need help - Cd players

You have good recommendations above. A Stan Warren modified Pioneer or comparable player is excellent and a good investment. Pioneer DVC 503 is $179 at Costco and $250 mod. Used Rega Planet 2000. Audio Refinement Complete. Creek cd 43 or Music Hall 25. CAL good options also. Have fun.

Stan Warren also mod's the Sony s9000es for $250. I spoke with Stan on several occasions. Stan says it brings about 25% sonic improvement. A friend of a friend who is an audio reviewer had Stan mod his s9000es and apparently he claimed about a 40% sonic improvement.

So $700 for a used Sony s9000es and $250 for Stan's mod. That would be quite a unit for a small price.

jayel,

I can tell you about the Stan Warren mod. IT SUCKS! I've listen to it extensively. I don't understand why all of these people think Stan's mod is so great. They most believe their own hype, or it could be that they have never heard a true HI-End cd player. Stan's mod has no bass or presence at all.

I have an old Yamaha that wipes the floor with Stan's mod. I paid $1500 for the Yamaha CD 1100U in 1989, so it was a hi-end player back than. I moved Stans mod into my bedroom for moves only. I'm telling you his mod sucks.

I would suggest that you look for an older Denon player. The Denon 1520AR would be a good choice, and the old sony es player or Cal players are good too. Any older player that has ether an outboard or onboard massive power supply/transformer would be good.

Most recordings are record in 16 bit, and all of the players that I've mention have either 18 or 20 bit dac, so these players are hard to beat with a new mid-fi player.

I hope this helps, JJ

Hello,
I would also suggest the Cal Delta. You could probably get a SigmaII and Delta for that price. They are good units and for that price they will give most units a run for the money!

What about the Arcam CD72, or one of the older models such as an Arcam Alpha 8 or 9? While I do not have personal experience with these models, they have a good reputation as quality equipment, and there are some used Arcam models listed in the Audiogon classifieds in your price range.