2. cables
  3. 1018926313

Decent CD Players

I'm in the midst of putting together a 2 channel system. I have listened to a lot of CD players and I don't think that any players, regardless of price, have really met my ideal. I'm looking for a player that is transparent, has good timing (is not slow as some players seem to be), clear midrange, good bass, good staging and handles the highs well. The budget is around $1,500.

I won't bore you with all of the players I have listed to, but here are two players that could serve as a benchmark. I would say that Arcam's CD92 is pretty clear but not that engaging. The player is dull. I have not listened to the FMJ CD23 but understand that is similar to the 92. The Musical Fidelity A3 is fairly decent but still fails overall. If I had the financial resources, I suppose that I would purchase a Meridian 508.24. This is not much info to go on, but do you have any recommendations?
biscayne

Showing 1 response by dburdick

dburdick
61 posts
 
If you can stretch your budget by a couple hundred, I highly recommend the Resolution Audio CD55. There's one for sale here now for $1750. I haven't heard a better player for this used price. If you don't want to spend the extra $$, I'll second the suggestion for the Theta Miles. The Miles has great bass and it really does acoustic instruments well. It doesn't have quite the open/airy top end that some of the newer players have, but for its used price, a great deal.
Good luck.
More to discover