New or Old CD Player?

@all  Does the distrust of the Hegel regarding their CD player extend to their well-regarded Intergrateds?  The H80 and H160?

Thank you

@twoleftears while I have no first hand experience with the TEAC / Esoteric transports, their reputation proceeds them.   More than "very good", many have labeled them class leading.  However, I will defer to @jafant and if he knows they're in-field performance has shown them less than exceptional, I believe him.

Incidentally, the Philips transports acted just about perfect in my experience.  I **may** have encountered one defective unit in a Consonance CD120 Balanced, but I apologize, as that recollection could be incorrect.  Otherwise, they have performed without issue for me.

Now...speaking of the Consonance CD120 Balanced, I no longer have any and didn't dig deep enough for pictures, so I cannot speak with absolute confidence in comparing the internal layout.  But this Hegel Mohican gives me a strange sense of deja vu.  Outside of the digital out connector and an extra line of printing where they included the Hegel name, the rear of the two machines look identical.

I wanted to simplify and streamline what I felt seemed like an overly broad and confusing lineup.  So along with the far stronger interest in non-oversampling DAC topology at that time, once Consonance switched the CD120 Balanced from the Philips to the Sony assembly, I then only featured the CD120 Linear.  I set the North American retail price at $995 for each, and felt both sounded better (though quite different from one another) than anything at that price point.

Though no ones likely interested, I keep a Consonance Reference 2.0 SACD player for myself.  I rescued a pile of 21 of them, and got at least 16 of the second generation units back on their feet.  I love the tube output and analog volume control that provide excellent sound without needing to use a preamplifier even if I sometimes do.  Its sonics get nosed out by the Reference 2.2 MKII CD player, though the SACD capability is a trump card for me.  And that Sony SACD part has so far (knock on wood) held up.  When this player dies, it owes me nothing 

@imgoodwithtools CONGRATULATIONS on the ARC player!  I listened to one, and it certainly sounded like a serious contender.

Hope you love it, and it provides you with the joy we all hope for 

@jafant ....when are you finally going to commit to a source and amp for your Thiels?  That way we will know you’re speaking from personal experience rather than simply being well read.  Kudos to your research and knowledge, but some skin in the game would be refreshing.  Best....

I do have an opinion on the Esoteric K-3X, since I did own one for awhile. My overall impression of its sound is very detailed and musical, but can be a bit clinical. The sound can be tailored with variable sample rates and digital filters. The disc drive was in No way like a cheap computer disc drive. It's function was solid and inspired confidence. When used as a drive, the analytical sound transferred to the DAC. When used as a DAC, and fed by my reference PS Audio DirectStream transport, the sound was fuller and more analog, very much like my reference Berkeley Alpha Reference 2 DAC. So, as a DAC, I found the Esoteric more musical than what it was used as a CD player or a transport. SACD reproduction was stellar. Very, very close to my reference T+A PDP 3000 HV.

When looking for a one-box CD player, I saw a used Esoteric K-3X at The Music Room, an on-line audio dealer. I think they listed it at $7500?? At this price, Is consider the K-3X a bargain.

I love my Musical Fidelty NuVista CD ( the new one).  If you can find one used, it might fit within your budget. It’s a beautiful sounding player, built like a tank, and I like the looks of it too. 

@twoleftears WOW, indeed!

On the other hand, you do get a few upgrades for the additional $4000 Hegel charge for this player: a more sculpted faceplate with the three buttons on each side combined into one, a different digital out connection, and the Sony CD assembly.   Oh wait, that last one might be a downgrade.

Dont get me wrong, the CD120 Balanced put forth an excellent sonic presentation for its $1K price point.  Just that seeing them go for $300 would upset me had I just dropped $5K on the rebranded one.  Somehow, this company skates by this stuff, and their continued growth shows they know more than me

Of all the things in audio that are improving at a fast rate now, it's probably the DACs.  Your older CD players will have an older DAC chipset in them, so in my opinion, I'd go for "new" in finding a new CD player.

Sound advise

It sounds as if the CD player you bought was the one you had wanted to get all along??? judging from your original question. Good luck! ARC is a great HiFi company.

2psyop, I was open to suggestion, and still am. The CD8 made sense for the reasons I detailed earlier. But I still have not heard the unit, and that's what matters. If, for some reason, I don't like the CD8, I will sell it and again be in the market for a CD player. Besides, I think its been an interesting discussion thus far.

