Marantz 803, both SACD/CD with a USB input. Fantastic player for $750.00 |
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Sony SCD-XA5400ES. NO CONTEST! I have had many of the top players, some costing WAY more than the Sony XA5400ES. Resolution, definition, musicality, the best so far for me. |
I like my Cary CDP-1 and am thinking of investing in the new 303T, but not until it gets reviewed and I get a chance to listen to one. |
For my money the best price/ performance I've had is the Cambridge Audio 840c, about $1k used. But there are a lot of good players out now. |
Dave_b what do you like about the Sony player? I'm considering it and the Rega Apollo. I'll run it through a Denon 4310CI and Hales Design C-5 speakers.
FWIW, I've never been a fan of Sony equipment. I think their sound reproduction is rather flat and lifeless. I read the Stereophile review on this model and they thought it was great. Who knows! |
without a doubt given 3 solid weeks of breakin 24-7
The Sony 5400-Es sacd player is easilly the best build quality for sure ,,also it has a warm but detailed sound
that is up there with the $4000 + crowd Stereophile has it listed as A+ catagory not bad for under $1100 delivered
also it sounds better than their $5k player before the 777es.what they did was use hugh quality parts and dual R core transformers Burr Brown 1796 chipsets and opamps
Panasonic and Elna capacitors ,and 23 lbs you have a great player the reason it is far less money then before is that Sony built a state of the art factory in Malyasia ,the workers get 3x less than a worker in Japan ,the same tight
standards and that is how this new classic was born,BUT
it gets better Modwright ,and Terra firma lite Bit clocks are doing excellent upgrades specifically for the Sony5400
for they said it is solid all the way around ! |
Sony PS1 - no doupt - had mine tuned in germany with TET Computer Specials - check their site - google it - original in German - I had a basic upgrade done - swift and perfect. |
The Sony 5400 CD- SACD player is the best player out there for under $1200 you get a player that beats players even in cd mode at over 3x the cost ,the key is it needs 500 hours of play time to be at it's best and a good power cord and interconnects, also it is in the class A + ratings in Stereophile mo other player at even $4k does that ! and with the Great Mod Dan Modwright just finished for this for less than a $3500 total investment including the player can compete with any $10k player out there that is money well spent IMO. |
Need help, please! I have an old Rotel RC D955ax CR player and an Oppo DV 970HD universal player. I use the Rotel for music and the Oppo for video because the Rotel is just a bit smoother for music.
I have a chance to buy a Marants DV7001 universal player and would like to know its sound characteristics. I listen to classical, folk, and some rock and value soundstage, depth, and musicality. Maggie 1.6s are the speakers.
Any comments on this possible change?
Any other suggestions for $300 (used) or less?
Thanks,
Bob |
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I use only Meridian. But bang for da buck is latest Sony discounted |
IF You're talking best bang for the buck, I'd have to go with the Emotiva ERC1 |
What the difference in sound in a Marantz sacd/cd and a Marantz sacd/cd/dvd
that was at an equal retail price. like the 9600 vs 333 (just for example)
The dvd players are running and the cd players are going for 900 |
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I'm going to ask the same question that started 10 years ago.
I'm looking for a CD player in the price range of 500-1500 used. i've been looking at Consonance/opera, Macintosh and Jolida. do the tube player sound better? do i need SACD's.
what about the mac 201 and 301....i need help on this one.
i'm am rock and roll guy. the rest of my stuff in mcintosh mc7300 with a c30 and ads speakers. |
Xxhanhxx,
Read this entire thread and you will find your answer. |
Meridian 508.24 ... still one of the very best out there. |
Ayon CD-2S, close to the performance of the CD-5 for almost half the price. |
Wow. 10 years of different answers which all in their own way are correct. I maintain that the best CD Player for the money is the best one you can personally afford. There is no one single answer because not all of us listen to the same music or have the same setup.
My current vote goes to getting excellent condition Demo items from a dealer. The dealer has been using the CD Player in a clean environment and has run it hopefully long enough to burn it in. This way you can instantly jump into the best the CD Player will be capable of rather than waiting for a hundred hours to burn it in. Demo gear is often a spectacular deal. |
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Emotiva ERC-1.
I've owned two Oppo's and the ERC-1 cold smokes both of them.
One was an 83 and when I got the Emotiva, I realized the Oppo was over rated. |
Hi Zmanastronomy
Like everything else I guess it depends on your system. I was at listening session with a bunch of veteran audiophiles and we had an Emotiva ERC-1, stock Oppo BDP-83 and some other older Sony CDPs in rotation. The general consensus was ERC-1 was the weakest sounding of the bunch. The ERC-1 is built like a tank but the stock Oppo BDP-83 was thought to the better sounding of the 2.
A CDP/SACD player that I think should be considered here is a Pioneer Elite PD-D9 J. |
Yes Jed,
I should have stated "in my system".
I have a freind that was so impressed with the ERC-1 after hearing it compared to my other Oppo's that he bought one for himself.
He was very dissapointed with it in his system.
He and I are always compairing and testing cables and front ends and it's amazing that some thing work in both systems very well and others work in one but not the other.
It's just comformation that Synergy is real.
Have a great day.
