I'd second the Audiolab 6000cdt. Great transport for little money on used or new market.

Luxman D-N150 

you should be able to snag one for under $1500 used. 
I’ve owned my which I bought used for about 3 years now 

Also it rivals a Luxman PD -150 table with Lyra Kleos SL 

analog front end. All made in Japan so should be pretty reliable 

You know, saying low cost really doesn’t mean anything. You should state your specific budget.  That said, given what you’re looking for I’d look right to Marantz.  Personally I wouldn’t wanna buy a used CD player because you have no idea how many hours the laser/transport have on them.  I’d buy from here…

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/cdplayer/home-audio/audio-components/cd-sacd-players/1.html

Best of luck. 

@tsampa 

Are you suggesting something like a SONY UBP-X800 universal player

I was thinking of the even cheaper X700 universal transport!  Not something you would want to show off to your mates, but it does a remarkably good job of getting the bits off the disk and down the HDMI cables.  The remote is extremely basic, for example you cannot use it to directly select a track by its number, and its build quality is cheap!

Do you have a DAC?

Says in the 6th post in this thread that he has a DAC.

I have the Oppo BDP-103 Onkyo 7030 and the Cambridge CXC, and aside from the CXC being solely a transport there is a large and notable improvement in quality (clarity, soundstage) between the three - with the CXC a clear winner, the Oppo very close behind and the Onkyo taking a distant third. 

The CXC is a little more sensitive to disc quality and I found it lagged behind my new DAC (Pontus 15th) - which was demanding a better timed output than the CXC can manage.  Still, below $500, these are all decent options.  I now run a Jay’s Audio CDT2 (zero timing issues), an order of magnitude improvement over the CXC - huge leap - but comes at a stiff price.  Oppo is a workhorse but all are old and used now.

I’m confused.  You ask for a CD player but then say you’ll be using a DAC. Which is it?  With a DAC I’d be looking at the Shanling ET3 that gets good reviews, but I’d look into reliability because I think I’ve seen it has had some problems. Whichever way you go, best of luck. 

soix: I feel a bit on the defence - sorry for your confusion but I was initially looking for reccomendations of a simple replacement CD player until someone suggested using just a transport, which is possible since I own a DAC.

For a couple of CDs a month though, the Shanlin is a tad pricey, certainly if reliability might be an issue. (Been there, done that - à la Linn!) I was thinking of something around $500 used. The Sony transport might be a good bet as it gives me a wide variety of media formats to explore. 

Thanks to everyone for taking my request to heart and sharing their personal favourites.

I have a couple of Musical Fidelity CD players that I bought inexpensively used and sound nice and detailed.The most I paid was $500.00 for a big beast , the A5, their cd player from some time ago. I am not using them now, but you could do worse. If my current option failed me, I'd switch back to the MF's without hesitation.

Best of luck out there. You have many options to choose from.

The Cambridge CXC Transport is often available direct from Cambridge as a refurb at a great price. The V1 and V2 of the CXC are sonically identical...for 1 or 2 CD's a month, an old DVD player as a transport sometimes can work great...

Sorry, I didn’t mean to be accusatory at all but was just confused but you cleared it up. My bad for not understanding.  I wish you the best of luck in finding a good transport. 

Sony or Pioneer Elite. Look for a good transport (CD spinning system/design)

Whatever the OP chooses, he might want to research whether the laser mechanism can be replaced if it fails. There are a number of good CD players and transports out there, wherein the laser mechanism is no longer available. Essentially guaranteeing a boat anchor if the laser fails. 

What DAC have you been using with the LINN?

DeKay

I have a Sony UBP-X800M2 that I use for video (movies and concert videos). It works well for that, but I don't like it for sacd or cd playback.  Unless something is wrong with mine (I don't think there is), there is no display on the unit.  You have to use a TV to see what's playing, etc.  Some folks might be OK with that. 

This subject has been touched on many times, with interesting responses in the past.  I'll add my $0.02 worth.  You said previously that you had an external DAC so, here we go.

Back in the day, Sony and Pioneer had their wars and the competition was fierce.  Sony's ES units were powerhouses and built very well.  Same was true for the particular Pioneer Elite units.  When people moved to DVD players they forgot about CDs and the stupidly expensive Pioneer Elite units were forgotten by some (not all).  These things had a build quality that ensured that Pioneer didn't make a lot of money because, wow.  Take a look at Sykfiaudio's videos on the Pioneer Elite PD-93.  Look at how that thing was built.  Well many of the Pioneer Elite units were built that same way.  Everything was copper plated, including the capacitors. Separate power supplies for analog and digital.

If you can find one, buy it.  Same is true for the PD-65, PD71, PD91 and also for the DV-09 and BDP09.  

For a transport only, you can't beat a DV-09, BDP09 or BD95.  They are really cheap now because the world went to Blue ray.  But as a transport.  Wow.  The DV-09 weighs about 35 lbs, 

I have many, since I repair them, (long story), but I recently found a mint PD-93 that I've been looking for.  I have an Audio Research REF10 preamp and a DAC 9, but the PD-93 analog out sounds quite nice.  Same is true for the BDP09 and BD95, PD-65, etc.  But as transports only.  you would be hard pressed to beat these units into a quality DAC and they only costs a few hundred.  

The Sony ES units are equally nice.

My suggestion is take a quick look at Skifi audio's web site and videos.  They really know their stuff and just look at the units.  8/10/2022, if you find one of these buy, buy, buy series.  

I'm an Engineer and Tech also, but when I look at these units on the videos and how they are built, amazing.

good hunting.

enjoy

The early Pioneer SACD/DVD-Audio/DVDs suffered from the "chroma bug."  I had one and the shop spent 3 months trying to fix this inherent design flaw.  It would also insert "extra space" where it shouldn’t be.  It used to bug the heck out of me when the Wasted Time reprise (Eagles) took too long to come back.  They never could fix these design flaws and I got a refund.

I replaced it with the Yamaha SACD, which did not have the bug.  This was interesting in that the SACD and DVD-Audio were like separate entities (IIRC, different licencing back in the day) with the SACD having better specs.

I still have this unit, but later bought an Oppo-95, which does sound better.  When I rewired my house with a dedicated 20 amp, 8-gauge line, the background noise/grit on the Yamaha improved.  But the Oppo seemed to stay the same, most likely owing to its better power supply.

BTW, a nice, used Oppo-95 will set you back $300-$400.  The 105/105D can go for $500-$1,500 and a 205 can hit $2,500.  From a sound standpoint, they are pretty much the same with the improvements being in things like 3D viewing.

No Pioneer Elite unit that i listed above suffered from that flaw. Just saying.

enjoy