CD Player Recommendations…

You'll want a decent player, maybe a Cambridge 851C? 

Rotel rcd1572
 Bryston bcd 3

jsbach1685
CD Player Recommendations…

 With that nice amp and speakers, go with something that has R2R Multibit conversion to give "bit perfect" replay of cd’s

Use the search and look for a new/used unit here that use the best of the older R2R chips which are the PCM1702 (great) and PCM1704 (best) Burr brown chips.
http://vasiltech.narod.ru/CD-Player-DAC-Transport.htm

Cheers George

BUDGET?

Budget is up to $1,000.  Thanks for the suggestions. On the Cambridge 851, I’ve read that it’s a bit harsh?? Perhaps the 840? Also, anyone using an A308 integrated with the matching A308CR CD player? Thanks George for the link.

"...On the Cambridge 851, I’ve read that it’s a bit harsh?? Perhaps the 840?..."

I've never heard any Cambridge player that was harsh. I run an 840 on my main system and it sounds great. 

Hi Russ69,
Harsh may have been the wrong word. Reviews indicate more full and punchy vs the 840’s more refined, smooth and detailed presentation. The 840 may be a nice match to complement the 308. 

The 851C is superior to.the 840C in everyway imaginable. Had the 840C for many years, upgraded to the 851C and have this player for the last 8 years. The 840C is a good player, but be careful as some of the older ones had some cheap (bad) capacitors which WILL cause player failure. Mine included. Cost about $100 to be repaired and a months down time for repair and shipping both ways.

CD players with chips from Texas Instruments, Burr Brown, Wolfson, and in-house are some of the best.

Each CD player will have different sonic benefits. Detail retrieval, bass accuracy, midrange transparency, and treble resolution can translate differently on any number of CD players. Along with this, transient response is important. If your CD player sounds "slower" on certain songs and "very fast" on others, it's doing something right.

Most DACs would gloss over timing irregularities - unless they were high-end.

My suggestion would be going for a CD player that  was designed with the intent of reproducing the original sound. A component like this will challenge the rest of your set up. You will know if it's time for an upgrade after that.

Just search for "designed with the intent of reproducing the original sound"

@fuzztone

Have you not heard of the terms "reference" or reference-grade?" 

lol I should have just said above...my bad.

jsbach1685 OP
Thanks George for the link.

If your going CD only as the title says, look carefully at the conversion process.

For CD Redbook replay (which is PCM) 16/44 24/96 or DXD, the only dac process that convert it "bit perfect" are your "R2R Multibit" dac chips or the new discrete R2R multibit ones, (which don’t come in one box cd players that I’ve seen, only dacs)

All other "Delta Sigma" dac chip conversion processes (1bit, single bit, bitstream, ess, wofson, etc etc ) can only give a "facsimile" of PCM it can never be "bit perfect" like R2R, but they do do online streaming sacd, dsd, if your into it. (I’m not, too much compressed re-issues from them)

Cheers George

Marantz

If you can find a good used california audio labs cd player you should try one

Yes in that list I posted in my fist post, the Cal Labs  CL-10, CL-15, and CL-20 all used the PCM1702 R2R dac chip and the PMD100 hdcd filter chip. I had 2 x CL-15's in the past great units.

Cheers George

Suggest you take a look at the Marantz CD6007.  I'm on my second Marantz disc spinner and they are musical drawing you into the music.  From your posts, it should mate well with your system.https://www.marantz.com/en-us/product/cd-players/cd6007

Also own a Cambridge 851C. Far from harsh but it’s not dead sounding either so if you play very poor recordings, well you get it. I run Synergistic Black fuses (was current at the time) with WyWires power cord. Listened to the CAL’s from the past and the more current Marantz players and they’re very good but I’ll keep the Cambridge. Had a brief home audition with the 840 as a local shop had a used one in so I took it home; still a nice player but not as revealing as the 851C. My 851C sounds much better than my stock Oppo 205 as well. Was using the DAC only in the 851C with a streamer which sounded wonderful but latter went to an RME DAC. If you’re only looking for a CDP/DAC, the 851C is a great player for the money. Very flexible player if you want to also plug a streamer into or go direct to amp. Fuses and power cords will make a nice improvement as well. Also, if you have a balanced preamp or amp (going direct) it does sound best balanced out. Lastly my 851C sits on Daedalus DiD’s isolation feet which improves things even more. It’s a wonderful player if properly set up.

