CD player for under $200
- Thread starter roggae
- Start date
Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
Ok, I'm game. Can you point me to the Pandora service you're referring to? (I assumed all of Pandora's offerings were below redbook quality.)
If there's a high-res version, that'd be terrific!
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whoaru99
Epic Member
That, I believe, is a derivation of the Music Hall CD25 I mentioned previously (or maybe it's vice versa). But, whatever, I liked what I heard from the stablemate product either way you look at it. :thmbsp:
whoaru99
Epic Member
My unsolicited advice on that is "not yet", assuming some minimum level of quality already exists. If one holds to the professions of cable connoisseurs, the cable needs to match/have synergy with the system, so you can't really decide on a good improvement with the system in constant flux.
From what I've heard even the paid Pandora is only 192kbps, the free option is much less. If the quality of sound of the Panasonic player you recommend is indistinguishable from streaming 192kbps or the lower one (probably 64kbps?) then I'm with Brett on this one, it isn't the hallmark of a great source. It's not a subjective thing, the simple fact of compression comes into play and much of the information portrayed on the better players simply is not there at that sample rate. There is a huge and not hard to hear difference between the best sources and streaming 192. While that is a very listenable sample rate, it is not a very large sample, so to speak. 320kbps and it's a fairer fight (Linn has a service that offers this, as well as some others), but as far as I know Pandora doesn't offer anywhere close to that. I've used Pandora but only to find new music as the sound quality was terrible on the free service. 192kbps against a Well Tempered TT...not fair at all.
PR Audio
Super Member
Grateful and Brett,
I see that both of you live in Mass. So, how about if both of you get together, go and audition the darn Panasonic, then go and audition a couple of used, maybe even new, redbook CDP priced similarly, and decide. Afterwards enjoy a few beers, wine, or do whatever floats your boat, and settle this argument. Then, report back to us.
PR Audio
Super Member
I'm glad I was able to help. Let us know what you think of the CDP. If we may know, how much did you offer, and got it for? I like AV123 equipment, most of it is reasonably priced and good quality; some of their speakers were very good.
BTW, a reminder to all of you, AV123 though it had great products, it went under because of bad business decissions and an apparent fraudulent scheme (similar to a Ponzi scheme), beware of ID companies where you have to pre-pay for a product that has no dealer network and a distant delivery date.
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Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
My unsolicited advice on that is "not yet", assuming some minimum level of quality already exists. If one holds to the professions of cable connoisseurs, the cable needs to match/have synergy with the system, so you can't really decide on a good improvement with the system in constant flux.
Sort of, but at the same time, he's going to have a fundamentally flawed system if he's using garbage for interconnects and speaker wire. Something decent needs to be put into place right away when building a system, IMO, not once you've gotten the best of everything you can afford.
I have one of these in my bedroom system that I picked up on the auction site for $75 shipped a couple of years ago. It sounds wonderful by itself. It's the only CDP I have that I do not use an external DAC with. It is highly regarded by others on this site also.
roggae
Active Member
Well the onix has been in my system now for about a week. It shipped with a broken foot and a screw rattling around inside. Besides those two c ferns I think it sounds great. I really appreciate all your comments and couldn't have done this w/o the AK community. So pat yourselves on the back. Now I'm going to explore the speaker/amp pairing. It's a jolida 302 and I'm currently rocking a pair of paradigm mini monitors.
guiller
Toscaninichus Australis
Did you find the source of the rattling? How does the CDP sound to your ears? Could you please post some pictures?
roggae
Active Member
The source of the ratteling is a small black screw. The CDP sounds very musical to my ears. Pictures will come later.
guiller
Toscaninichus Australis
Thanks!
myu701
Vintage futurist
Very respectable specifications on that DVD-1940Ci. Factory refurbished are at least as good as new, if not better because of full QC on the unit. I did notice on that website that the DVD-2900 is available for a bit more... but at a very reasonable price considering the original $999 MSRP.
I know a number of people swear by going with straight CDP's, versus units that play both DVD and CD... because you get better quality out of a single purpose device. But I'm not so sure that necessarily applies for higher end units.
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Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
It's like everything else, lots of variables, many possibilities. Generally (and this is only my opinion) I think someone who has a large CD collection, is serious about sound quality, and has the money to do so, should get the "best" dedicated single CD player he can. Best is in quotes because that's subjective, so you need to do some research first.
myu701
Vintage futurist
^^ I won't argue with that--if you've got the money, a dedicated single CD player is great to have. I think you also need a good enough system to discern the differences, though. Someone like yourself has done a lot of painstaking research and higher end audio gear acquisitions to assemble a stellar system that allows your ears to perceive differences between various CD players. Your top 3 picks (MF, Naim, Jolida) are all prize-worthy components, that probably sound about the same in lesser quality audio systems. If one day I have those kinds of funds to devote to audio, I will probably be buying similar gear! 
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
^^ I won't argue with that--if you've got the money, a dedicated single CD player is great to have. I think you also need a good enough system to discern the differences, though. Someone like yourself has done a lot of painstaking research and higher end audio gear acquisitions to assemble a stellar system that allows your ears to perceive differences between various CD players. Your top 3 picks (MF, Naim, Jolida) are all prize-worthy components, that probably sound about the same in lesser quality audio systems. If one day I have those kinds of funds to devote to audio, I will probably be buying similar gear!
Thanks for the kind words. My advice, if that time ever comes, buy used! That's what I did - otherwise you would only see one CD player listed in my signature and it would be the Jolida (not that there's anything wrong with that).
JBCobra
JBCobra
+1 on the Denon
Excellent unit. I think you would have to spend a lot more $ to do better
