The best CD Player for the money


I AM IN THE PROCESS OF BUYING A CD PLAYER AND I DONT KNOW WHICH WAY TO GO.WITH SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM I WANT TO PURCHASE SOMETHING GOOD BUT I DONT WANT TO SPEND 10,000 EITHER.
jazze22
Coming up on the 7th anniversary of this thread, we are all curious what you actually got in the end...

Jazze22, what do you say?
Best for the money? I guess it depends on how much money.

But for my money, it's $169 for the Oppo DV-980H. I just took delivery on one last Thursday. For the last 10 months I've listened to LPs exclusively because I could no longer stand to listen to CDs or even SACDs.

Granted, I didn't have a really expensive player, but I had two that were considered over-achievers--the Philips SA-963 and the Sony SC-2000ES, both in the $500-600 range. I have also listened in extensive audions to $3000-5000 Linn and Musical Fidelity players at stores.

Since I got this Oppo, although I'm still spinning and enjoying LPs, I'm also really enjoying CDs...I'd say, "enjoying CDs again," but I never enjoyed them like I am enjoying them on the Oppo now. It also acquits itself really well on DVD-As and SACDs. I like its rendition of SACDs better than my Sony or Philips, and I was *really* surprised at how much I like what it does with DVD-A. My wife and I were blown away by the Beatles/Cirque de Soleil surround DVD-A "Love" remix. My wife (a huge Beatles fan) decidedly did NOT like this disk when I played it on the Philips. She loved it on the Oppo. It's THAT much different.

I also had fun listening to HDCD-encoded CDs for the very first time, and they were also wonderful.

The Oppo DV-980H sounds SO good on CDs, HDCD-encoded CDs, DVD-As, and SACDs, that at $169 I'd consider it a gift. And you can't get a much better price/performance ratio than that.
OK... I accept that the OPPO probably has pretty darn good DAC. They're known for that. But, not meaning to quibble: does this unit permit you to control the volume directly via the remote? Most universal players don't.
12-29-07: Johnlewisgrant
OK... I accept that the OPPO probably has pretty darn good DAC. They're known for that. But, not meaning to quibble: does this unit permit you to control the volume directly via the remote? Most universal players don't.
My Oppo DV-980H's remote has volume + and - buttons on it but I haven't put it through the paces yet. Not sure if it works on both its analog and digital outputs, but I'll get back to you on that.

I *have* read posts of users hooking the 980 up directly to power amps successfully.
The volume controls are probably for other units, since the remote is more or less universal, apparently. Anyway, I'm buying one... they're so cheap how can I lose?

Which leads me to the question: I wonder if the machine will do L and R audio out, plus a mono out to a subwoofer?

Or will I have to use the line out on my amp....