ambient
Super Member
In that price range I'd buy: http://www.amazon.com/Marantz-CD6004-Compact-Disc-Player/dp/B005JK64EC
CD player: Better to buy new lower-end, or older higher-end?
- Thread starter K-wey
- Start date
SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
Look for dual power supply, one for digital and one for audio. This gives most overhead and best separation. Overhead! Yup, CPD's are like amps so the more power available for the output stage, the better the speed and signal accuracy of the signal (in general). Chips have advanced greatly but I would say anything after the late Nineties is new enough.
My doctor friend has equipment that makes my quite nice stuff seem childish, yet after sitting thru his 1300 dollar Oppo (modded to the max) and a/b ing it with my Yamaha CDX 1100U (which is really a fussy bitch) I realized how smooth, warm and just lovely the Yammy sounded.
Like someone else said, computer-based servers are pretty much the future. I've built up a nice one with donated parts, and love it. Still break out the Yamaha every now and then, and am usually floored by its build quality. 35 pounds, two power supplies....just quality stuff.
Flammaster
DrumCorpsZappaFreak
How much for that Cambridge Audio? that is nice! it's hard to find anything in
silver anymore!
silver anymore!
I bought my two old TOTL Denons (DVD-5000 and DVD-9000) solely to use their DACs, as I really didn't like what I saw in most new, small, stand alone DACs for the price I wanted to spend (but the Musical Fidelity M-1 looks kinda nice...). I use the 9000 now, and it is great on both CD and the few high-res downloads I have.
I have some very expensive, modern, CD players here to compare the Denon to, and while it isn't quite as good- it gives a good showing for the price. What it gives up, is really only apparent in head-to-head comparisons. It sounds a little 'digital' (well, yeah) whereas the Marantz and EMM Labs players sound very much like analog devices. You can pay a lot to get a CD player that sounds like a record player, haha. I mean that in a good way.
Which is to say, for a few hundred dollars, the Denon DVD-9000 was an incredible bargain as a DAC and occasional integrated DAC/Transport.
I know an NAD dealer and in candid conversation he admitted their old reliability problems were very true, but that they are much better now, FWIW. No worse than anything else, so I hear.
charles 1973
Super Member
Your anaylis leaves out one very important part of all sources, the Audio section. Consider this. My 1988 Denon 1500II with it's "Antiquited" 44.1khz/16 bit DAC gives up nothing to my 2005 Denon 1920 SACD/DVD universal player dispite it's 192Khz/24 bit processor. In fact the 1500II sound's better on some disc's, at least the ones it still play's. Thats assuming I don't need to pry the door open with a screw driver. One reason to buy new. The construction, astetics, and functions of that 1988 unit are in a whole different leauge making the 1920 look and feel like a toy. Actually my cheap Apex player appears better constructed than my $500 Denon 1920. Both Denons sound quite good though to be honest as entry level Players.
Their are probably some new ones out their that would sound really good in your budget and would be the route I would go. I believe Cambridge audio makes some in your range. My preference would be the Pioneer Elite PD-6 but at $700 list is out of your range. Their PD-9 at $1,500 gives anything in its class a run for it's money. I've heard that one...It's Outstanding!
This Cambridge Audio - CA350C CD Player looks like a fine place to start at $350. I might buy one myself, I need a new transport anyway, that or another screwdriver to open the door when it sticks! Thanks for bringing the subject up!
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I think there is a real sweet spot in CD player design from the mid 90's to the early 00's. They sorted out the issues that made the early ones sound bad, and they seem to me to be of better quality than the more recent mid-level ones. Plus, prices are really good now.
guiller
Toscaninichus Australis
Within that budget I would look for a used (or perhaps new, sale price) Cambridge Audio 640 C V2:
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=99
You didn't say whether you have a modern computer somewhere near by. Now days one can record all their CDs onto say iTunes on an Apple (records too with the right software) and then send the tunes via WiFi to an Airport unit plugged in close the the stereo, and from that using a toslink to a seperate DAC into the stereo.
No, its not that easy at all. You're not considering the affect of budget on that, compared to how much things have or haven't changed over time. You also have to consider what would have benefited from the advance of time, and what would.This is electronics we are talking about. If you want the best sound you have to buy new.
If you want a great hobby tinkering with tubes and the like then buy used.
So- you have some advancement with the DAC (possibly, this isn't a given) in the new budget player, against the build quality and analog section of the older TOTL player, because a budget is being weighed against these two things. You also have to consider whether a new budget player will even have a DAC as nice as a more expensive (when new) older player. That's a bit of a crap shoot as well.
Many of us who have done the comparison instead of just ruminated about it, have come to the conclusion that it could go either way, depending on the units in question. But its for certain that there are older players that will smoke newer players. Just as the opposite is true.
I would go with a new or "newer" cdp not for sound quality but for the fact that laser pickups fail.
On an amusing sidenote, I sold my perfectly functioning Mcintosh MCD 7007, knowing that when it failed, I could not afford to have it repaired and that the laser pickup wasn't available. I didn't want to end up owning a very well made and heavy doorstop.
On my way to our local hifi/camera/tv shop to buy a Marantz 6004, I decided to swing past the GW just for shits and grins and what do I see sitting on the shelve? A mint California Audio Labs Icon MkII cd player complete with the power boss upgrade and remote for $29.
Would the Marantz 6004 have sounded better? Who knows?
On an amusing sidenote, I sold my perfectly functioning Mcintosh MCD 7007, knowing that when it failed, I could not afford to have it repaired and that the laser pickup wasn't available. I didn't want to end up owning a very well made and heavy doorstop.
On my way to our local hifi/camera/tv shop to buy a Marantz 6004, I decided to swing past the GW just for shits and grins and what do I see sitting on the shelve? A mint California Audio Labs Icon MkII cd player complete with the power boss upgrade and remote for $29.
