Seeking to purchase new CD player

TedNeu

Active Member
I have a system with an old but reliable Denon 50 wpc receiver and some nice B&W 685 speakers.

I currently have a 12 year old Denon 5 CD changer.

I'd like to buy a new CD player that really does justice to high-quality recordings. My budget is broad: $500 to $1,200.

I don't know anything about SACD so I welcome thoughts on this topic. I would like the CD player to accept a USB cord to handle music files from phone. If the CD player has Bluetooth that would be a bonus, but no essential.

Thanks!
 
The usual suspects in this price range for a new component are:

Onkyo 7030
Marantz 5005 or 6006
Marantz SA8005 (for SACD play, too)
Yamaha CD-S300
Oppo's latest and greatest (which play pretty much anything that's a disc)

Lots of options for used.
 
Without question the Marantz SA8005. i just bought a new Sony HAP Z1ES player and the Marantz has more dynamics and clarity.
 
I just went through this exercise.

For CD play, any CD player should work. If it has either/both optical or digital coax output
then you can bypass the internal DAC and will be able to "upgrade" at a later date to an
external DAC or to a receiver with one inside.

For SACD, earlier units only output to analog. Current ones seem to output through
an HDMI interface or analog. if your receiver does not have HDMI inputs (AVR do) then you
can buy an HDMI to Analog onverter. analog would then your only output but would work with
any receiver and probably better than some cheap HDMI converter.

some units output the native DSD from SACD and now you need to figure out to
have it converted to analog for your receiver. there are fairly complex discussions
on DSD to PCM to analog discussion here and everywhere.

lastly, SACD disks can have CD, 2-channel SACD, and multi-channel SACD. two points
here: does the player need to have a monitor to select any of the three (perhaps a remote does this),
and how does the player output multi-channel (probably analog) but check.

I decided to get a cheapy, play with it, keep it if it sounds good, mod it if I can, or sell it
to upgrade. I picked up a Samsung hd841 (aka Toshiba 4960) - you can find these
on eBay or CL for about $25. I have only about 20 SACDs so there's a balance here of
sorts.

good luck in your search.

BTW in my combo, SACD via analog outputs, sounds better than CD through my DAC. But YMMV.
 
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II would like the CD player to accept a USB cord to handle music files from phone.
Since the CD format itself is slowly dying, I would build in some future-proofing by purchasing a new DAC and using either your current transport (if it has a digital out) or buying another that does.

Newer DACs will have better filtering and analog output stages and would allow for other sources such as USB flash drives or compact network renderers like a Raspberry Pi.

SACD can offer higher resolution, but much depends on the recording and associated gear. The physical format is also being replaced by the DSD file format.
 
@TedNeu

If I had $1200 I would consider the marantz 6006 because it plays
CDs quite well, nice dac inside it, and it has the usb input that you want. Unfortunately the onkyo 7030 does not.

I would take the test of the money and buy a sub woofer to match the 685's. The sub will improve the system immensely.w
 
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The problem with your budget with regards to CD players is that a $500 unit and a $1200 unit are both likely to use the same transport mechanism (or equally inexpensive mechanisms).

All the big transport makers have stopped making Transports (at least good transports).

Even the more expensive makers like Bryston stopped making CD players when Philips ended their run of L1210 mechanisms - many $1k-$2k CD player makers ran into some trouble and stopped making CD players all together for a time. A Company I know well and products I have called Audio Note swooped in and bought close to 10,000 mechanisms of the remaining stock of L1210 and CD Pro 2LF (arguably the best left) Mechanisms. The CD Pro 2 mechanism alone will run you $500 before you even get to making the rest of the CD player. Mechanisms used in virtually everything else will be of the $5-$15 variety.

Thus probably no better than what is already in your 5 disc spinner.

So unless you're prepared to go all out and get a "difference maker" unit with a truly excellent transport mechanism (Philips Pro2 LF or big CEC and VRDS mechanism) - you're probably better off doing as others suggested and getting a DAC with some modern features built for computer audio. But make sure the DAC sounds really good for your CDs. CD had all the buzz against vinyl for a time and for good reason vinyl never disappeared. And perhaps in 10 years we'll say this about CD. I have yet to hear any computer based audio system take out a very good redbook CD player playing the Redbook CD version.

Lastly if your Denon is the model DCM 270 or 280 then it uses the Sony KSS 213 Mechanism which is found in machines currently selling for up to $2,000. So if the machine is actually working well - you're not likely to do much better - the KSS 213 is one of the better mechanisms still available.
 
@RGA - what do the high-end Chinese CDPs use?

I suspect there will be two options, buy enough new now to last you a lifetime (just like the tube guys with their NOS)
or buy used. keep both going by playing once a month to keep the electronics/mechanicals active but keep the
laser hours low.

for me, I think there are enough "stuff" out there to keep me going. I picked up 3 CDPs from AKers
ranging as young as 25 YO. works well enough for me but it sends a message to me when I sleep - "recap me".
 
@RGA - what do the high-end Chinese CDPs use?

I suspect there will be two options, buy enough new now to last you a lifetime (just like the tube guys with their NOS)
or buy used. keep both going by playing once a month to keep the electronics/mechanicals active but keep the
laser hours low.

for me, I think there are enough "stuff" out there to keep me going. I picked up 3 CDPs from AKers
ranging as young as 25 YO. works well enough for me but it sends a message to me when I sleep - "recap me".

The Line Magnetic 515 which sells for $2500 uses the Sony KSS 213 used in the Denon's I mentioned. Opera Consonance offered their Droplet player with an optional upgrade to the Philips Pro 2M.

I mean there is more to it than just the mechanism of course - the quality of the other parts and the output stage and transformer etc.

