The best CD Player for the money

Sounds like one hell of a setup....a friend of mine has modified JBLs with his ribbon and interconnect technology inserted in place of the OEM innards and the results are amazing!

The TARA Cobalt is a power cord, the Interconnects are Tara zero gold running directly to a highly modified krell 700cx amplifier, speaker cable's are Taralabs omega gold, jumper cable's for Bi-Wireing Tara special order omega 10", which is on a modified pair of jbl L7 speaker's that do 30htz to 27khz.

If one can afford to put $5K interconnects, power cords, etc...on a device that is worth half that amount (BTW I love the Vincent CD-s7; it's one hell of a piece), it may be time to consider the value of the player that is being connected. Personally I've seen big advances to just such things but you hit a point of diminishing returns where spending 1/2 on the cables and more on the component itself will yield more dividends...

Hi Audiolabyrinth,

Wow! $5,000 for interconnects, I couldn't fathom spending that on interconnects. I'm using using balanced cables now and noticing a big improvement. Using Furutech Power Cables, they are the best affordable cables I've used.

If you can pick up a CD-S8, at a good price, as I did, you will be even more stunned.

Hi initforthemusic, I put a $5,000,00 Taralabs Cobalt on the Vincent cds7 player with the furutech Rhodium outlet on the wall, talking about completely changing the sound of the player to sounding many times the cost, huge performance increase, I was stunned!, incredible.

I will explain - They leave you but have the kids who need a home. They get the house then make sure you can never get back in by taking out BS restraining orde because they feel threatened. Then they become the arbiter of what actually gets given back to you. She was told the audio is his. She never gave back any of the good gear. I told my lawyer and she (the lawyer) says you have to sue her to get it and even if it's valuable the cost of the suit will exceed the value of the gear.
I often think I should write to the judge and have him order her to do it. That seems my only hope. I still owe my lawyer 10s of thousands and they are finished with the case as they se it.
For now I feel like I am the one who really got hurt. Where is my protection?

Good to to see the Vincent CD-S7Dac mentioned. It is an outstanding player for the money. However, for not much more the Vincent CD-S8 is a significant step up. It comes very close to my Unison Research Unico CDE with optional Dac which reproduces the soul and emotion of music better than any CD player I've heard.

I have a Creek Evolution 50 CD player and it is smooth, images well and does everything well. I had a $4500 AVM CD player and the Creek at $1600 is better... much better. The AVM was ruthlessly revealing and made many CD's (of great music) un-listenable --- and on the Creek those same CD's sound good. The Creek pleasantly rounds off and takes the edginess and digititus off most redbook cd's and leaves a warm engaging sound to enjoy. Is it colored? Yes. That is a good thing when older redbook CD's are your staple. Many of the best reviewed CD players and DACs are too revealing, too anayltical and when you listen to redbook cd's often sound harsh. Such players --- uncolored as they are -- sound great with audiophile disks but put on a 60's RVG Jazz CD and your ears will bleed. So a warm, lush, and yes colored CD player is nice. At its price point, the Creek is rather amazing.

@Soundbit, For small change, I would look around for a 2nd hand JVC XL-Z1050. That has a nice transport & K2 processing. A really nice spinner for the money.

What do you folks think of the TEAC reference series, say the PD-H01 which can be had for about $340 new with shipping from Japan?

Sheer meanness !
Other than the death of a child, there is not much worse than a divorce "good" or bad.

That's true Baranyi, I haven't, and that's why I'm asking. I understand that there is a division of property, but again, why would she want his system if she doesn't want to use it?

Foxy, you obviously are one of the lucky one's who hasn't gone through a bad divorce.

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

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.

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.

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

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?

OPPO 105D

Hi Bud, yes "The Beast" uses an MSB Diamond dac & I can tell you the Vitus RCD-101's dac kills it, and the dac is the SCD-025 is even better. Also being a bit old school, I never really took a liking to the pancake chassis of that gear.

