Not another which is best but, I need help w/CDP

In that price range, a TRL modded Sony 2000ES SACD/CD player is hard to beat (around $775-800 including mod).

Good luck.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Has anyone compared the Marantz or Rotel units to the Sony SCD777?

Chris

the marantz 8260 is pretty darn good. it just doesnt have the deepest bass or the resolving transparent highs. it has a graceful/musical midrange on sacd and redbook and is untouchable for in those areas for anything less than $2k imo...

the first/earlier units had problems reading cd's or sacd's (mother board revison on later models).. later units from 2004 seem to be okay (personal experience here)...

used sony dvp-s7700 at 200 to 275 used; great redbook transport that reads CDR discs no problem...very high quality unit and a steal as a used unit. very good dvd player, too, although no progressive scan

this was a top of the line unit and is very well built with premium components...can be modded for even better performance

For 600 you can get a Marantz 8260. I think new ones can be had for about 750 now. A new one may be better as this player is known for troubles with cdr's but if under warranty they'll replace the parts. I don't play enough cdr's to worry about it but if I had more I'd take it in and get the update done.

If you could squeeze a couple hundred more on the budget. A used Audio Aero Prima would be a great choice!

I also have a Sony DVP 9000ES. In my case I have a few favorist songs that don't exist on CDs. I tried CD-RW (memorex brand. It may work with other brands too but I have not try yet), using Nero software to burn as the out put of *.WAV files. It works on my Sony DVP 9000ES. I also save the songs in the hard dirve for back up since CD-RW could be eraised accidently.

Hope it may will help.

Another possibilty would be the Jolida JD-700..
Goodluck,
Dave

One choice would be Denon's DVD-5900.
I believe a couple of Marantz model's also work.
Goodluck,
Dave

The Rotel CD players will all handle CDR's beautifully. The sound is good and Rotel equipment is an excellent value. The are some deals on used pieces here from time to time.

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