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My surprising test results: high end 80s CD player vs modern low end DVD player

We are using a Walkman style CD player with built in memory. All our other CD players cannot handle the base hits anywhere near this system, so our choices are limited. Actually this system if for making the ears bleed anyway.
 
Brindabella said:
I have to say I am surprised at some of the responses in favour of new cheap DVD/CD out performing classic cd players of the 80's.

When I got back into to audio in June 2011 and from lurking in AK I discovered separate DAC's existed. Not a lover of digital sound but a lover of its convenience. I thought what a great and cheap option to up-grade my 4 Sony 400cd and 300cd carousel players. A sound I had always found harsh and fatiguing.

I promptly went out and bought a Cambridge DAC Magic new for about $400. Seeing how the cd players cost about $700 I thought by spending more than half on the primary sound reproduction component (link in the chain) I should hear an improvement.

Yes it was better but no OMG moment. Rest of the system Denon PMA1500 and Jamo D590's and Infinity Kappa 7 with quality cabling.

Again, reading the appreciation of vintage cd players on AK I decided to find out for myself what the fuss was all about so I bought in very good condition a Sony CDP-101. The difference was night and day. The Sony 101 was warm and most of all musical. No harsh brittle fatiguing noise. Yes I could hear some of its limitations at the extreams of the top end and bottom end roll-off, some slight processing problems on really complex music but the sound was so engaging.

I am still to re-tackle the issue of the DAC for the Sony stackers which I will get around to at some stage. However, I think I will go and buy a cd DVD player and hear for myself. But I would have thought the DAC Magic was new modern DAC that more than exceed the quality in a $39 DVD player.

A different experience to many of you. :thmbsp:
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Nope. My experience as well. I borrowed my doctor's Oppo with 1200 dollars worth of mods, and after a few songs, my ears were exhausted.

I use a Yamaha CDX-1100u, sometimes a Sony Playstation 1001 model, and recently a cheap sony sacd thru my Sony JA20ES minidisc for its DAC, and all are very pleasant. None are newer than 15 years old.
 
In general my experiences mirror the OP's.
Early 90's Sony CDP,
Mid 90's Technics CDP,
Both sound OK, the Technics much better.

2012 Sony WiFi BDP- (~85.00) sounds noticeably smoother, open and dynamic.
2011 JVC BDP- (~150.00) sounds better than all of the above, just slightly better than the Sony. The specs do not name the DAC, but it is listed as 192KHz/ 24 Bit.
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I plan on comparing those to my new Yamaha CD-S300 when I unbox it on 12/25.
 
fastbike said:
How do you explain the ridiculous prices that people will pay for tweaks and cables?
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http://nwavguy.blogspot.ca/2012/04/what-we-hear.html

We are humans with emotions that can override logic sometimes. People will get emotional about that statement, which if you think about it only reinforces the conclusion.
I personally do not pay for high end cables, However, the idea of using a $50.00 DVD player as the source in my system, despite the fact that logic tells me it sounds sufficient, does not set right with my psyche and perception. I want my system to have a cool CD player and dammit I am going to pay for it. A very emotionally driven opinion that smacks in the face of logic. High end "anything" would not survive without it.
 
My 2013 LG Bluray player sounds slightly better than my Philips CD-471 from 1987. With nearly early 30 years of digital playback technological advancement, I am not surprised.
 
The pick of Accept for listening material gets the OP an A+ for courage! Finally an artist I have heard of and LOVE. I may not have read the whole thread if it weren't for that 80's representation of rock in the sample.

Interesting topic that got me thinking about my BOTL cdp.
 
Not sure if it has been said before, but no matter how good a dvd player sounds, nothing can beat the look of a proper component cd player in a hifi rack, a silver plastic dvd player has no place in my rig as far as looks are concerned.
 
Panasonic usually makes DVD players that can deal with CD audio fairly well. That is NOT true of many or most other low end or sub 200 dollar DVD players. The majority are QUITE harsh and BRIGHT up top on CDs, especially when paired with a modern AVR!

On the other hand. The Sony in my Yamaha rig below is mellow, musical and almost warm sounding by comparison and it's probably a 200+ dollar machine from the '90s. I got it for $8.

I suspect it's not the player but the vintage electronics and speakers that smooth out the Sony CDP. Because it sounds pretty good on just about every vintage setup I've run it on?

cnh2
 
Dazaa said:
Not sure if it has been said before, but no matter how good a dvd player sounds, nothing can beat the look of a proper component cd player in a hifi rack, a silver plastic dvd player has no place in my rig as far as looks are concerned.
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So for stereo listening, you would choose looks over sound?
 