+1 on the Rotel RCD1572 Cd player I currently have 2 of them one in silver and 1 in black, you can find them for $800.00 to $950.00 if you look for sales.You might also want to look for a used SimAudio Moon 360D, I was able to pick up a demo for around $1,300.00

nothing good can be bought for 1000 ... money wasted ... save at least 3000-5000 and buy a used player of a higher class ... you must definitely hear the sound yourself before buying

Onkyo C-7030.  Proves very good sound does not have to cost over 1000.  

Bel Canto CD1 or Primare CD32. I've owned both & they're excellent. You should be able to find either for under $1k...

In that budget I would purchase Quad CD player

infection

Do you still own the CD32 ? If not, did you upgrade to a different player?

Happy Listening!

Does Rega still make CD players?  I once owned a Rega Apollo that went for about a grand and was smooth, refined, and polite, possibly what the OP was interested in.  I haven’t heard much about their digital side in the last several years

" nothing good can be bought for 1000 ... money wasted ... "

In audio as in life I suppose.  Cars, hookers, fancy meals, Lakers' tickets, concerts ...

With a little patience you can pick up an Oppo 105 <$1000, which also plays SACD/DVD-A and even movies. Then, on Ebaye you can buy aftermarket Linear Power Modules from ~ $200 up. One of the companies even provides excellent pictures to walk you through (hey I did it) also get the Furutech IEC with silver jumper to the power supply board and the jumper to bypass the 110/220 switch. Once complete leave the top off. I bought a $4 air con filter to keep junk out

hth

Hi jfant,
 I never had a CD32. what brand? 
Hi folks,Thanks for all the suggestions folks. My previous cd player was a cambridge cxc going into an arcam irdac. I still have the irdac as i use it for streaming, however, the cxc (with irdac) made everything sound a little too full and bloomy. Add that to the 308’s fuller sound and f30’s forward mids, and it was a little overkill. Hence, i sold the cxc to get a standalone cdp; as cd is still my reference. In fact, i use streaming to discover new music, then buy the disc! 

I just ordered a Bryston BCD-3. In your price range I would look at the  Rega Apollo.

Rega Apollo R:  Mine has been on the shelf for a few years but has exactly the sonic qualities the OP is looking for.

I've owned the Rega Saturn-R for about 4 years and find it to be a fantastic unit. They are $2995 MSRP and you can find good used ones for about half that amount. At the used price, I find it to be a great value, having all around great sound, plus the functionality of DAC inputs for use with a streamer, TV, or whatever other digital sources you may have.

While I have a Saturn and its just tremendous with (two?) WM8740 chips. It was pretty expensive new. I have no need for multiple formats, USB, digital output etc.

These days I’d probably go for something more modest. The Rega Apollo has a (upgraded) Wolfson chip, like the Saturn, and would be perfectly sufficient.

A while ago I noticed someone deciding upon a Yamaha CD player.  Because they also make musical instruments.  I don't endorse that logic.

Find a used Marantz hd cd-1. It's a unique compact cd player that can also serve as a transport. I use mine with a Border Patrol dac. It sounds great.

After about a year of research, reviews, talking in-store with folks, Quad Artera Play+
https://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/artera-play-2/
Built like a truck. Unbelievably quiet. Rivals any other source I feed my system. 
You'll never look back. The only negative is the remote / onscreen is cludgy and will require you stay close to the manual. The good news is, I emailed them with a particular questions and they responded overnight. Impressive. 

@noske  - Just curious, do you have the original Rega Saturn, or the later Saturn-R? Mine is the later.

@audioguy85

+1on the HDCD-1. Built like a tank, smooth as silk drawer. It's my back up

I just bought a used Rage Apollo (original version) at $200. Good SQ. I still have a lot CDs so I guess I still need a spinner.

