The best CD Player for the money

This is astonishing! This thread has been going for nearly 15 years!! :)

I have a Cambridge Audio 751BD universal player for my transport. Purchased a demo model for $899 CDN in 2013, I think?? Great unit! Very versatile although I now use it in tandem with a Bryston BDA-1 DAC and that totally blows away the 751BD's built in DAC, IMHO.

I have the Cambridge Audio 851C on my radar now though. It's been getting some excellent reviews. Anyone here familiar with that model yet?

I recently purchased a anthem cd-1 made by sonic frontiers for 450 has tube for out put stage for the money and sound you cant find a better player

Hello all, I have for side by side comparison the following players:

Integra Research RDV-1
YBA CD-2
Cambridge 851c
Marantz's First CD player the CD-1
Denon 3930Ci

These players were compared using the same power amp and interconnect cables, and no tone controls. (the Krell doesn't have them)

Krell KAV-400xi
Magneplannar 3.5r
Audio Quest xlr's and Audio Quest Sidewinder RCA
PS Audio speaker cables

Hands down, the Integra Research sounds the best, the 851c second, and the YBA a very close third. Mind you this is in my system. A Very minimalistic set up- which is what I prefer.

The Denon and Marantz, not even in the same league. All be it the old Marantz (it's nearly 30 years old- and still works perfect), was still pretty darn good, the Denon is just dry- way to analytical for my taste- it's simply a movie machine.

Oddly, there are so many claims to fame for the Cambridge player I just had to have one, thinking that It would out perform My Integra player, nope, the Integra is really that good. As the Integra was 4500.00 new and the Cambridge was 1900.00 new, well just goes to prove new is not necessarily better.

On the up side, the Cambridge closely matches my Krell in color and lay out, and has every digital input/output there is that any user could want. It is close to the Integra in sound quality, but is it better- I don't think so.

As for the YBA, they were very, very close. Depending upon your preference the YBA was warmer, a tad less analytical then the Cambridge. However, that being said, the Cambridge had a more realistic sound, but sometimes a tad harsh in the upper end. But the YBA is very limited to just CD play back, the Cambridge is not.

The Integra remains my reference player, and the Cambridge is now my DAC/Digital side kick. I have sold the YBA, and the Denon. I will never sell the Marantz- It was my first cd player.

For me, newer bit rates and fancy processing doesn't equate to better sound quality- after all the DAC's in the Integra were the best of the best in their time- perhaps they still are.

Ironically after a brutal divorce I am left with the cd player I wrote about 10 years ago, the Music Hall MMF25 1st edition. I hold out some hope that my ex who never uses my old gear (except a secondary one rarely). For now I have some very good headphones my custom HP amp and the MMF 25.

Mechans,
I have seen this before on the forums, and I don't understand why the ex-wife would end up with the equipment if she has no interest in it and doesn't use it