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Recommendations for CDP < $300

I'm new to hifi. Not really an audiophile yet. Inherited a nice older system but the Arcam CD92 player just died. 

I'm currently using an old low end Sony but it really belongs to a basic low end system down at my cabin. I have a couple of books on top of it and sorbothane pads under the feet and I'm okay with the SQ. But, it needs to go back down to my cabin.

Looking at used CD players on eBay, prices are all over the place and I'm a little leery of buying a used low end player which may have been mishandled etc. And even some with low prices have shipping rates that make even the cheap ones not worth the bother.

So now I'm looking at a new one. Prefer sub $300. There are three I'm looking at: Onkyo C-7030 for $200. NAD C538 for $300. It sounds like these two have the same Wolfson DAC. Not sure why the NAD is $100. I've pretty much ruled out a Cambridge CD-10 at $300 because it does not have gap-less play back. I don't listen to a ton of classical but I do some and pauses between classical arrangements would be a deal breaker.

I have noticed that some reviews are claiming newer CDPs sound much better than older CDPs due to improved technology. Not sure if this is true or not. Any reason to prefer new to historically good older models?

Anyway, besides the Onkyo and the NAD are there other sub $300 units I should look at? Anything else I need to consider?

Thanks,
George
n80

Showing 10 responses by n80

n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
I searched the CD players available here and they are beyond my price point. I have never heard of usaudiomart.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Thanks for that explanation. Now I'm wondering if I should see how much it would take to repair the Arcam. I have found a high end audio repair shop in my area. It might be worth the $40 service charge to see what it would take to fix it. (Nothing comes out via the RCA outputs but it does have output through the optical port.).
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
I noticed that the Onkyo weighs like 12 pounds....which sounds sturdy, for what that's worth.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
usaudiomart has an Arcam CD92 listed at $595. This really makes me wonder about getting mine fixed. I've emailed the repair shop to see what they think.

I know nothing about electronics but would agree, if the Ring DAC is toast it will be too expensive to repair. If it is somehow just the RCA output side of things then maybe not too much. Not even sure that is possible.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
That brings up a question. For these newer CDPs with USB ports does that mean you can use it as a DAC and if so would the DAC on these lower end models be any worse than, say, a basic Schiit Modi 2?

On the Yamaha it says primarily for iPhone, iPads, iPods. Is there any reason a laptop wouldn't work?
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Thanks for that info.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
cscrutinizer, Amazon has the Onkyo CD 7030 for $150. I'm tempted. Reviews say sound quality is good for a unit this cheap but there are scores of reviews indicating what seems like serious reliability issues with many units failing within a year and a good many lemons right out of the box to boot. The latter is not a big deal since it would be a Prime purchase.

Maybe a year's worth of reliability is all you can expect from a $150 CDP these days?
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Thank you all for the excellent advice. I'm now starting to reconsider my need for another CD player. I'm fairly content with the Sony (two books on top as recommended here, sorbothane pads underneath).

Was originally going to take it back down to my cabin but since all CDs are now at home I will probably just use iTunes at the cabin on the low end system that is there for casual/background listening.

If the Sony fails (or I get the bug for better SQ) I'll look into the recommendations in this thread. The Sony is light and feels like junk but it has been very reliable so far. It is probably close to 20 years old!
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
That is possibly a project for the future. I have peered into that rabbit hole a few times but the software and hardware complexity and requirements seem to add up pretty fast.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
I'm still using the old Sony at home.

The Arcam is still down at my cabin running into a Rotel home theater unit and separate amp driving some beat up B&W tower speakers. I don't like that system and it takes up too much room so I'm going to ditch it and go back to my old Toshiba receiver and old Bose bookshelf speakers. So the broken Arcam will be in limbo.

I have also taken the advice above to rip my CDs into a server and that meager system (Schiit Modi 2 Uber) is serving me well enough for now.

So bottom line is, for now I'm sticking with the old Sony. Now that I've gotten into this hi-fi business I will probably have a higher budget for a CDP if the Sony bites the dust.
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