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Good DVD player for CD playing?

Here's what you do...

Somebody already mentioned the Sony DVP-S7700, but the sleeper is it's predecessor, the DVP-S7000. Sony's flagship DVD player when it was introduced ($1100). Built like a tank. The audio section was straight out of their ES series CD players. An ES class CD player, now for about $100.
It gets even better. For tweaking, the audio board is removeable to work on. Install modern Op-amps & Nichicon KZ/FG caps in the audio board. Install high-grade RCA chassis jacks wired directly to the output coupling caps and put at least a copper plug on the end of the stock power cord. With these mods, already very good analog SQ goes to...
. :jawdrop:
 
I'm just throwing this out since I don't own one nor had I ever heard one....

I was just at a Hong Kong audio forum and looks like the Sony DVP-SR200P DVD player has developed quite a following as an inexpensive CD player. The Sony DVP-SR200P is currently going for $37.00 on Amazon.com. A blogger has the following to say about the Sony....

Best Buys of the Year
1. Sony DVP-PR50P and its twin DVP-SR200P (previously reviewed here). These ridiculously cheap players surprisingly play CDs really well. The DVP-PR50P is no longer available, so grab the SR-200P while you still can. Some people use these as transports, but I think they are missing the point. The analogue outputs are the real stars here, an uncanny mixture of detail and musicality that is missed by the majority of expensive digital products. If the analogue outs don't sound good in your system, question the balance of your system first.

My friend princetonsound thought so highly of these players that he did a detailed comparison between the two using his small system of Wavelength EL84 SE amp driving a fullrange speaker. His conclusions: (a) the two sound virtually identical; (b) he prefers the Sony's to Philips LHH-1000 and Revox 225 (now, THAT is a tall statement!!!).
Click to expand...
 
I have one of those cheap sony dvd players mentioned in the post ahead of mine. I also have a sony dvp-s7000. Would I say they're in the same ballpark ? I sure would'nt. Is it good for a brand new $37 dollar player? It sure is. As much as I like older units it is nice not having to worry about if it's gonna die tomorrow or if a previous owner tried to play a slice of bologna in it and that's why it's mistracking.

I however love my dvp-s7000 and recommend it especially at what they go for these days. It has ES build quality, good looks(imho), a good and easily modded audio section, and two laser pickups. I also hear if you don't want to mod it they make great transports too. I also like a lot of the denon players too sdo certainly dont coun't those out either, especially the big ones like the 3910 and 5910.
 
In my second set, the office set, I use a Denon DVD2900. It's also a sacd player and to be honest, It plays better than my older DCD2560 plus mods. More detail, air a deeper sound.
I also have a Panasonic BD85, blu-ray player but this less.
 
My main system is in my office, but I'm running a Sony DAV-C450 in my living room, Picked it up for a few duckets at the local value village. Integrated receiver, and a 5 disc changer. shows track title and all that you're asking for. I don't know about the speakers that it originally came with, but with 4 venturi bookshelf speakers, a polk center channel, and psw-10 sub, it sounds awesome.
 
I will tell you there is good chance to get an Arcam DV 78 or DV 79 for less than $300 in the used market. They will be a High-end cd player for a very low price.
 
As long as you aren't needing Blu-Ray I've had great luck with the Denon 5900 and 3910 I have. For Sony the DVP NS-999ES is a great machine. All three of these are reasonably priced. The NS-999 you can get for well under 200.00 if you watch Agon or the bay closely. The 3910's go for 250.00-300.00. You just have to have the money ready and check the venues several times a day.
 
RickeyM! Jarred!

Any chance you could provide a bit more detail on modifying the DVP-S7000? I just picked one up. I'm reasonably comfortable using a soldering iron, but otherwise pretty much clueless when it comes to electronics. Not sure I could identify the audio board, let alone an op-amp. A few photos would be very much appreciated if you have them.

Thank you.
 
JDub said:
Any chance you could provide a bit more detail on modifying the DVP-S7000? I just picked one up. I'm reasonably comfortable using a soldering iron, but otherwise pretty much clueless when it comes to electronics. Not sure I could identify the audio board, let alone an op-amp. A few photos would be very much appreciated if you have them.
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I have a Sony 999ES and have done MANY mods to the player.

Part Swapping (Caps, Power, Resistors, OpAmp), New output stages, New clock.

Part swapping is just that, part swapping = improvement, but minimal and sometimes real hit and miss. This is where people have been ripped off with mods. A few dollar worth of parts, many many hundreds paid for it, minimal if any change in sound.

New Output Stages - Modwright (Tube Output Stage) and Vacuum State (SS Output Stage) offer mods to completely replace the output stage with their own. These stages have no OpAmps, and minimal number of parts to get in the way of the signal. Output Stage = One of the best mods to have done.