Would the Marantz 6004 have sounded better? Who knows?
charles 1973
Super Member
I Hate to ruin the party but I've read about issues with a cambridge unit that won't play them. Perhaps a defective unit, I doubt it would get so much credit if it didn't play CD-r's If you choose to buy one I'd suggest you double check just to be shure. My 24 year old Denon will play them if I can pry the door Open. It seems every CD player I look at except that Pioneer PD-6 has an issue I won't live with, and I compared the pioneer to all the big names. Too bad It's $700 new. You might find one used, but it's a pretty new model.
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bluesky
Lunatic Member
Agreed. No worse than anything else.
Maybe I'm just Paronoid and todays manufacturing and technology has done it to me. Never had problems back in the old days.
So much of the new 'stuff' just malfunctions now-a-days, not just stereos, everything from fuel pumps to garage lights to toilet seats to all electronics to computers to lawn equipment to cameras...to you name it. Everything is broken brand new and needs to be returned to the store. It's all broken-brand-new. It's frustrating. I just don't understand really. Technology in the product or technology in the manufacturing process...or made in China, it's all broken brand new, or junk. Back in the old days (vintage) when things were made by people they worked. And lasted forever. Which is why so many of us are still using vintage stereo equipment. Let's see how much of this new stereo equipment lasts.
I am really simply totally honestly truely 'amazed' when I buy something new, anything new, and 'it just works'!! It's gotten that bad for me. I'm honestly scared to death to 'buy' anything NEW. Cause I just know it will malfunction immediately, very soon, or soon thereafter. It just does. All this new stuff is throw-a-way junk.
But I do have to admit...
The NAD C-515BBE CD player works like a charm!:yes:
It's been 2 years now and it works like brand new. I'm really so happy with the unit and about that quite honestly. I was really apprehensive when it arrived in the mail. i just knew it would malfunction too. It didn't. I really do love the sound of this NAD. It's a really nice machine.
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shoggoth80
Active Member
Interesting thread. The initial question of course has no easy answer. You might have a budget of approx. $400, and that is a lot of money to me. However the initial players discussed look *awesome* in their design from an aesthetics point of view (I can't argue the sound quality, never heard one, but I imagine they sound great). I popped $10 for a Technics CD player from my local thrift (not high end, but dude...$10), it was made in 1987, still sounds very good, plays all my discs, including my burned CDs... hard to complain about that. I guess the moral of the story is that clean used gear can still be very satisfying, and save you a bundle?
sKiZo
Hates received: 92644 43.20°N 85.50°W
Couple items ...
- CD-Rs are a crapshoot on a good day unless they're finalized on the original machine. Same goes for DVD-R. All drives aren't created equal, and it doesn't take much to throw the tracking off to where any other machine will have "issues".
- I did look up the NAD C-515BEE, and it doesn't seem to be available anymore. Not sure what they replaced it with, but I assUme it's much more expensive. <G>
- It's all about the DAC on a quality player. There's a reason people get rich just developing and franchising those things. We can mostly rely on the analog side to be adequate to the point where any inconsistencies aren't all that noticable.
For me, the OPPO 980H was the only choice ... everything it does, it does well, including SACD. That was also a bit of a sleeper - geared more to audio, leaving video as an afterthought. It's even got an option for turning video off entirely, freeing up those resources to process sound. Without the expensive video decoders, it was a real bargain too. AND, I can play my DVD/a disks without having to find room for yet another box in the audio system. And there's a LOT of good stuff out multi-channel audio that's only available in that format. The OPPO doesn't do BluRay or HDCD, but those weren't available back then. One of these days, I suppose it'll be back to shuffling boxes to make room for something that handles that too.
My only real concern right now ... it's getting a bit long in the tooth, and has a lot of play time on it. So far, absolutely no problems, but there will come a day ... arghh!! I hate when that happens!!
PS ... not sure if I'd ever buy a cd/dvd player used. As said, the transport does age rather quickly, and it's not like you can just recap or put a new belt on when it goes south.
EDIT >> Surprised none of the tube-aholics have mentioned the Jolida JD100A yet ...
- CD-Rs are a crapshoot on a good day unless they're finalized on the original machine. Same goes for DVD-R. All drives aren't created equal, and it doesn't take much to throw the tracking off to where any other machine will have "issues".
- I did look up the NAD C-515BEE, and it doesn't seem to be available anymore. Not sure what they replaced it with, but I assUme it's much more expensive. <G>
- It's all about the DAC on a quality player. There's a reason people get rich just developing and franchising those things. We can mostly rely on the analog side to be adequate to the point where any inconsistencies aren't all that noticable.
For me, the OPPO 980H was the only choice ... everything it does, it does well, including SACD. That was also a bit of a sleeper - geared more to audio, leaving video as an afterthought. It's even got an option for turning video off entirely, freeing up those resources to process sound. Without the expensive video decoders, it was a real bargain too. AND, I can play my DVD/a disks without having to find room for yet another box in the audio system. And there's a LOT of good stuff out multi-channel audio that's only available in that format. The OPPO doesn't do BluRay or HDCD, but those weren't available back then. One of these days, I suppose it'll be back to shuffling boxes to make room for something that handles that too.
My only real concern right now ... it's getting a bit long in the tooth, and has a lot of play time on it. So far, absolutely no problems, but there will come a day ... arghh!! I hate when that happens!!
PS ... not sure if I'd ever buy a cd/dvd player used. As said, the transport does age rather quickly, and it's not like you can just recap or put a new belt on when it goes south.
EDIT >> Surprised none of the tube-aholics have mentioned the Jolida JD100A yet ...
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