The tray mechanism opening and closing is the single most often repaired item. The rest rarely goes south. IF you have a good repair facility near you, Replacing this one item may happen to you one day. It's not a killer expensive part to have replaced. I don't buy any component new anymore as you can get much better sound for your money being used. Just pay attention to a seller's feedback and try to stay with those sellers that have 100% positive feedback.
By the way, the MW Sony 9000 I wrote about was over $3000 new with the MW mods. Much of the MW's have upgraded parts and things done to make a standard 9000 sound considerably better.
Bob
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Get yourself a Teac PD-H600 and enjoy !!
worth 2-3 times many at its msrp..
will bring out the best and worst in your cd’s
simple, solid, absolutely quiet operating
I’ve many Flac cd’s and it doesn’t get cleaner that this
Research past reviews... if you can find one it’s a keeper. |
Wow, lots of great suggestions. One question becomes "How old is too old?" I see there's a division between transport-only and regular players. |
I'm old school and prefer the sound of the ancient TDA1541 chip.
Many manufacturers used this chip, I've got several players that utilize it, and would also say to find something with an old school Phillips transport.
My stable currently;
Rotel RCD 855
Magnavox 460
ReVox B226
These can all be had for less than 1k
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A little more than you list (but can get used about your price when they are available)
Innuos zen mini ($1250)
Can load all your CD into the zen and stream from your phone. Buy used CD, download and sell back for more CDs. Can stream thru it. has USB to do other sources. Can upgrade to linear power supply in future. |
Here are a few CD players that I've owned that were all very good. My system consists of Krell amplification and Thiel CS6 speakers.
Marantz SA8005 - This player does both CDs and SACDs. I bought it used for around $800. It's been well reviewed and sounds very good.
Marantz SA8004 - I owned this before the 8005. It also sounded very good and I believe this model made the Class A designation by Stereophile. I bought the 8005 because it had a few improvements over the 8004 (bigger power supply, etc.) and it was the end of the series. Both models performed flawlessly and Marantz will stock replacement transports for the foreseeable future. It might take some patience to find these models on the used market because they are very desirable.
Emotiva ERC-3 - I had this player along with the Marantz SA8005 because it played HDCDs (I have over 100). I compared the Emotiva on regular CDs with the Marantz and they were so close that I'm not sure I could distinguish the difference in a blind test. These cost only about $350 used but are very desirable and hard to find. Mine sold within a day of putting it on sale. I replaced this player with a vintage Krell KAV CD 250/2 because I collect vintage Krell gear but I miss that Emotiva player.
Denon DVD-3800BDCI - This is a Blu Ray, DVD, and CD player. It sold new for around $2k but now they go for a couple hundred bucks. This is a very well built player. I wouldn't recommend this as your only player but if you want to be able to play Blu Ray audio disks this is a good 2nd player to have. |
Arcam CD37 is a great SACD and CD player. When they come up used they are under your price. |
If you are looking to only spend around $700.00 then you might want to go with a Rotel RCD-1572.
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I have an Onkyo C-7030. I think it's fine...more than fine considering it was under $200. It has an optical and coax digital out if you want to use a separate DAC. Thought about going for the slightly more $ Marantz machines, but I'm happy with the Onkyo.
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If, like me, you could get lucky and find a used Modwright either Sony, Oppo, Marantz, of Denon, at of near your price, you would have a really great sounding CD that you could use for a long time. You will have the best chance of finding the Denon, Sony or Opportunity units used. It will be the equal or better of extremely expensive machines--read that as ones over $3000 or more new. I got a Modwright Sony 9000 used for $695 and was floored when I heard it. I've had 2 different models of Modwright Sony since and I still use the MW Sony 5400. It has a beautiful like analog sound together with very good dynamic ability and clarity. The MW's have become a little more expensive and desirable on the used market in the past several years so finding one like I did will take some patience. However, you will have a player that will take a backseat in sound to very few units and none at this price. Dan Wright, the designer, stands behind his products even if you bought used from someone else.