Wish I could pick it up. I think that by the time it was shipped and converted I could almost buy a new one.
Danes don't lie. At least that's they say. I gues they could be lying about that though!
Let's see....
GamuT-nope, not that pricey
Bow...are they still extant?
Gryphon-Darth Vader stylin' high end...
Dali..Dynaudio, nope, speakers. Did Dynaudio move?
I'm out of ammo.

Have you ever considered MSB Technologies? Their technology looks pretty amazing.

@Budburma, yeah time for a change. The Romulus is amazing at it's price point. But I have a pretty special spinner waiting in the wings to replace it. Hint: it is made in Denmark!

Melguy1!
Off goes the Romulus?!
Maybe a barrelstack of VCaps to change your mind? Just kidding, we all know
everything changes and "consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." or, "the hobgoblin of small minds...."

About four years ago I upgraded to the NAD Masters series components and was quite surprised at how the M5 SACD player made my regular "Redbook" CDs sound better, later learning something about the differences in DACs.

Last year I got on to Audiogon and snagged a McIntosh MCD500 (just before the MCD550 was introduced) and have been really happy with the new SACD player. The "eight channel" ESS DAC chips they use in those units sound very good, very smooth, yet extract so much detail from the source. I suspect the MCD550 sounds even better!

These units are quite "pricey", but if you snag a good, used model, you should be as happy as I am with mine, at a more reasonable price.

Bud, I also noticed there are a pair of rare Marten Coltrane Alto standmounts up for sale on the 'Gon at the moment which I rate as better overall than the Q1's going for a bargain price of $9k. The Alto's were $24k when then last sold in 2006 & use a carbon/kevlar monocoque cabinet, so basically the best material you can buy. They also go lower than the Mini 2's and are not critical with room placement. Some audiophile is going to be happy.

Technically serving music via NAS over ethernet is the best solution so long as your renderer is optimized for that. But for a server transport running to an external dac, the best solution is twin AES/EBU cables like the Aurender W20.

If you're looking at the Romulus, take a few mins to have a read of Grannyring's system. He has done some pretty awesome mods on his player.

@Melbguy1-The Minis's astonishingly substantial and graceful in appearance at the same time. I am sure they are also a sonic force with which to be reckoned.

Previously, my AMR CD77.1 served as player and USB DAC and was very capable. I am not convinced that USB is the best interface. I have a new server, a bespoke Music Vault Diamond with an ingenious solution straight to AES/BSU. It rip with dB Poweramp and uses JRiver for playback. It seems to be an excellent solution for a one box solution and Neal provides absolutely excelsior service.

The Romulus has my attention now and I'll start the due diligence motor up! I do love the AMR sound though and may stay with the DP777SE.

@Budburma, Thanks for your kind words. I've been reading up on the Mini 2's recently . They were an all-out effort by Magico at the time to build a statement stand-mount & even today look extremely solid and beautifully built. There is only about a $2k difference 2nd hand between the Mini 1's & Mini 2's, so i'd wait for a pair of Mini 2's to come up at the right price.

I use my Romulus as a cdp & haven't used the dac with any external sources. But the Romulus is essentially a full Pandora dac with a drive which is exactly the way Hans Ole approached the SCD-010/025.

I'm also aiming to reduce my box count & focus on digital. Initially when I get my SCD-025 I will run it as a cdp, but I plan on adding a high end server in future & using the SCD-025 mainly as a dac feeding the server, or for gtg's.

I love my Modwright Sony 5400 and have heard great things about the Ear Acute 3 and Romulus CD players...

Melbguy1-Great info and amazing system.
The Magico Mini is also on my list...the Vitus is a little beyond my reach, but I am intrigued with the Romulus.
Have you used it as a stand alone DAC? I am loading up my new server and a one box solution with AES/BSU as well as USB inputs would be a great fit.

Thanks for your kind words Jafant. The Romulus surprised me, for the money it sounds very natural and accomplished.