@reubent I have the original Saturn. After more than a decade, recently it has started skipping on the first track of a CD. I have read this is nothing serious, just needs perhaps some maintenance on the mechanism. Early models had some soldering issues which were promptly addressed by Rega. If this, nothing that a competent technician can’t easily fix.

My amp is a Sansui 555A. Recently totally refurbished according to the Leestereo design specs at audiokarma. 

Divine. Sonic beauty.

I can see some better specs and other things with the newer R model, and that is tremendous. I can’t really comment on the newer models not having heard them.

@dabel  Yes, I wasn’t meaning to comment on Yamaha as such. I use a Yamaha tuner every day, the t-85, made around 1986. Its splendid.

Probably needs the lid lifted for a look at the caps etc, and some other stuff that tuners need after all this time - alignment? That’s probably something that can be only be done by a specialist techy. I digress...

jsbach1685

The CD32 is made by Primare.  This player was a complete over-haul in comparison to older models. There are a few reviews out there.

Happy Listening!

@jafant  the CD32 is long gone but I certainly enjoyed using it. Great value on the used market. I went to Ayon after that...I'm now using CXC transport with W4S Anniversary DAC which is a fantastic combo.

infection

Thank you for the follow up. I have not heard an Ayon spinner.
The CXC transport is highly regarded around the Audio forums.

How does the Ayon and CXC stack up against a Primare?

Happy Listening!

The venerable Yamaha CD-S1000 is a well built and good sounding CD/SACD player. Not the most immediate sounding player but it’s presentation will always serve the music. Think sum of the parts rather than individual parts.

I like emotiva cr3 but they have a newer model the cr4.

I have a Sony DVP-NS999ES with ModWright modifications that include a tube output stage.  It's a nice unit that sounds very good and doubles as a DVD player.  These can be found for about $1K in the used market.

Hi,

I’m also in the market for a CD player, haven’t owned that many of them over the years.  
Here’s my cd evolution for the most part:

AMC CD6 (1 bit player)
Proceed PCD2 (shoulda never sold)
Audio Alchemy DDS3
Oppo DV 970 (owned the longest)
Rotel RCD855 
Cambridge Azur 840C

Of the last 2, the Rotel was really smooth and enjoyable.  I felt the Azur was too clinical sounding in comparison but I was not using it with XLR’s which they recommended.  I later came to really enjoy the Azur.

The Azur stopped reading discs :( so I just sold it.  I loved the fact that I could hook up my Bluesound to it & use the upsampling DAC on the back of it.

I’m moving overseas to Israel next week & will be bringing a Linn Majik I (orig shoe box sized) and a Meridian 551 (to match my 504 tuner) with 2 pair of small Brit monitors (ProAc Super Tablettes & Monitor Audio R700 MD).  Anyone have any experience with Meridian CD players?  I wonder how they stack up?

There’s an Israeli retailer close by to where I’ll be living who wants $21-2300 for a Meridian 507, that’s worth like $750 everywhere else in the world.  Probably cheaper to buy something in Europe & have it shipped?

I also will be looking for a DAC for my Node 2i.  A friend of mine really likes this Maverick tube DAC even though it’s only 24/96.  I dug the Rotel which was only 16 bits too :) 

Look forward to hearing your thoughts

A 2nd hand Meridian G08.2 is a wonderful player. I found mine for approx. €1150 in 2014.
Slightly matte (but hifi sounds often too bright compared to the concert), and laid-back => should match your needs.Very good D/A conversion, renders a full-bodied, natural sound. Rips the CD on-the-fly, stores the bits in a ROM, then converts them brilliantly.

The only snag: uses a slot-loader. That ugly thing had been introduced by Steve Jobs on the MAC, so all the hifi industry jumped in the bandwagon. The slot produced extremely tiny micro-abrasions on the poly-carbonate layer of my CDs (not "scratches", sthg ways lighter that could be seen only under the light of desk LED lamp, under a particular angle).