Bob
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I also went through the same thing a year ago. I do enjoy physical media...I feel like it engages me in the music more...since I have to get up and put the disk in and change disks. I listen to more full albums that way and just enjoy the ritual of it...same as my TT. I settled on a Marantz ND8006. They can be had refurb for around $800. But that includes a great DAC with USB input and HEOS Streaming (horrible interface, but the SQ is spectacular). I moved my Node2i to another room because I liked streaming direct to the ND better. I would not hesitate to recommend the CD6006. No streaming or additional DAC inputs, but I would imagine the CD mechanism is the same/similar. NAD makes a couple of models in your price range as well. Good luck and hope this helps. |
I bought a NAD C538 but I use an outboard dac though the dac in it isn't to bad. I just needed something to use occasionally I mostly stream. |
Itsjustme I have certainly not ruled out streaming and in fact I am certain I will continue to do streaming. But I like the simplicity of playing CDs and I like the ability to play music without my computer. I am too much of a novice to have an opinion about the finer points of computer noise and that kind of thing, so I’m content to envision myself sitting and listening and reading liner notes, the way I used to. This would be in addition to streaming not instead of it.
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Well if anyone has a complete, properly working Oppo 95 for ~$300 + shipping, I'll take it! |
Assuming you have a good DAC for streaming, why not just rip your CDs to your computer, and play them off that? I have 100s of CDs and never touch them -- but play them often. I use ROON, but you can use itunes for free (on Mac or Windows). If on Mac, spend $10 for bitperfect too.
G
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if you like slot load it's very good
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Any opinions on Audiolab 6000CDT? |
Thanks! That's great to hear. I suppose I can just power the DAC with a usb hub or wall unit? |
the optical out on your d1 will work fine with the transport--you can always upgrade in the future
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The idea of a separate transport makes sense, but until I get a new DAC and probably amp gear, I’ve only got an Audioengine D1. It’s powered by USB but has an optical input. Would that work? |
I significantly updated my two-channel system in spring 2019, including a Bryston BCD-3 cd player. It is highly regarded and it sounds great on all of the 1000+ CDs that I own. However, as the salesman warned me, I rarely find myself playing CDs - I am either streaming Qobuz, or playing LPs. |
Just bought my CD player in 20 years and I am loving it. Got tired of material being disappeared From the streaming services. Bought a factory referred Cambridge Audio CXC for $300 on EBay direct from Cambridge and I push it through an Yggdrasil. Sounds great - at least as good as Tidal and I am working through the old boxes of CDs.time to hit the used bins for some bargains. |
You could purchase the 1st gen Cambridge CXC transport new for close to $300, leaving you up to $400 for a DAC. What do you use for streaming now? |
Buy new (because of transport) and get the most expensive Marantz you an afford. Marantz>Emotiva ~sound. |
I appreciate the info about the Rega valve, but I’m hoping to cap this expense around $700 or so, and that suggestion is around $11k ( https://soundorg.com/valve-isis-reference/ ) I’ll look into the Emotiva, the Cambridge, and the Rega Apollo used. The Emotiva's 5 year warranty is really confidence-building, though Marantz's 3 year warranty is decent, too. The challenge with audio is knowing where to spend big and where to spend moderately. With CD’s, I know that there will be other ways I’ll be getting my music, so this decision to spend moderately is a straightforward one. |
Maranta CD6006 way below your price. Cambridge CXC with Schiit DAC. Rega Apollo used. Good places to start your search. |
Isn’t the REGA ISIS VALVE CDP/DAC around $9K?
I’m looking at the Emotiva ERC-4 a CDP with DAC at $600
The Emotvia has a 5yr warranty, the previous edition the ERC3 has good reviews ( the slightly noisy transport has been replaced)
im going to run my computer into the Emotiva via a schiit eitr usb to spdif converter so i can stream and listen to Itunes
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