Which one to keep??

Which one of these CD changers would be the best to keep? (Pictures of each option below)

  • Magnavox AK-798C 6 disc CD changer made in Austria circa 1989, uses the Philips TDC-1543 chip

    Votes: 4 40.0%
  • Nakamichi CD Player 2 w/ MusicBank system (actually works!)- no idea what DAC it uses though

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • Panasonic DVD-F87 5 disc changer brand new in box- HDCD, DD decoding, AV enhancer & plays DVDs too

    Votes: 5 50.0%

  • Total voters
    10

zunde

Well-Known Member
Have 3 CD changers and like all 3 for various reasons, but need to sell a couple of them.
Which one should I hang on to?
 

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I voted for the Panasonic. My Panasonic DVD recorder is the best electronic gizmo I have ever owned. Peace and goodwill.
 
I voted for the Panasonic. My Panasonic DVD recorder is the best electronic gizmo I have ever owned. Peace and goodwill.

I noticed that and thanks- I am a bit surprised that the one non-exclusive CD player in the list is the one that's getting the votes!

I also can't believe the Nak isn't getting more love!
 
I too vote for the Panasonic. I had one just like it years ago and it was a solid unit, sounds good and plays DVDA. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a proponent of high res surround so I'm always going to lean towards any machine that brings those formats into the equation. Plus, I believe 24/96 decoding for 5.1, which is probably better than the Nak, and most definitely better than the Magnavox I'd bet.
 
I too vote for the Panasonic. I had one just like it years ago and it was a solid unit, sounds good and plays DVDA. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a proponent of high res surround so I'm always going to lean towards any machine that brings those formats into the equation. Plus, I believe 24/96 decoding for 5.1, which is probably better than the Nak, and most definitely better than the Magnavox I'd bet.

Pianotuner, what would be the best settings on the Panasonic for just straight listening to CDs? This thing has so many features- AV enhancer, MultiRemaster (?), Audio-only function, HDCD...?
You mention hi res surround- I don't think I would be using this for anything other than straight 2 channel CD listening but it does look like it has 5.1 analog out, would this work with CD?
Thanks
 
I voted for the NAK because you were concerned about it not getting any love. :oops:

But it is not like I know what any of them sound like.

You are probably the only person in the world able to hear all three!
 
Honestly, I haven't had mine in well over 10 years and I mainly used it for home theater. I would read a manual and play around some. Many DVDA discs have a stereo option, not just surround, so you can still get a high res stereo experience with it. Once you start comparing DVDA to red book CD's it's hard to go backwards, be warned!

I believe that HDCD sounds pretty nice too but I don't believe I own any.
 
Honestly, I haven't had mine in well over 10 years and I mainly used it for home theater. I would read a manual and play around some. Many DVDA discs have a stereo option, not just surround, so you can still get a high res stereo experience with it. Once you start comparing DVDA to red book CD's it's hard to go backwards, be warned!

I believe that HDCD sounds pretty nice too but I don't believe I own any.

Well HDCD decoders are supposed to make even regular CDs sound better (upsampling from 16 bit to 20 bit) so there's that. But, I don't own any DVD-Audio discs and that format is pretty much dead anyway, so the hi-res functionality of DVD-A wouldn't help me- it would only help me if there was a way for this player to play CDs in 24/96 or 24/192 which I don't see. And HDCD decoding can take place in the donwstream receiver as well as long as you are feeding it a digital signal.
I understand your love of hi res audio but it only comes into play here if there is a way for the Panasonic to apply it to CDs and send it out the 5.1 analog. Otherwise what's the point?
 
Yup, I agree, no DVDA discs, no need. Having said that, I only started collecting DVDA and SACD a couple of years ago and I have dozens now. I know they aren't really made anymore, but they're out there and some do still come out. I just like options. I like machines that give me choices when I'm at the music store, or flea market. I like my Oppo, those things do a nice on with any disc you feed them. Mine is a DVD player, for BluRay I have a newer Sony that also does SACD native digital to my receiver through HDMI. Between the 2 units I can play any format I've come across so far. If you run with the Panasonic, you get choices, DVDA, HDCD, CD. Plus the improved tech needed for DVD over CD player. Plus it's a changer, so another advantage.