John |
so far... it is a little $49 Sony PlayStation 1 player that sounds exceptional for the money. Hey, quit rolling your eyes! |
I sometimes tie on a little Sony discman for beach or sandpit listening. Vinyl gets too messy and my tapes are waaaayyyy too valuable to see sand. |
Best high end sound I've owned for under $1k is the NAD C565BEE CD/USB player. |
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I have a Sony CD Player, modified by Tube Research Labs (TRL), and could not be happier. It has a very palatable presentation, yet the resolution is amazing. The bass goes to beyond believable, yet is well controlled. The treble is natural and extended. The midrange is mind blowing. The imaging is mind blowing. And, the dynamics, both macro and micro are spooky good. I can not recommend TRL enough.
My advice is to contact Paul Weitzel at TRL. They have modified MANY brands/models of CD players. They say some lend themselves to improvement more than others. Don't be surprised if Paul recommends a very inexpensive player. You have him modify it, then you can take it up against your friend"s mega dollar players. |
I picked up a Marantz DV6500 from ebay, and it was a nice buy. |
I agree, Rega has always prided themselves for always making some of the best quality products for the money. That's why they are so successful and popular.
However, may I make one more recomendation. Arcam fmj. |
The cheapest one you can find or??? |
Used Meridian 508.24 or the Marantz SA8004. I've had both, and both are outstanding. I've kept the SA8004 because it just slightly edged out the Meridian on Red Book CD, plus does SACD playback and I can tap into its DAC for my Squeezebox. One heckuva bargain! |
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Wow!
I can't believe it took 10.5 years to answer this!
This can end today.
Electrocompaniet EMC1-Up. |
cambridhe audio 840 c azur---end of story--1600 bucks |
Marantz SA7-S1. Even when I get the itch to sell my for change sake, I just cannot do it, and I've owned a lot of other players. This one has soul! |
10 1/2 years and all the time I thought this was one of those trick questions and I was going to say
"for playing music, the best CD player money can buy costs less than $1.00 because, there are no good sounding CD players worth hundreds, much less thousands of dollars. Don't waste your money"
Did I win??? What do I get? Let me guess...
a cheap CD player? :^)
Happy Listening! |
For the money only go out and get a $35 DVD player from Sam's Club. Bring it home and stick some soft rubbery feet on the bottom and some weight on the top (10-15 Lbs.). This will sound about 80% as good as any $500 player (IMO). |
The NAD 565BEE will outperform a $35 cdp by leaps and bounds. I don't understand the previous comment at all. |
10-13-11: Koestner
For the money only go out and get a $35 DVD player from Sam's Club. Bring it home and stick some soft rubbery feet on the bottom and some weight on the top (10-15 Lbs.). This will sound about 80% as good as any $500 player (IMO). ...and then what? Stick it in a broom closet and go back to playing record? Just kidding. Or in the words of one of my favorite audio writers back in 2004 I think, So there are lots of early Amps, early Speakers, and early Turntables that are considered to be classics, and are there any early CD players that are now classics? No, because they all sound like shite. Happy Listening! |
lector cdp6 for money, lector cdp7 absolutly performances |
There are many excellent players on the market today. The "classic" players are the current ones. If you were to try an original phonograph it would sound crappy also. CD players have come a long way since the 80's. |
I agree, there are many great players and I doubt you can definitively proclaim a clear winner. That won't stop me from nominating my player though!
For a little over $1K, I think the Simaudio CD.5 is excellent, and I've chosen this over a few others (Rega Apollo, Apollo 35th, Exposure 2010s2, a few universal players). Clear and detailed, with plenty of PRaT, but also smooth and grain free. It's hard to find fault with the presentation, but of course you need to find the right match when it comes to amps and speakers. Even the best player on the market will not sound like it if the match is poor. |
I was scanning all the responses and I did not see an Oppo 95
Although it is not strictly speaking a cd player but a universal
Player and does everything just right. I have owned one for 1 month
Only and I'm warming up dearly to the sound and picture |
I've heard an oppo once at an audio show. I had high expectations and was very disappointed. I was not familiar with any of the gear in the rig though, so a good chance it was not the Oppo's fault. The gear looked a lot better than it sounded (horns of some sort I think but can't recall exactly). Very flat and lifeless I thought which was not what I was expecting prior to hearing. |
I think this may be the best budget cd for the money.
http://www.slipperybrick.com/2007/09/cd-player-shoe/ |
Marantz sa8004. Excellent! ! |
If I had less than $1000, I'd go with the NAD 565.
If I had less than $5000, I'd go (and did eventually go with) the AMR CD-777. After owning various CD players from Ayon, Acoustic Research, McIntosh, Docet-Lector, Meridian, Bryston,and Wadia, I can honestly say my search for a decent redbook CD spinner ends here.
Addendum: I wouldn't call either the 'best for the money'. That title remains unclaimed as far as I'm concerned. I just like what the NAD and AMR do at their respective price points. |
Tough question, and difficult to define without establishing a price point. For some, "for the money" is $10k. For others, it's $900. Figure out what you want to spend and what kind of sound you like, then get the player that makes you happiest at a given price point. Simple as that.
Research the heck out of it, go to dealers and listen to familiar recordings, using a system you're familiar with (whether yours or a friend's) to establish a sonic baseline, so that you know what the system you're hearing the CD player through is doing. Then you can properly evaluate the player.
I went with a Primare CD21, because both reviews that I saw described the sound that I wanted from CD. And I got that sound. Voila. Done, for about $700. Just remember, the most important things are your budget, and the sound you want.
And don't be afraid if you like a player that isn't part of the general scheme of things. Remember that somebody had to be the first one, right? At some point, Oppo, Cambridge, Jolida, Jadis, any of the vaunted firms were a joint nobody had ever heard of. So don't worry about that. Just get the sound that you want. |
