A Low Cost Pleasant Sounding Used CD Player?

My goodness - what a wonderful outpouring of suggestions, experience and wisdom! Many thanks to everyone who has responded. 

I have a few requests out on Hifi Shark, so will wait patiently until something of appeal turns up. I'll let you know!

Thank you again - to all!

Phillips CD-80 if you can find one

Look for refurbished gear. I have a Yamaha CD S 3000 refurbished.

I had a refurbished Onkyo 7030 and it was quite reliable, in fact it was from accessories4less also. Then I bought a Rotel CD-11 Tribute and prefer the sound from Ken Ishiwatas creation. Never had a problem with either CD player and their at reasonable price.

I had an old ca. 1986 Sony ES 5-Disc change that got a lot of play until it finally dies around 2003. It was hefty at about 24 pounds, and read discs very well. Unfortunately, it only had a toslink digital out. I remedied that by inserting a $200 Monarchy 24/96 re-clocking device between the transport and a Theta Data Basic IIIA D/A converter, that I bought on Audiogon for $650. From the Monarchy to the D/A I used AES EBU digital interconnect, with excellent results. Shortly after the Sony died of old age, the Theta took a lightning strike. So now I have an Emotiva ERC-4 CD player which is also built very solidly for $600. I'd love to try it as a transport, but haven't acquired a new D/A yet. I cannot say any direct comparisons, b/c I had too many variables in the system at that time, but think the Emotiva would make a great transport only.

If you just need a transport, I would not worry about which model; "the sound" of a digital reader is beyond comical. 

As you are budget-constrained, I would focus on gap-less playing (may depend a bit on what you listen to), regardless of whether it is a CD player (with internal DAC) or transport-only. If you like price-look-formfactor of something you see, check reviews re gapless playing. Most CD players have a digital out (check!), so if you want to maximize flexibility down the road, maybe get CD player and use digital out to your DAC.

Another thing to consider is that a "transport" by its very nature is "audiophile" targeted, therefore, likely overpriced for what it is. On second hand market, there are WAY more CD players than transports, which will also have effect on price/value.

I had a couple NAD CD players and have enjoyed them over the years. The last one I had was C 525 BEE. You should be able to pick up one pretty inexpensively.

I have been able to listen to a few CD's of the same models, produced in Japan and Sold as a Japanese Brand CDP or as a British Brand Sold under the guise the Product is produced in the UK?

Where the demo's of these CDP's has been of interest, is I have heard them A/B Compared as a OEM Model and Modified Model.

I can only state, that a Modified Model has been a standout for the improvements that have been created, a particular Sony Modified CDP was the go to CDP on many a listening session when at the home of the individual doing modifications.

At a later date, a Standalone Bespoke Built Valve DAC was used with the OEM Sony CDP and compared to the same Model undergone modifications. The situation of old immediately changed the OEM Sony through the DAC outshone the other CDP with immediacy. The modifier was quite shocked , but quite pleased to have learned a very easy solution to advance in performance quality an Olden Era CDP.  

I like the Rega CD Players. They're top loading, so you could use a Herbies CD mat with it.

I hate say it, but at a recent CD player shootout, the cheap $69 unit competed with. The more expensive units. YMMV

Excuse me, that should be $500 instead of $600

tsampa

Audiolab 6000CDT is a really good CD transport, as long as you have a DAC.....$599 on Amazon right now brand new

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

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.

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

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. 

What DAC have you been using with the LINN?

DeKay

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. 

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

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. 

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...

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.

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’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. 

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.

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

Do you have a DAC?

@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!

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. 

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 

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

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

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.

Onkyo C-7030

Lots of good suggestions above.

Another vote for OPPO 103, and 203

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.

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

Oppo used lower model

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

Also, the Rotel RCD-1072 is wonderful.

 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.

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?

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

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.  

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.

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

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

Happy Listening

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 ...

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

@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.  

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...