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Are CD Players an endangered species? / Am I too old?

tcdriver

tcdriver

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
This is a true story.

Yesterday, I was helping my next door neighbor set up and conduct some listening tests. We compared three Marantz 7 preamplifiers in his system. One was totally stock, one had polypropylene coupling capacitors and the last was one of the modern reissues. What does this have to do with CD players? We were using his twenty year old Sony as the source and it has become unreliable. When the disc was inserted it sometimes would read and sometimes not. Some times he will have to reload the disc a dozen or more times before it would take. So, after the listening comparison we talked about CD players. We decided to go to Fry’s (a large electronics retailer) to check out what they had.

We get to Fry’s and proceed to the section of the store where they have the receivers and in the past had the DVD and CD players. The receivers were there but no CD players. Last month, when I was in the store, they had about a dozen or more CD, SACD, DVD-A players in this section of the store but, now not a single one. So, let us ask one of the salesmen. The first one I see is a young man (looks like he was born after the CDs were first sold) and I ask him where are CD players? The conversation goes something like this:

Me: “Where are the CD players?”

Salesman: “CD players?” (with puzzled expression on his face)

Me: “Yes, the players to play CDs”

Salesman: “Oh, you mean the portable ones with headphones?”

Me: “No, I mean the ones that are used in a stereo system.”

Salesman: “We have stereo systems over here.” (pointing out a section of mini and micro systems)

Me: “I am looking for a stand alone player to hook up to my stereo system”.

At this point the salesman gets the attention of another salesman (of about the same age) and asks him. The second salesman does not know about stand alone CD players either and they are both giving us looks like “what planet are you from”. At this point my neighbor and I thank them and decide to go looking on our own. We finally find the CD players near the DVD players in the video section of the store. So, here are my questions for you AudioKarma members:

1. Are stand alone CD players a soon to be an endangered species?

2. Are people who use CD players soon to be an endangered species?
 
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I couldn't find them at Fry's either. Kinda like years ago when I went ot buy some vinyl at Tower Records and there was no records.

CDs will and are being replaced with newer technology and formats. You'll still be able to buy hi-end stuff for awhile. But eventually we will have another vintage media we can play with and collect.

tc...I'm still grooving on that Nikko 501!
 
Well, stand-alone DVD players can play CD's, so I would say that is where the market is heading to. Multi-purpose disc players. All of the players in my home are actually DVD players.

So, I would say YES, pure CD-playing units are going the way of the dodo.
 
mg196 said:
Well, stand-alone DVD players can play CD's, so I would say that is where the market is heading to. Multi-purpose disc players. All of the players in my home are actually DVD players.

So, I would say YES, pure CD-playing units are going the way of the dodo.
Click to expand...

Well, you certainly can find them in Audio stores, but I gotta agree w/ mg196 on the mass market dropping them (or selling mega changers). I use the Toshiba DVD players in my main listening rigs.

BTW, what kind of "20 year old Sony" were you using?? It just strikes me as odd that anyone with 3 Model 7s would be using a run of the mill BPC Sony as a source; which was basically my first impression. Don't get me wrong, I use a Sony carousel out in the garage, but there aren't any Model 7s out there either :yes:
 
"2. Are people who use CD players soon to be an endangered species?"

well, to answer the second question... it's funny how time flies. i'm 49 and i teach at a college. to the young kids, i'm ancient with one foot in the grave. (hell, maybe both feet are in the grave...). every year the kids stay the same age and i watch myself get older by comparison. the music that i prefer are from people who are moslty all dead or at least have their feet planted near mine... and the older i get the more i appreciate the older things whether in music, stereo equipment or people. for me it seems to be a search for quality and for comfort, a place to call home. in addition to vintage stereo, i collect bamboo fly rods, not so much because they are better in some way than graphite (though many would argue that they are), but mostly because they are truly man made, made by a human being- often you can tell exactly who made the rod. they are personable and natural in a way that mass-produced rods aren't. much the same way that i feel about mcintosh equipment, (and yeah, i know, big factory...) that they don't follow the crowd, they look dated to some people... i don't mind that, in fact i'm beginning to prefer it. the more technology advances, the more some people look back, to vinyl, to drive-in movies, to the old days... and so it is with cd's.

do you notice when you go into antique stores, more and more you're finding stuff in there that you had when you were a kid? :scratch2:
 
BPC or not?

Andyman said:
BTW, what kind of "20 year old Sony" were you using?? It just strikes me as odd that anyone with 3 Model 7s would be using a run of the mill BPC Sony as a source; which was basically my first impression.
Click to expand...
As most of us know Sony was one of the co-inventers of the CD. Sony is well known today for making inexpensive CD and DVD players. However, they also have made and continue to make some expensive very high quality units. The Sony in question is not BPC. It was a well made (heavy) unit that was cutting edge at the time it was made. It has smooth mechanicals, good looks and a full feature set. It sounds good too, when it will play the disc.
 