Unless the Nak sounds noticeably better in a head to head, on paper I think the Panasonic is way ahead of the other 2. If you're 100% sure you will only want to play red book CD and go digital to the receiver it probably doesn't matter as much. If you go analog and want options then it does. Again, the tech in the Panasonic is generally more advanced and likely to be the best performer in every category, but if your ears say otherwise, or you need to look at a "higher end" component in your system then do what you will. I'd go Panny and never look back.
 
Yup, I agree, no DVDA discs, no need. Having said that, I only started collecting DVDA and SACD a couple of years ago and I have dozens now. I know they aren't really made anymore, but they're out there and some do still come out. I just like options. I like machines that give me choices when I'm at the music store, or flea market. I like my Oppo, those things do a nice on with any disc you feed them. Mine is a DVD player, for BluRay I have a newer Sony that also does SACD native digital to my receiver through HDMI. Between the 2 units I can play any format I've come across so far. If you run with the Panasonic, you get choices, DVDA, HDCD, CD. Plus the improved tech needed for DVD over CD player. Plus it's a changer, so another advantage.

Unless the Nak sounds noticeably better in a head to head, on paper I think the Panasonic is way ahead of the other 2. If you're 100% sure you will only want to play red book CD and go digital to the receiver it probably doesn't matter as much. If you go analog and want options then it does. Again, the tech in the Panasonic is generally more advanced and likely to be the best performer in every category, but if your ears say otherwise, or you need to look at a "higher end" component in your system then do what you will. I'd go Panny and never look back.

OK- you need to explain to me please EXACTLY what the advantage is of playing regular CDs on the Panasonic to make your case, which is what I would be doing. Leave every other format out of the equation since I don't have them. As I stated earlier the technological advancements of the Panasonic to me only seem to come into play when you are talking about other formats which I don't have. How do they apply to regular CD listening? If you can explain that to me I will be convinced.

Basically, it sounds to me like you are elevating convenience over sound quality, which there is nothing wrong with that if that's your thing, but I am looking for which unit will give me the best sound quality for a regular CD.
 
I'm not arguing that a plain old red book CD would be better through the Panasonic. I'm saying that the technology in the Panasonic offers more options, some conveniences and has the tech to give you very good performance with anything it plays. I've never heard the other 2 so I cannot speak to what they do. I suggest you do a head to head and then choose. But, if the sound is the same, why limit your options with the more obsolete CD players over the more flexible and higher tech option? I mean, are we talking about 15 year old tech vs 25 year old tech? Of course, they all have processing and are likely to sound a little different, and I would guess that the vastly improved technology in the Panasonic would put it ahead of the others but without a head to head listening test, that's just a guess. I still have an old Sony disc man from the early 90's, pre anti-skip, and it sounds good but only plays CD. My other players play CD as well, or better, and do much more. To me, that's an advantage. You never know what disc you may acquire tomorrow, wouldn't it be nice to know you can hear it when you get it home?

I won't speak for everyone, because I know this isn't a universal truth, but generally, in my experience, the better tech has given me better sound from every source. My best sounding CD players are DVD players. Then there are guys who seek out first generation Sony Playstations because they believe that they sound the best. Technical dinosaurs, but some guys love them. No short cuts really, only a listening test will tell you. If you can get a friend to help with a blind test, that would be best because the differences are likely to be so small that your feelings toward one over the other will likely influence your decision.

Honestly, I've generally moved past physical discs and I run almost everything off my music server so, I no longer actually touch a disc very often at all. If you're asking me what to do, I'd say rip them all to a hard drive and you can toss the rest.
 
i have a Nakamichi CD player and I love it, but I voted for the Panasonic because I bought the NAK new. When it dies, that's it... no one around to fix it. No parts, No more Nak. Ditto with the Magnavox, although you still might be able to get the parts for that one. If the goal is to listen to music, Panny all the way.

However, if you like diddling with belts, etc then go vintage.
 
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