Should I still buy a CD player? Suggest one?


I just read that Best Buy is discontinuing CDs. This seems like a bad omen for CDs in general. I had a system I liked and lost most of it in a fire this summer. Insurance will buy me a replacement, but is it unwise to buy a CD player now? What are high end people doing now for source?

And, my players was a Creek CD-43, CD-53, bought in about 2002. What would be an equivalent quality now? Insurance doesn't care that they are more expensive now, they just want an equal replacement. If I buy a player, which is the most popular good CD player now? It's important that is it a popular one, because I don't want to get saddled with something hard to sell since things are in flux.

Thanks.


river251
NAD 546 is plenty good.
 OR
Buy a new Creek on eBay if insurance will compensate.

Don't connect your computer to your HiFi unless you care not about SQ.
Except for DSP setup.
CD players are a thing of the past.  I purchased a Bluesound Node 2i and I no longer play CD’s on my OPPO CD player.  I stream Tidal and I love hearing hi res recordings and MQA.
@river251 — The Zen Mini does it all so would take the place of using a computer along with all the other stuff. Hook it into your internet and plug its analog output to your pre or it’s digital out to a DAC and you’re off and running. I was thinking this would make it as easy as possible to make the switch to streaming rather than dealing with a buncha computer crap, which I personally abhor. The Zen Mini also has its own disk drive where you can take your remaining CDs (especially more obscure CDs that might not be available through streaming subscriptions) and just feed them into the unit and it automatically and fairly quickly downloads them to its internal storage so they’d then be as easy to access and play as music through your streaming service. Butt removal from chair no longer required.

I looked and the price of the Zen Mini Mklll it’s actually $1249, but adding the separate power supply would bring a meaningful performance boost down the road. If it fits in State Farm’s budget it would be a big step up to their Zen model at $2599. I’d recommend reading Darko’s reviews of both units not only to get a better idea of their performance level and functionality but also for some good general info on the ins and outs of streamers. Hope this helps, and glad to hear you’re open to the idea of streaming. I find the streaming experience kinda like EZPass — once you have it, the thought of having to wait in line and dig for change to pay a toll seems absolutely absurd and there’s no going back. If that makes any sense. Anyway...