If you can get an audition of Jorma cables, I think you'd be impressed. Jorma sounds natural, organic and harmonically rich (especially Prime). Origo is more neutral.

You are a lucky soul- Melbguy1- that is an incredible system you own.

I concur about the Romulus spinner (for its price) it is a keeper. As a 'cable guy' I have always wanted to demo Jorma cords.

The Magico S3 & S5 are on my short-list to audition as well.

Any one here using the spinner by Audionet offered by GTT Audio/Video?

YW Jafant. I use a Vitus SIA-025 integrated, Aesthetix Romulus front end, Magico S5's, Gigawatt PC-3 SE Evo conditioner, Jorma Prime & Statement cables and extensive Stillpoints isolation. I plan on upgrading my front end soon, mostly likely to an Vitus SCD-025 for synergy.

I attend the Australian Audio & AV show when it is in Melbourne. That's the only high end show in Australia - not in the same league as Munich obviously, but not a bad show. Cheers.

Thank You! Melbguy1-

this info was very helpful. I cannot await to demo these players for myself. Which gear is in your present system?

Do you attend Audio shows? Any additional info is always welcomed. Keep me posted and happy listening!
JA

Esoteric DV-50 is still an outstanding player and an absolute steal used.

Hi Jafant, I have heard the previous model Vitus RCD-100 & SCD-010, Soulution 540 and the Audia Flight CD One M. Of those, the Vitus RCD-100 seemed most happy to be placed with other amps due to its neutrality, smooth sound and overall balance. That said, most of this group sound better paired with amps from their own family of amps for best synergy.

Vitus aims to make his players sound like real music, and to be able to sit down to a long listening session without fatigue. The sound is surprisingly non-digital, but rather gives a nod to good vinyl in some areas such as tonality, body & dynamics. I heard the Vitus SIA-025, SCD-010 & Magico Q1's with Siltech Royal Sig Series cables & was quite shocked. The sound was amazingly pure, liquid (tube-like) and musical. I'd never before heard any ss digital-based system present such a tube-like, analogue sound. The latest SCD-025 model is quite a bit better across the board than the previous SCD-010 and uses an all-modular architecture like the SL-102 preamp. Vitus is also due to release a new DSD USB board for the 025 in October.

The Soulution 540 sounds very smooth, stable, resolving & has a very low noise floor. I heard the 540 paired with a Soulution 710 driving Magico S5's & was impressed by the control, smooth sound & undeniable synergy. But with the previous series atleast (the latest series are supposed to be better) I couldn't quite get away from the perception the music wasn't completely natural. Maybe it is all those boards, parts and smps inside the chassis?

The Audia Flight CD-One M is a well built player & sounds quite smooth, accurate (resolving), clean and neutral in tonal balance. Although it is made in Italy, it is reminiscent of Canadian brands like Classe. If I had one minor criticism it would be this player leans toward the accuracy camp which makes is sound a tad analytical. My previous JVC XL-Z1050 for example sounded a bit smoother/more relaxed. I recall from a review I have tucked away that was through "sins of omission" (ie: gently rolling off the frequency extremes to achieve a smoother sound). And the JVC was very enjoyable to listen to.

Of that group (bearing in mind I have not heard the new Soulution 541) the Vitus SCD-025 is the one I could most easily live with. The previous model SCD-010 sounded tube-like, but much purer, more analogue-sounding and more sophisticated than my previous modded/re-tubed Ayon CD-5s. The current 025 is simply much better across the board. Thanks to it's 4 efficient UI-core psu's it has terrific dynamics, slam & PRAT. This player is fast and agile, but not in an "in your face" way. It sounds very natural and transparent thanks in part to its wide bandwidth & excellent dac, but most important of all music is presented with lifelike imagery, body and 'life'. It is about communicating the soul and intent of the music.

I have the Oppos 103 D and miss my old Meridian 506.
I think Meridians are the most musical players

Any of you guys listening to an upper-level high end spinner...like Vitus, Soulution, Audia Flight...?

