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Do dedicated CD Players sound better then Blu-Ray Players for CDs?

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super128

New Member
I have a Samsung HT-D4500 and when I play CDs with the built-in Blu-Ray player, it sounds pretty washed up and lifeless. Now I'm thinking about buying a dedicated CD player. Will it sound better?

The CD Player I want is an Onkyo C-7030.
 
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My Rotel 1072 sounds better than my OPPO93. If you got a 95 or 105, you may have a harder time telling the difference.

You can't expect too much out of a $200 all in one system.
 
Well, I'll say this: A dedicated CD player can sound better than a run-of-the-mill Blu/DVD player...but not necessarily.

In the case of the Onkyo 7030, absolutely. A very nice machine.

Happy trails,
Larry B.
 
Look at the audio chipset to compare specs.

I have an Oppo BDP-103 and while it's does a good job on CD's, my old Denon DVD-2910 sounds better than the Oppo to me.
 
I ordered a onkyo c7030 and received it last friday. I was listening to it over the week end and its a good quality unit with great sound for the price. you can not go wrong.
 
I picked up an AMC Cd8 a few months ago for $30 from a guy who was moving.

It has the Burr Brown DAC and it sounds great to me.
 
Personally I've never heard an all-in-one CD/DVD player sound better than a stand alone CDP. According to my ears,most tend to sound kinda boring with no real excitement,oomph,depth. Of-course,they're a few exceptions,and I really like the sound of the Pioneer DV-717,but it's still no match for something like a Naim CD5,CD5I,or even a late 80's Pioneer PD-91,Denon DCD-1560 etc.
I tend to think within the same price ranges,a standalone CDP will most likely have the edge.
 
I use an Onkyo C-7030 CD player in my headphone system. I purchased the Onkyo when it first came out and it is just an amazing player. My headphones are either the Grado SR60 or Sony MDR-V6, so nothing earth-shattering. But the Onkyo just sounds sweet. Great buy when I got it at $200.00....exceptional buy now that you can get one at lower price point.
 
super128 said:
I have a Samsung HT-D4500 and when I play CDs with the built-in Blu-Ray player, it sounds pretty washed up and lifeless. Now I'm thinking about buying a dedicated CD player. Will it sound better?

The CD Player I want is an Onkyo C-7030.
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Welcome. You have hit on one of the controversial topics here. Many won't comment because they have given their opinion on so many other cd/dvd threads. There are strong advocates for every choice.
If you go back and search cd player threads you will see what I mean.

Almost every cd thread will attract those who feel that dvd players are better.
Then there is the school of thought that cheap cd players are good enough, even those who favor a playstation,
or cheap dvd players are just as good,
or good dvd players are the way to go.
some of us who appreciate more expensive cdp.
Then usually the web streaming, servers etc guys come in and want to know why you are still using cds, the cd is dead.
I remember when vinyl and turntables were dead too.

I have an old Oppo 980H dvd and a new Yamaha blue ray dvd.
So far I have not personally had a dvd player anywhere near as good as my cd players.
 
Hyfi said:
My Rotel 1072 sounds better than my OPPO93. If you got a 95 or 105, you may have a harder time telling the difference.

You can't expect too much out of a $200 all in one system.
Click to expand...

I really like that Rotel 1072. I gave mine to a friend as part of a complete Rotel set up.
 
KevinCorr said:
So far I have not personally had a dvd player anywhere near as good as my cd players.
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guiller said:
My experience agrees with yours,
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Well I guess I'm the exception... a Primare DVD30 UDP ($4000 new) that I got on Fleabay for $600 just nudged a dedicated CAL Icon MkII HDCD Player ($1400 new) out of my system. You can get a CAL Icon for about $300-500 on DaBay.

So I'd say given a high enough quality UDP, it can take on any dedicated CD Player! And the deals are out there if you don't want a BD Player! :yes:
 
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Suggestion - go shop Goodwill and/or Salvation Army and pick up a Japanese made CDP from the mid-1980s. You'll likely pay less than $15 for it and it'll be a good test for sound with your system. IMO - you may not hear a difference between a BlueRay player and a dedicated CDP, but the CDPs from the mid-80s do have a wonderful sound and most of them look great.

I have two Kenwoods and a Pioneer all from 1985-1986 and they are sweet machines. Aluminum faceplates, built like tanks, heavy and would not trade them for anything.
 
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peterfranks said:
Go shop Goodwill and/or Salvation Army and pick up a Japanese made CDP from the mid-1980s. You'll likely pay less than $15 for it and it'll be the best CDP you've ever owned for the money.
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So now we get into the "Does a $4000 player that can be had for $600 sound better than a $500 player that can be had for $15?" question. :scratch2:

And you know I'm just joking... because the OP is maybe just sort of somewhat subjective!!! :yes:

Hey.... I'm the first post on Page 2!!! :banana:
 
SimplySound said:
So now we get into the "Does a $4000 player that can be had for $600 sound better than a $500 player that can be had for $15?" question. :scratch2:

And you know I'm just joking... because the OP is maybe just sort of somewhat subjective!!! :yes:

Hey.... I'm the first post on Page 2!!! :banana:
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You know ... thank you. I'm glad you called me out on that. I should have stayed more focused on my answer.

I shall go back and re-edit. I didn't say what I wanted. :thmbsp:
 
peterfranks said:
Suggestion - go shop Goodwill and/or Salvation Army and pick up a Japanese made CDP from the mid-1980s. You'll likely pay less than $15 for it and it'll be a good test for sound with your system. IMO - you may not hear a difference between a BlueRay player and a dedicated CDP, but the CDPs from the mid-80s do have a wonderful sound and most of them look great.

I have two Kenwoods and a Pioneer all from 1985-1986 and they are sweet machines. Aluminum faceplates, built like tanks, heavy and would not trade them for anything.
Click to expand...

If anyone comes across a good working Marants 67SE, jump on it. That coupled with my old Audio Alchemy DDE1.1 was my intro to decent playback and the Rotel 1072 finally replaced it when it failed.
 
I use a Blu-ray for AV and Cambridgeaudio Azur for Audio only and never the two shall meet.:D
 
I use both a pioneer elite dv-38a and in my second system a sony 555es,both single draw and heavey asz players,copper shielded weighing in around 20 lbs each.the PIONEER was over 2 gs new and sounds great as a cd player.
 
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