recommended CD players for 2250B?

[LewinskiH01]

Hello.

My dad has an 80s Marantz 2250B integrated and loves it. He has a Marantz TT too, but is using a crappie (I mean, really crappie) cd player with it, and I want to buy him a good player to go with his 2250B. What do you recommend? Of course, it needs to be Marantz! It can be vintage, though, or the less expensive newer units.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[airtime]

I'm the first to say marantz makes good stuff. BUT CDP's - they ain't so good. This is only my two cents but here it goes.

Don't bother with a vintage CDP. The technology has come a long way on these units. The first few generations of these devices were pretty awful. Now you can buy even a cheap one and it will sound pretty good. The one good thing digital has done was that.

CDP's have a limited number of play hours. And there is no way around that one. It is a mechanical device with a motor, gears, tracking heads, etc... And evenually one of those moving parts are gonna go! So don't invest a ton of money on one of these.

I've used a few CDPs over the years. And the only two I liked were a Luxman LZ-111 that is no longer made. And a NAD C521BEE.

I would look into a NAD C5xxBEE. Sound can't be beat, priced fair and again sounds great. With one caveat - buy it from a certified dealer. NAD has a high failure rate on it's NEW products due to their dismal QA. But if purchased from a certified dealer you will be protected. Otherwise all bets are off.

charles

 

[Tmac83]

I would suggest a Cambridge Audio 640c. Great mid-level player and bang for your buck. You can get them pretty cheap as they have been discontinued. They have a dual Wolfson DAC and if you want you have ability to upgrade in the future with an external DAC. Do a search, you should come up with some good threads for the 640c

 

[JohnVF]

I would suggest a Cambridge Audio 640c. Great mid-level player and bang for your buck. You can get them pretty cheap as they have been discontinued. They have a dual Wolfson DAC and if you want you have ability to upgrade in the future with an external DAC. Do a search, you should come up with some good threads for the 640c

Second that. And you can get it in silver, which would match up nicely with the 2250b. I have one in my second system and it just a nice piece of gear, period, regardless of price. The remote is really nice, too..metal faceplate.

 

[legalalien]

I remember a few years back reading some pretty positive things about the Marantz CD63 player, in fact there was a company out there adding a tubed buffer stage to these players and selling them under the name "Ah noe tjoeb", an odd name to be sure but these were very highly thought of. The stock Marantz was pretty well reviewed also and I'm sure a used one wouldn't run more than a hundred bucks or so.

 

[hdewees]

I recommend an OPPO - you can get them on the bay pretty cheap.

 

[icenine]

I remember a few years back reading some pretty positive things about the Marantz CD63 player, in fact there was a company out there adding a tubed buffer stage to these players and selling them under the name "Ah noe tjoeb", an odd name to be sure but these were very highly thought of. The stock Marantz was pretty well reviewed also and I'm sure a used one wouldn't run more than a hundred bucks or so.

Check the thrifts for any Marantz CD players made in the late 80s-early 90s in Belgium....I am using a Philips CD-50 which is the same as the Marantz CD-50....not bad cd player for its price...$12

 

[RandyInDHS]

Top recommendations in this order...

1. Sony CDP302
2. SAE D102

There's tons of models out there from various eras... but, when it comes to THE VERY BEST VINTAGE, the above 2 stand alone.

RJ

 

[RocknRum]

I picked up a Marantz Sa-8001 SACD player a few months back for about half the retail price and the guy even included shipping. Granted it was about a year and a half old but it was in mint condition. Not even a fingerprint on it and I am very impressed with it. It plays cd's that skip on my other players.
Much prefer it to my older much more expensive player. It seems to sound better but maybe its in my head. I don't know if digital sounds any better on a 4K player than a 40$ player. I forgot to add, I have a 2250B. My favorite sounding Marantz. So yeah, it's a good match.