FWIW, 
I have a Marantz SA-11 Mk 2, modied with a vacuum tube output by Underwood HI-Fi. About 8 years old - about $4-5k then. Nothing I’ve heard in my system bests it so far. Also have a Cambridge cd deck feeding a Mytek Brooklyn dac. Sound is different, but most people prefer the Marantz. Tried to sell it once for 2500, but wound up keeping it. 
Hope Audio Research works for you.

I've heard a lot of good things about Luxman. Mike at Suncoast Audio tried selling me on a Luxman D-08u. Said it was the most analog unit he's ever heard. I settled on the more detailed T+A unit. But Luxman should be a brand for consideration.

You could probably pick up an old Mark Levinson CD player for a song...no pun intended! 

+1 for Sony 999ES / Signature Truth modifications by ModWright (superclock, tube output stage with external tube rectified power supply, etc.):

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue14/modwright999ES.htm

Truly unbeatable.  Say what you will.  I have still not heard better yet.

Elizabeth + 1. 
I agree that a really good SACD player makes for a great CD player. 
I have tha Marantz SA-15S-2b and my CDs sound wonderful. 

Also, Matej Isak of Mono & Stereo feels that outside of the recording studio, he's yet to hear anything better a well recorded CD or SACD on a top grade CD or SACD player. There's still life in them thar CDs.

All the best,
Nonoise

If there is any recommendation I can give than it would be in getting an external DA converter together with a good player. My experiences have been that it is an outstanding improvement. You can spend a reasonable amount of money on the drive, Marantz would deliver good ones, Esoteric probably top end. For the DA section I would go for 1000-1500 USD, personally I can recommend  RME ADI-2 DAC, which is phenomenal. Give it a go and you spend your 5K wisely. 

Look for an esoteric  player the model 1  is flagship built fantastic  or a Mark Levenson 
All sound excellent   there are others these two were top dog 
For a Loong time.

EAR Yoshiko. Owned the Mk1. Now own the Classic

Simple really, buy a Rotel 1570, put the savings towards better acoustics for your listening room and more CD's !!

My suggestion is to get a Cary Audio CD303/300 192kHz/24 bit HDCD player. It plays redbook CDs very well. List priced at $4500 circa 2004-2008, you can find a used one for between $1K and 1.5K. It is versatile, allows for different flavors with it’s upsampling feature. Plus, it has two 12au7 tube slots where you can add a less bright tube flavor, if you desire. I use the CD303/300 including it’s internal DAC standalone as well as a transport to different DACs. A prime candidate for a DAC which meshes well with the CD303/300 is the later still being made Cary product, the DAC-200ts. This DAC like the CD303/300 also has the two 12au7 tubes slot. It is a mood thing – sometimes using the Cary 200ts with the CD player sounds better than just using the CD303/300 standalone, but either way I prefer using with 12au7s but the latter only turned on in the CD player or DAC but not both. Other variables to consider are which speakers you are matching to the CD source. I have found that both B&W Nautilus 804s and the Fujitsu Eclipse TD-512 near range speakers match well with these Cary products using a McIntosh integrated solid state amp for the 804s and the Yamaha RX-V2700 for the TD-512s.

I have never heard a $ 5000 CD player so I definately dont know what I am missing.  When my CD player broke I found a W4S Music Server with a 1 GB SSD on ebay for $ 1000.  When I replaced my CD player I found the CD's I ripped onto the Music Server sounded a lot better than from a new Marantz CD player.  I also was able to explore HiRez files and DSD.  I have 2 DAC's that sound very different that I like each in their own way that I switch between.  I ripped all my CD's, my kids CD's, my bothers CD's and my brother in Law's CD and still have 300 MB space left.  I have a crappy little app on my iphone to control the player that lets me change music as fast as my fingers fly.  Its kinda nice.  

Believe it or not, there's a CD playback system called the dCS Vivaldi 2.0 that costs $120K. Google it. 

Neither. Save and invest your $5k and rip your CD's. 

Another option for great redbook playback is the Ayre C-5xe ... also plays any disc you throw at it.

