My Last CD player


I like my vinyl but digital has its own set of benefits. When my last CD player fell of its perch, I move to streaming audio.  Overall, I have been happy with this decision.  I did notice that lately, a number of posters have been claiming that CD is “better” than streaming.  I figured that most of these were flat earthers. I recently had the opportunity to listen to a “new generation” CD player on a friends system.  I am not sure I would say it was better but it was different and in a very good way.  As I have an extensive CD collection, this set me off to evaluate a new CD player for my system .... at my age presumably the last I will own.  I have identified a few different used players that seem to check the short list boxes: Audio Research cd 7 SE, Ayon cd10 Signature II Ultimate, Ayon cd35 Signature I and Luxman 

D-06u.  I am auditioning the Ayon cd10 at home .... smooth, natural, musical, holographic image, but light on dynamics and soundstage. Anyone have experience with these players?  Any other suggestions?

chilli42
Would the Bada HD28 player be out of place in this thread? Or is it a few rungs below what has been mentioned so far?
I think CD is better than streaming and SACD at times out performing the best  Lp's.  I decided on purchasing my last SACD/CD player to replace a Yamaha CD-S2100 that I purchased six or seven months ago.  Nothing wrong with the Yamaha, in fact  some of my recent SACD's of symphonic music have shocked me at how good digital could be.  Bes at Music Direct personally delivered it and for now it sits on my dining room table until I figure out where to put it.
@vitussl101

Obviously it depends on the equipment one compares. But a CD player is a mechanical device that reads a file off of a CD, a streamer, and a DAC. The file could just as easily be sourced off of a hard drive, or the internet. Noise is a critical factor in putting combinations of these functions together… But there is nothing inherently making a CD or SACD player better / or different sounding like is the case with a turntable. I have owned many CD Players, and streamed. High end audio streamers are now available that can equal or best CD / SACD players at different price points. They have the added advantage of giving you access to virtually unlimited high quality (much of it High resolution) music for the price of one CD per month.

My system is only one example of this, at the higher end admittedly. I have a Audio Research Reference CD9se and a Aurender W20SE. I can directly compare a streaming copy of a red book CD and the red book CD version. My preamp supports gain equalization allowing me to directly compare. No difference… although it wouldn’t surprise me if I listened long enough I wouldn’t find the streamed copy better because I am sure the base noise level of the Aurender is slightly quieter than the ARC CD player (Aurender uses battery power). The key here is that the Qobuz for instance has a lot of high resolution material and it is getting larger every day. The cost is near zero at $19.99 month… you don’t have to buy and store disks… etc.

I’m not just trying to be an argumentative jerk here. I don’t want folks to be thinking if I want the best digital sound They need to buy a CD player and collect disks. That is simply not true any more. Sure, some folks may still want to do it, that is an individuals choice. But the age of the CD is over. It is just a storage media. Over the next years more and more folks are going to be choosing streaming over CDs. As I said it is fundamentally different than analog where there is a difference in the sound of a vinyl disk..
are going to be choosing streaming over CDs

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In a  blind test, I seriously doubt anyone can tell the dif from stramed vs cd player.
I have my classical cd collection complete, I am old school, I needa  physical element in front of me.
Besides I have  found a  incredible  JFET dual high tech opamps for my Jadis JS2 Mark2 DAC and sound incredible. 
I'm tube cd player vs stream.

I think CD is better than streaming

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I'm glad you wrote this
My new discovery of some high tech dual opamps have really madea   very nice gain in sonics in my Jadis JS2 Mark2 DAC. 
I had 2 other high tech opamps, but this last purchase was the winner of the group.
I have Mundorf caps, tubes and now super high tech opamps in my DAC.
I prefer  tube cd player over  the lastest biz, stream. 
New is not always better. 
In 10 yrs our tube cd players will be worth gold, You watch.
They will be out of production and so become **rare* = high demand.
opportunity to listen to a “new generation” CD player on a friends system.  I am not sure I would say it was better but it was different and in a very good way.

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yeah but wait til you swap out tubes, swap out caps for Mundorf's, and install new high tech JFET opamps, 
Now you have a hot rodded cd player that will amaze you.
"They will be out of production and so become **rare* = high demand"

When out of production that will = "white elephant"  It doesn't work the way you think with highend audio components. All to common a tale...sadly.
chilli42

Which player did you purchase? Still auditioning?

Happy Listening!
 Nothing wrong with the Yamaha, in fact some of my recent SACD's of symphonic music have shocked me at how good digital could be. Bes at Music Direct personally delivered it and for now it sits on my dining room table until I figure out where to put it.


So what did you replace the Yamaha with?