Dazaa said:
Not sure if it has been said before, but no matter how good a dvd player sounds, nothing can beat the look of a proper component cd player in a hifi rack, a silver plastic dvd player has no place in my rig as far as looks are concerned.
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And a latest Bryston CD player is - surprise...surprise - IS a Linux computer.
 
My experience with vintage CD players is a bit different than the OP's findings..

I had 4 choices for a CD player when I cobbled my current system together and I spent an entire weekend swappin and listening to various CD's.

The choices were:

Sony CA9ES--------------5 disk
Marantz CC65SE----------5 disk
Luxman D-100------------Single
Sure D6000 --------------Single


System played on:

Speakers-------Magnepan 2.6r
Amplifier--------Bryston 4b
Pre amp--------GAS Thalia
Subwoofer------Velodyne HGS12 crossed over at 40hz

Listening room is 21X18 speakers are 8 feet apart and 5 feet from the rear walls.


To my ears both the Sure and the Luxman sounded more natural and warm, the detail and sound stage was more defined.
The Sony and the Marantz were both a little brighter, slightly harsh at higher volume levels, sounded like my treble was bumped up a little.. One of the tracks that helped me decide was 1812 Overture, the cymbals sounded more realistic on the older units..

I really wanted to like the Sony or Marantz because the 5 disk is more attractive and I have both remotes.. I finally decided on the Luxman D-100 because it sounds better with my system, enough so to give up the luxury of the 5 disk changer.



After reading this thread, I decided to have another listen and added my Denon DVD 557 to the mix..

It is very difficult to tell between the Marantz and the Sony, to close to call. The Denon sounds a little thinner but very similar to the Sony and Marantz.. All 4 CD players sound better than the Denon DVD player

I still prefer the sound of the Luxman and it's staying as my main CD source. I chose the Luxman over the Sure because it tolerates scuffed CD's better than the Sure and my bass would occasionally cause the Sure to skip.

I am sure different results could be had depending on the choice of gear these players were run through, not to mention personal taste..

I do think the Magnepans are a very revealing speaker and this is likely a good system to compare CD and DVD players..
 
For what it's worth, I run a NAD T512 DVD player for music on my main system and find it to be simply amazing. Crystal clear, smooth, un-harsh and it makes bad CDs sound good. Also doesn't skip hardly ever. Was a $800 DVD player 10 years ago and can be found for a few bucks today. I'd recommend it to anyone looking.

Curious if anyone else uses this line of DVD players for music only.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My old JVC 1050 blows all my other players out of the water--CD, DVD, Bluray, Laserdisc. Its the oldest, but also the most expensive. Today's DACs are only good if you're willing to drop some serious coin. You still get what you pay for.
 
I dunno why anyone would dig up a hot mess of a thread like this one just to make their point. :dunno:
Started out based on a seriously flawed comparison in '09 and stayed on that track till the thread died in '13,
This thread should've stayed in the grave,,,talk about beating a long since dead horse... :rolleyes:

Anybody who's been around audio for ANY amount of time knows there is good & bad in both new & vintage gear.
Compare crap sounding unit(s) from the past with something modern that sounds nice and sure it seems to make the OP's case.
But compare a really nice sounding vintage CDP with a crap sounding modern DVD-P and the whole premise is blown to shreds.
And to be completely honest here,the units original cost often has absolutely NOTHING to do with determining if it's a "good" sounding unit or not.

Also as mentioned the vintage units would tend to need a good cleaning & recapping and such to even begin to make for a fair comparsion.
And do some mods like adding opamp sockets and rolling some opamps thru the vintage unit and I can guarantee the results are gonna be different.
I say that as more often than not that's what makes/breaks a good sounding unit vs. a cr@p sounding unit,and NOT the DAC it uses.

But by all means folks,keep dumping all those old "high end" CDP's for new DVD-P's,that just opens the door of opportunity for others. ;)

Sigh...

Bret P.
 
In the 80s (the era of the 16-bit DACs) almost every high-end cd-player was Philips based. Most of them had a Philips swing-arm lasertransport and a Philips DAC (with the TDA1541A as being the best). Even Sony used this DAC in their expensive ES-models. Also the oversampling principle Philips introduced made the sound much better because the analogue filter after the DAC-section didn't have to be so steep as without oversampling. So those are the kind of players you should use as a reference for that era.
In the 90s the 1-bit DAC came which some people say were even better (and some still like(d) the 1541A more). With 1-bit DACs again Philips was among the best. For instance the DAC7 (TDA1547) in differential mode as used in the best Marantz players. At the same time good multi-bit DACs were availible from companies like BurrBrown.
In the decades after that good DACs from for instance CirrusLogic and Wolfson came on the market which (among others) you can find later models of in the current cd- and dvd-players.
 
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