I run an old Denon 1520 with a spare 2  backup's and Bryston Dac.I hate break downs.Does anybody think a Rotel 1570 would sound better than it?I did some vibration control on it with very heavy brass and vibration pods on top of it and it really helps open up the sound field over head.

After reading several people's recommendation for the Cambridge CXC player I bought one. Audio Advisor was out of stock but I bought one from Crutchfield for the same price. $449 delivered. 
I must say it is a great player and I am very appreciative of the recommendations. It replaced a Marantz.
Thanks

I think there are many more combinations to choose from if you go with separates. It will probably be cheaper to just upgrade the dac later than to replace a whole player. There is still innovation around dacs and reclockers. And many dace has usb inputs which makes streaming easier in the future.
If it's important with a single box then you should of course get one anyway.

If you are still looking for another CD player. There is one here on audiogon that looks very nice. An old Sony SCD-1. Old but I bet, very good!

elizabeth-

I wanted to ask if you  bought the SA-10 review sample or did you opt for a factory new spinner? Thank You.
Happy Listening!

everest-
the Ayre is tempting, but, those guys did not stock pile the transport/laser assemblies for future replacement?
happy Listening!

everest-
2nd note;
Ayre does stock pile the drive/transport(s) for the DX-5 a/v engine.
Odd.

Happy Listening!

I've owned the Audio Research Reference 8 CD player for a couple weeks now. I figured I should at least give a few words on how I think it sounds.

First I dropped it into my Big Rig to get a feel for how it performs. It is highly musical and does nothing offensive. The highs are a touch restrained over my beloved Berkeley Alpha Reference 2 DAC. There's not quite as much air or three-dimensionality as with the Berkeley. The mids are smooth and a bit more pronounced than the Berkeley. The biggest difference is in the bass, where the AR gets a little wooly and not as tightly pitch defined. So, as an absolute, it would not displace my Berkeley DAC. But if the Berkeley is a 10, I'd give the Reference 8 a solid, um, 8.5.

But in my headphone rig, where if a recording is too hot on top, it'll blister your ear drums, the Ref 8 filters out a lot of that, resulting in a more enjoyable performance. I find it just about perfect for headphone listening. Musical and quite accurate. 

And a word on tube testing. I test ALL tubes with a Hickok 6000A tester before use. One of the triodes within one tube that came with the AR had a Significant loss in transconductance, about half output of the others. I had a spare 6h30 tube and used it. I don't know how much degradation in sound that one tube would have had. But it couldn't have possibly been positive.

Hegel Mohican cd player is minimalist 
Simple natural music reproduction
Not sure why AR Reference 8 needs to be dissected 

@trelja "I cannot recommend the Hegel Mohican...

Like the rest of their players, it simply comes off as a rebadged Opera Audio Consonance CDP, typical of that outfit's efforts in the first 5 years of this millennium. At $5000, you're spending 2X - 5X for machines that proved historically unreliable and more than decade old technology."

Based on the internals @twoleftears provided, I must reiterate my non-recommendation of the Hegel Mohican.  Comparing the rear panels of the Consonance CD120 Balanced shows what appears the reintroduction of a $1000 machine, discontinued 12 years ago with a new faceplate, digital output, downgraded CD mechanism, and going completely against better and better digital becoming more and more affordable, a price tag 5X higher than it used to be

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649267251-consonance-cd120-balanced/images/1202196/

https://www.stereolifemagazine.com/news/item/1235-hegel-mohican

Personally, I find this dirty pool.  And I'm going to call it out.

I have a lot of experience with the original.  In no way do I feel it's not an excellent sounding CD player.  At its price point, it bettered most of its competitors.  And for a few hundred dollars, I heartily recommend anyone to move forward, and would even feel happy to have one myself.  But $5000 bought much better performance then (even within the Consonance lineup itself via the Reference and Droplet models) and even more so today.  Indeed, Mohican seems the appropriate moniker

The nearest contenders are the Primare CD35 using ESS Sabre chipset and TEAC transport, and Bryston BCD-3 using AKM chipset (AK4490) and (Austrian) StreamUnlimited transport.

@monkandmozart. Why the dissection of the Reference 8?? Why not? I think the most important aspect of a component is how it Sounds. And I thought there might be some who would like an opinion on how the Ref 8 sounds. Otherwise, we can just all sit around and chat about bits and microchips.