I would love to hear (read) about these players timbre, pitch, soundstage, PRat. Happy Listening!

I vote for the RCD-101. It sounds better than the previous Signature Series player (SCD-010) which which was awesome! I rate it above MSB and many other dacs like DCS, Emm etc for musicality.

There is no really good reason to stop listing peoples regarding value based opinions regarding CD players. Thus I say "party on Garth."
BTW I am currently using a 9-10 year old Music Hall MMF-25 which is still playing better than well in all aspects of its function.
My better CD players are still in my now Ex's house, and she is making it difficult to get them back Another knife in my back!

Well not sure about the best cd for the money hard way to analyze the sound, I use a sim moon audio 300D Dac and a Cambridge audio Azure 540cd player as a ttransporter. I have a love hate relationship with it , not sure how important the digital cable I use kimber d30 $135 canadin and wireworld equinox 7s as a front end was going or thinking of upgrade the equinox 7s for there Eclipse 7s ,, dillema , mybe a better Transporter , as the300D is a good Dac , any ssuggestions , best OWLY

I guess the question is still relevant among streaming and computer audio,

I listened to a EMM Labs CDSA-SE and it took less then 5 minutes to realize what a fantastic digital player it is especially for a used price of $4,000.00, look for the later models with the German built transport .

I have listened to the popular players of the day even the modified ones at all prices used from $2000.00 and up then $10,000.00 plus players,, just for the fun of it.

The striking performance of the EMM Labs along with the used going price IS to my ears the best game in town by a good margin.

The Emotiva ERC-3. Good build and good sound. Long warranty. With music servers coming more the music option for playback for many, looking for a good, last cd player makes good sense too me.

The OPPO players would be nice as well.

I've been happy with my Musical Fidelity A3.2 CD for many years. 24/96 up sampling and a Sony based mechanism and pick up. Was previously a Stereophile recommended class A player and can be had on the cheap now for about $500. OR get a cheap transport (Sony DVP-S7000?)and a nice DAC from Schiit?

ARE U STILL LOOKING FOR THAT CD PLAYER

I guess that many of us have been around the block a few times, and there are probably a few units out there that are worth recommending. In my day, the three most memorable units in my system at the time, were the Musical fidelity X-Ray, the Cayin CD17, and the Rega Apollo. As it stands, I am currently looking for a new unit since the Cayin has shit the bed. Probably no fix for her. All I know is that I would like to go to a tube based output, with a robust build.
A close second would be to use one of these players along with multi-input dac. Oh boy

Why has there been so few who recommended the old Philips-based Revox B226? I own one. When converted to run tube outputs amping (eliminating from the PCB any opamps), it will give any 24/96 or any 24/192 CDP a run for their money. One can keep the original oversampling coz it doesn't hurt too much the sound.

Cary 306/200 on the used market.

I'm currently using a ModWright Sony 5400ES with upgraded tubes. I tried many CDP's and I like this one the best. It beat out my Esoteric unit. I have not tried ModWright's Oppo BDP-105 with digital inputs and newer power supply. That will probably be my replacement in the near future cause I'm eventually going to need a DAC. I want to create a music server.

@ Nonoise, Hi, some how I missed your post about the chassis build quality of the vincent, you are correct, the vincent does have thinner metal and will perform better with tunning, I like that!, being able to change your sound with out electricity is always cool to me!, I have owned digital with built like a tank chassis that sounded bad, no matter what i did, tunning was not available on a chassis like that, it did not work!, the last time I had exsperience with marantz, I did not see any one eighth to quarter inch thickness to the chassis, It is my conclusion, that resonance tunning will work to good effect on any marantz digital player, new or old,, cheers.

if the quote was found in the Redbook section , than my statement applied to a collection of digital hardware that I had auditioned prior to the review. it was not meant specifically as a comparison between specific cd players, but rather a collective memory of the music sounding "better" on the reviewed component than it did on other digital products I had auditioned to date.