Chris,
Try Rotel's 1072 cd player. Absolute Sound gave it their "budget component of the year" recomendation and I agree it is a very good cd player for the money. Plenty of reviews available at www.ecoustics.com,www.audioreview.com and www.rotel.com where you can also find all the spec's.
Yes, it plays cd-r's.
It is better than your Sony in the areas of detail, resolution and has a quieter background. It also images better. The Sony may have better mid-range liquidity, soundstage width and bass. The unit retails new for $699 but you should have no problem finding one used here on A-gon for $500 or less.
Not a lot of good cd players available at your price point (which is very, very low). My next recommendation would be one of the Marantz mid-market players (8260, 8300 universal which does everything your Sony does plus SACD/DVD-A).
Marantz makes very musical cd players and from a 2 channel perspecitve should easily best your Sony. The 8260 got Stereophile's Class A recommendation and the 8300 also got a very high recommendation. You should be able to find both of these units used on A-on for less than $1,000.
Bye the way, your 9000ES has a good transport and excellent build quality and would greatly benefit from all of the after market mod's that are so popular right now. However, it still wouldn't be able to do cd-r's which is your primary concern.
I've given you enough resources to point you in the right direction. Now you have to do your own research and due dilligence.
Good luck!!
AVGURU
Try Rotel's 1072 cd player. Absolute Sound gave it their "budget component of the year" recomendation and I agree it is a very good cd player for the money. Plenty of reviews available at www.ecoustics.com,www.audioreview.com and www.rotel.com where you can also find all the spec's.
Yes, it plays cd-r's.
It is better than your Sony in the areas of detail, resolution and has a quieter background. It also images better. The Sony may have better mid-range liquidity, soundstage width and bass. The unit retails new for $699 but you should have no problem finding one used here on A-gon for $500 or less.
Not a lot of good cd players available at your price point (which is very, very low). My next recommendation would be one of the Marantz mid-market players (8260, 8300 universal which does everything your Sony does plus SACD/DVD-A).
Marantz makes very musical cd players and from a 2 channel perspecitve should easily best your Sony. The 8260 got Stereophile's Class A recommendation and the 8300 also got a very high recommendation. You should be able to find both of these units used on A-on for less than $1,000.
Bye the way, your 9000ES has a good transport and excellent build quality and would greatly benefit from all of the after market mod's that are so popular right now. However, it still wouldn't be able to do cd-r's which is your primary concern.
I've given you enough resources to point you in the right direction. Now you have to do your own research and due dilligence.
Good luck!!
AVGURU