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Phillips CD-60 on its way out, replacement thoughts?

bored184

bored184

AK Subscriber
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This has been my favorite CD player for years now but its sadly its developed a skip that I cannot get rid of. I have cleaned and lubricated the transport and its still happening. This does have the highly sought after dac chip. Are there current CD players that have similar sound characteristic to this player? I hate to see this player get replaced because I have put it up against a number of others and its has always come out on top.
 
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I've been doing some research on CD Players and came to the conclusion that one of the best value CD players is the Arcam CD5. My Cambridge CXC CD Transport does a fine job too with the DAC in the matching CXN V2 Streamer/Digital Pre-amp. If you have a decent stand alone DAC, The CXC V2 Transport is a good option too.

For Serious CD Lovers with Deep pockets, Moon Audio's 260D with the DAC would be my choice.

These are quite transparent CD Players, They play what you feed them. They probably don't impart a sound of there own. Every CD sounds different if the rest of your system has enough resolution.
 
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These players (CDM4/19) usually suffer from faults due to supporting electronics, old capacitors for instance and not bad lasers. The blue axial Philips caps are known to be problematic over time.
 
Oasis8 said:
These players (CDM4/19) usually suffer from faults due to supporting electronics, old capacitors for instance and not bad lasers. The blue axial Philips caps are known to be problematic over time.
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I thought about recapping it but not knowing that would fix the issue I was a bit apprehensive.

salamander said:
Hello !
The Marantz CD6007 is very good. I’m using one right now, and I really like it.
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I have heard good things about the Marantz CD players. I want to say there is a 6007 for sale locally close to me.
 
bored184 said:
I have heard good things about the Marantz CD players. I want to say there is a 6007 for sale locally close to me.
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You have to like the Marantz sound. Older units were too smooth, new ones are better. They are musical, but some like a more detailed peppy sound from other brands. It's about synergy...or getting used to your system with what you have, which is me.
 
If looking at Marantz CD-x0 and CD-x5 series back in the day, the CD-40, CD-50,CD-60 and CD-80 were smooth sounding and laid back, while the CD-65, CD-85 are more dynamic and lively sounding (probably the CD-75 also)
 
bored184 said:
I thought about recapping it but not knowing that would fix the issue I was a bit apprehensive.


I have heard good things about the Marantz CD players. I want to say there is a 6007 for sale locally close to me.
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Best to seek out a CD Player guru to have a look at it, could be a few things.

Have to be careful reworking these old lower end Philips based players as the tracks can lift easily if not careful.
 
I would consider the SMSL PL200T and I like mine and has a dedicated additional USB input for use as a nice DDC. Excellent build quality a definitely worth an audition. One reason I got mine was because it was a top loader.
I have found I prefer a drawer over a top loader but keeping the P200T as I like it.
So I looked for for what I considered to be the best value and performance in a drawer loader and based on my investigation got a Tascam CD200BT which uses the same CD mechanism as the Teac $1.6k CD. Tascam is the studio line owned by Teac. The build is for long term studio use. I have had a few CD players and transports and I can absolutely recommend the CD200 for auditioning. I removed the rack stand mounts and it anchors my digital front end.
 
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Oasis8 said:
Well, middling.

These have compressed paper PCBs.
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Well, the swing-arm Phillips transport is considered one of the best transports ever made, the TDA1541A is usually ranked among the best DAC chips ever made, and the CD-60 is equipped with both.

I don't have first-hand experience with CD-60 PCBs, so I'll gladly take your word for it. I do know, however, that traces and solder pads will lift off of some vintage Krell PCBs as effortlessly as swallows lifting off a telephone wire but I wouldn't call vintage Krell low-end :)
 
MFRD said:
Well, the swing-arm Phillips transport is considered one of the best transports ever made, the TDA1541A is usually ranked among the best DAC chips ever made, and the CD-60 is equipped with both.

I don't have first-hand experience with CD-60 PCBs, so I'll gladly take your word for it. I do know, however, that traces and solder pads will lift off of some vintage Krell PCBs as effortlessly as swallows lifting off a telephone wire, but I wouldn't call vintage Krell low-end :)
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MFRD said:
Well, the swing-arm Phillips transport is considered one of the best transports ever made, the TDA1541A is usually ranked among the best DAC chips ever made, and the CD-60 is equipped with both.

I don't have first-hand experience with CD-60 PCBs, so I'll gladly take your word for it. I do know, however, that traces and solder pads will lift off of some vintage Krell PCBs as effortlessly as swallows lifting off a telephone wire but I wouldn't call vintage Krell low-end :)
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Ýes, the Philips swing arm mech's are nice, the best is the CDM1 mK2. Actually I'm not sure on the PCB of the CD-60, I know the Marantz CD-65 does use the compressed paper PCB.

I had a Marantz CD-60 (same as the Philips) and modded it a fair bit, sparko regs, modified output stage and socketed the chips and put a S1 single crown in there and full recap ect. But I messed up one of the mods which lead to a failure down the track. I always wanted a Marantz CD-85, but never came to be.

Moved to a modern Chinese build around the TDA1540D chips, slightly better than the modded CD-60 I had when using my chinese transport with it, but it cost around $1300AU, although with mods i likely paid as much for the CD-60 if including the mods done. My transport is chinese also, built arond the CDM4/19 like in the CD-60.

So I do like the Philips swing arm mechs, and the TDA1541 and TDA1540.

@bored184 Hope you can sort out the issue with your CD-60, they are nice players.
 
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I'll tell my story once again.

Several years ago I bought a new Onkyo CDP, thinking that it had to sound better than the thrift store one's I'd been using. Well........it didn't. Thought about returning it, but since I really wanted a single disc player for my office system (my others were cartridge players), I kept it. Some time later I got to reading about DAC's. I bought a Schiit Modi Multibit and the improvement in SQ was not subtle.

I've since purchased a few other DAC's (for other systems), with the latest being a used Bryston; which is the best of the bunch. Of course, it also originally retailed for many times more than any of the others. Prior to coming across that deal, I came close to buying a Schiit Modi 5, which is relatively inexpensive, and has gotten very good reviews.

I'd suggest buying the Modi 5 and hooking it up to your current player (via optical cable). If you like the sound, then look for any decent player to replace the Phillips. If you don't like the sound, simply return the Modi (Schiit has an excellent return policy).
 
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