The direction that the newer DVD players have headed in, slimer design with thin metal case, really does seem to have a negative impact on sound quality. I was comparing one of those Toshiba DVD players to an older CD player, and the older player sounded better.
 
rulerboyz said:
The direction that the newer DVD players have headed in, slimer design with thin metal case, really does seem to have a negative impact on sound quality. I was comparing one of those Toshiba DVD players to an older CD player, and the older player sounded better.
Click to expand...

That very much depends on how old the older player is. I can tell you that a "high end" cd player from the mid 80s that cost a ton of cash can't keep up with a Sony Diskman from the mid 90s. A Sony DVD Player from the mid 2000s will walk over the Diskman. The Toshibas sound better than a Sony DVD player. There is a lot of difference in this "low end". I've heard one very nice high end modern CD player - I think a Rotel - and it was clearly much better than my Toshiba.
 
roseskunk said:
the music that i prefer are from people who are mostly all dead or at least have their feet planted near mine... and the older i get the more i appreciate the older things whether in music, stereo equipment or people.
Click to expand...
I hear you. I do like and play a lot of the older music. I also like to keep up with some (not all) of the newer music too. I also find that I enjoy discovering music that has been around a long time but that I had not heard before. That is the main reason I buy as much vinyl as I do. It is very inexpensive which makes trying out new to music a fairly financially painless exercise.
roseskunk said:
do you notice when you go into antique stores, more and more you're finding stuff in there that you had when you were a kid? :scratch2:
Click to expand...
:lmao: That is unfortunately too true. Maybe that is why I do not often go to antique stores.
 
mg196 said:
Well, stand-alone DVD players can play CD's, so I would say that is where the market is heading to. Multi-purpose disc players.
Click to expand...
That is a good observation. My last disc player purchase was a universal (SACD, DVD-A, CD) player.
 
Some stand alones still around, but harder to find. I recently sold off my CD player that had become unreliable, parted with an old VCR and opted for a DVD/VCR combo. Does a great job with the CD's and now have the "luxury" of watching DVD's if I want.
 
Big box stores around here have about 15 DVD players to choose from and, if lucky, 1 or 2 CD only players.

Why would the average consumer want a redundant component when they can get a DVD/CD player for $30?
 
roseskunk said:
...do you notice when you go into antique stores, more and more you're finding stuff in there that you had when you were a kid? :scratch2:
Click to expand...

Oh, yeah. The most important thing I've learned about antique stores is to stay away from mirrors.

As far as the op's question, I would have to say that CD players haven't gone away at all, they're just part of DVD players, as has been mentioned.

I don't think that's a bad thing, or a sign that CD's as a source are going away. It makes perfect economic sense to have one device that plays different discs that are identical except for the data, which is easily handled by the electronics.

Otherwise, it'd be kinda like wanting two different turntables for 33 and 45, or two different RTR decks for 3 3/4 and 7 1/2.
 
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CD players are Dodo birds....they just don't know it yet?
I think higher-end CD players will be around for a while.
But everything else will be DVD/CD players.
My old AR turntable will outlive me!!
My 16 year-old daughter bought a Dual 1257 turntable.
She'll get my record collection.....when my body becomes inop.
I told my family I wanted an Audiophile Viking funeral:
1. Buy large Kabuki speaker (Coral BX-1500 will do nicely).
2. Take out drivers
3. Put in corpse
4. Drive to Circuit City
5. Place Kabuki corpse near front entrance
6. Write in large letters on side of speaker: "Will work cheap!"
7. Set fire to Kabuki corpse
8. Drink heavily (actually this should be #1)

Steve
.
 
tcdriver said:
1. Are stand alone CD players a soon to be an endangered species?
Click to expand...
As a mass market phenomenon, yes. For hobbyists/enthusiasts, I don't think so, not for a long time.
2. Are people who use CD players soon to be an endangered species?
Click to expand...

I'm 51, I often feel like an endangered species :)
 
These days most receivers are home-theater receivers with digital circuitry and inputs. If you take different DVD players and play CDs using a digital connnection, does it matter what player it is, or do they all sound the same since the DAC is in the receiver?

Many receivers let you bypass the ADC and DAC though; which approach is better?
 
Cambridge Audio makes some awesome stand alone CDP's and they make some great DVDP's For my last digital player I opted for a Cambridge audio 540D DVD. since it will play any kind of audio disk except SACD (of which I have none)

And it's styling matches my mid 70's Pioneer gear very well.
 
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