Buying used is a good option as CD players are dirt cheap on the second hand market - and spend for a really good DAC. The reason I suspect most audiophiles feel transports sound the same is that most all of them use the same $5-$20 mechanisms - so of course they sound the same. But if you get the chance to hear very good top shelf ones - flagship CEC, VRDS and Philips machines they are worth the effort.

My current plan is to get the Audio Note CD Two/II and DAC 3.1x. The CD Two/II is one of the least expensive CD players using the Philips Pro 2/LF and they're the only company remaining thta can actually support them fully now and for the foreseeable future.
 
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They said the same thing about vinyl and look at it now.
Vinyl may be *active*, but a mere vestige of its former self in terms of volume and availability of new content.

I think CD will make a comeback also and will not go away.
I don't assert that format will go away, but the notion of a "comeback" is not supported by consistently declining RIAA statistics.

What percent of millennials regularly purchase and play CDs instead of downloading or streaming content? :)
 
Vinyl sales do well enough on that they are growing and virtually every major pop/rock artist (ie popular because the music is popular) has a vinyl release - which is pretty impressive given the lack of vinyl pressing outfits.

Vinyl is nowhere near as big as digital sales but that's not really that important. Vinyl has shown the biggest sales in over 18 years and is climbing - enough of a climb that big stores like HMV are dedicating space to them. And the following article - albeit at Christmas where people want something Physical to hold - noted that Vinyl outstripped digital sales for a week.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-08/vinyl-outstrips-digital-music-sales-in-uk/8102792
 
Vinyl is nowhere near as big as digital sales...
It's the 5% market in the states based upon 2016 data. Cherry picking a single week's results is pretty much meaningless for determining trends.

Don't get me wrong, I grew up on vinyl, still have a goodly collection and have a pretty nice playback system. :)
 
Don't get me wrong I am not saying Vinyl is ever going to compete - but it is doing well for itself in terms of sales and is a viable music medium or else stores like Target and HMV and others would not bother dedicating space to it. Physical mediums are doing well in Asia where the population is far greater than the US. And there are huge numbers of second hand music stores selling second hand vinyl. I wonder if these are counted in RIAA numbers as sales in 2015, 2016, 2017. If not they should be since second hand is the only way to get a lot of vinyl. Thus, all second hand CD, LP and SACD (and I suppose tape) should be counted as "an album sold." It's fairly difficult to sell second hand digital streams and computer audio tracks. So does RIAA count the sales of the guy in my town who sells thousands and thousands of second hand vinyl records?

New release sales for vinyl can't compete because most people don't own a record player. But it's pretty easy to get on the computer or phone you already own and and download from Apple. And you can play into a stereo without buying a DAC.

I'm actually stunned that Vinyl has 5% of the market - that is rather astonishing to me - I figured it would be a tiny fraction of a percent. And if it doesn't include used vinyl which sells far more than new vinyl then the numbers might be more interesting.
 
I wonder if these are counted in RIAA numbers as sales in 2015, 2016, 2017.
Certainly not since there is no mechanism for reporting used sales of any sort. Artists don't get paid again for recycled sales. I purchase lots of used CDs from Amazon quite inexpensively since I couldn't care less as to the condition of the case. I rip the contents and the media just goes on the shelf to begin collecting dust.

New release sales for vinyl can't compete because most people don't own a record player.
Most millennials couldn't care less about owning a record player.

I'm actually stunned that Vinyl has 5% of the market - that is rather astonishing to me
Click the embedded link I previously provided to see the raw data.
 
I think the sales of entry level turntables would all be to Millenials since veterans would buy the next tier up. While anecdotal the shop in my town sees a lot of younger 20ish LP buyers.

I think used vinyl sales should somehow be counted since the only way to buy certain music on vinyl is buying the second hand copy. They sell probably 30-1 (and likely much more) over new releases. HMV in the heart of Hong Kong (The Manhattan of Asia) has vastly more second hand vinyl for sale than new releases.

So the real world popularity (and certainly not quality) of the format can't really be judged just by looking at new release first time sales. Popularity tends to favor the cheap and the easy (McDonald's outsells Michelin star burgers from the best chefs in the world too).

To be fair to digital - there is a TON of free downloading going on - probably more people downloading illegally than paying - so those digital download numbers in your link you could probably safely double. Bitorrent is rampant in most of Asia.

Like you I have all three of these formats - so as I usually say - buy the one with the best sound regardless of the format. Or convenience.

I have bought a dedicated laptop for Computer Audio playback and several hard drives for music. So not trying to dump on CA here - just trying to be fair to the other formats. In my comparisons CD played via a transport to the same Computer Audio DAC has sounded better. Vinyl has sounded better than both depending on the recording and physical quality of the LP.
 
I think used vinyl sales should somehow be counted since the only way to buy certain music on vinyl is buying the second hand copy.
Or, not being able to find it at all! Therein lies that format's largest challenge - a vastly curtailed catalog of new content vs. digital formats if you're not into the Top 40.

In my comparisons CD played via a transport to the same Computer Audio DAC has sounded better.
My approach has been a bit different - get the comparatively noisy computer out of the listening rooms. I use a central server located in the office with small, dedicated renderers (microRendu / Raspberry PI) doing the actual work using battery power attached via ethernet in the distant listening areas. I find they easily match the sound quality of any transport I've used before.
 
I have a Toshiba SD-2805 5 Disc DVD/CD player. It has an analog out on the outputs. Could this be a decent player to use for my system? Specs below. Thanks for your help

Pre-Amp: Linn LK1
Power-Amp: Linn LK2
Speakers: Infinity Primus 250
 
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