New Clock - The Terra Firm Lite and Uber Clock from Vacuum State - Probably one of the greatest changes to the sound of a player other than the new output stages. A new VSE clock is a MUST IMO.. The two versions are for internal or external. A benefit with my player is the new clock not only was for two channel, but since my player uses a single master clock, it also improved the sound of MCH SACD playback - a real bonus.

Who would I recommend for Mods? Modwright of VSE. Both offer great mods, and both offer the ability to REMOVE the mod if you are not happy with it and return your player to stock. They also warranty their work and will also perform any other work on your player if you need it. When I had the new output stage put in my player, I also had a new Laser put in. Another bonus of Modwright and VSE is they are not just MODDERS who come and go in the night. They are also very involved with other audio components in their company - amps, pre amps, etc.

I have just under $3k invested in my player (Player Cost + Mods) and the only stock player I have heard which would make me want to give up my modded player is priced at $9k.

Stop by the Asylum and read posts by completely satisfied customers of Modwright or VSE modded players. Modwright has their own forum over at Audio Circle and VSE folks stop by the Asylum.

Here is a quote from someone who purchase the new Sony 5400 and had Modwright do their mods:

Wow! I recently had a Sony SCD-XA777es player. It was built like a tank, but the CD and SACD performance of the 5400es with ModWright mods is simply stunning. I spend most of my time listening to vinyl on a $20k+ rig, and this 5400es has the organic energy of what I love about vinyl (not sure if it is the tubes?). Fluidity, musicality, transparency, dynamics, black background, large sound stage, layering, are the words that come to mind. And like vinyl, what I'm hearing is SPACE around, to the side, behind and in front of instruments. Dimensional and engaging with large sound stage but rock solid imaging, not flat or etched like most CD players sound to my ears......

BTW - I am NOT affiliated with any companies mentioned in this post....
 
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One more contribution to the 'dvd players that do cds well' - the NAD T 550.

It's not much of a dvd player, (forget dual layers) but it's an impeccable cd player.

s.
 
I'm not worried about my main system - I use the digital out on my Denon player to my newer Denon receiver with a much nicer DAC. Besides that, using the PS3 would involve turning the TV on to navigate the tracks. I was more looking for a decent player to use with my vintage Marantz stuff which obviously has no DAC in it. Though recently I've been working on a deal where I'd be getting an MSB DAC and powerbase which could also solve this problem. I keep an eye out for older high quality DVD players now, but they're not too common - mostly just the cheap lightweight ones they make nowadays which have no mass and no build quality to them. I had a cheap Sony that didn't work right I took apart and the plastic pieces were everywhere in it, felt really flimsy and I ended up trashing it because it just kept giving read errors.
 
Question: Do DVD (and Blu Ray) players upsample? I know that DVD audio is recorded at 48KHz, as opposed to the 44.1Khz of a CD, and those don't have a common multiple until well in the MHz range. So what happens? Upsampling? Or does the DAC have two different sampling modes?
 
I use a Sony DVP-NS55P with both of my systems and they perform very well.
I have never use them to play dvd's though...
 
guiller said:
This thread could be useful for the purposes of this thread: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=363467
Click to expand...

I was just going to add that player to this thread, but you beat me to it. It is not the equal of my current Marantz Reference player but if you want something that can at least give a hint of what CD can do, this is a good option. I've read online some people saying (err...speculating) that a cheap new DVD player will beat a 10 year old TOTL player (the Denon I'm talking about was $2500 when new) for CD sound. These people are, well, full of it. IMHO. This player beat my Cambridge Audio 640 v2 out of its seat in my second system, and did so pretty convincingly.

That said, there are also some really nice TOTL CD players that are plummeting in price, too...I only bought the Denon as I wanted a universal player for my second system, which is used for movies about 1/2 the time.
 
JohnVF said:
I was just going to add that player to this thread, but you beat me to it. It is not the equal of my current Marantz Reference player but if you want something that can at least give a hint of what CD can do, this is a good option. I've read online some people saying (err...speculating) that a cheap new DVD player will beat a 10 year old TOTL player (the Denon I'm talking about was $2500 when new) for CD sound. These people are, well, full of it. IMHO. This player beat my Cambridge Audio 640 v2 out of its seat in my second system, and did so pretty convincingly.

That said, there are also some really nice TOTL CD players that are plummeting in price, too...I only bought the Denon as I wanted a universal player for my second system, which is used for movies about 1/2 the time.
Click to expand...

Wait a sec John - I thought the PS1 was basically as good as any $6000 CD player?!!! Why bother with the Denon?
 
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