Which CD Players to Keep

[davidguilbault]

Gonna keep 3 and let 2 go. Which 3 should I keep?

Sony C222ES 5-disc SACD Player
Kenwood DP-R892 5-disc CD Player
Sony CDP-CE415 5-disc CD Player
Sony CDP-C20 5-disc CD Player
Marantz CD40 Single CD Player

 

[thunderroad]

That looks to be a pretty nice assortment of CD players! I take it that none of them has grabbed you in terms of sound quality, but I'd be reluctant to sell any of them until I did some serious head-to-head comparisons with a variety of music.

While I am not real familiar with any of the specific models you own, I do own an assortment of CD players myself. Of the bunch I own, my 5-disc Kenwood DP-R4430 is the best sounding. So if your Kenwood is one of their 1Bit machines like mine is, it would definitely be on my keepers list. I personally have never been impressed with the sound quality of any of the Sonys I have heard, so those would probably be the ones that I sent out the door, but I'd keep the newest of best of them. I'd also keep the Marantz.

Please bear in mind that I haven't heard ANY of them, so this is just a shot in the dark. The true test for any of them is how they sound TO YOU in your system with your music. Invite some friends over and spend some serious time doing some critical listening with a variety of music and I think the true winners will become apparent!

 

[davidguilbault]

If your Kenwood is one of their 1Bit machines ... it would definitely be on my keepers list.

Hi. Thanks for your thoughtful recommendations on which to keep and which to lose. My Kenwood is indeed a 1 Bit machine. But, I have no idea what that means.

 

[hspLOBO]

That looks to be a pretty nice assortment of CD players! I take it that none of them has grabbed you in terms of sound quality, but I'd be reluctant to sell any of them until I did some serious head-to-head comparisons with a variety of music.

While I am not real familiar with any of the specific models you own, I do own an assortment of CD players myself. Of the bunch I own, my 5-disc Kenwood DP-R4430 is the best sounding. So if your Kenwood is one of their 1Bit machines like mine is, it would definitely be on my keepers list. I personally have never been impressed with the sound quality of any of the Sonys I have heard, so those would probably be the ones that I sent out the door, but I'd keep the newest of best of them. I'd also keep the Marantz.

Please bear in mind that I haven't heard ANY of them, so this is just a shot in the dark. The true test for any of them is how they sound TO YOU in your system with your music. Invite some friends over and spend some serious time doing some critical listening with a variety of music and I think the true winners will become apparent!

I was under the impression the 1bit machine were older and not as good as the newer models.....can you say a bit more about the 1bit machines and sound quality you prefer in your case as compared to later 18 times oversampling for example?? Your insight would be appreciated....

 

[davidguilbault]

A Bit About Bits

A Fundamental Introduction to the Compact Disc Player - http://www.tc.umn.edu/~erick205/Papers/paper.html#sampling

 

[Dr Tinear]

The Marantz is a definite keeper. It has the superb Philips TDA1541A dual 16-bit DAC, the 4x oversampling digital filter, and the Philips swing-arm CD drive (a CDM4, in this case) that reads CDs and CD-Rs better than just about anything out there. It should sound great without modifications, and you can make it even better with an op amp swap.

 

[thunderroad]

I was under the impression the 1bit machine were older and not as good as the newer models.....can you say a bit more about the 1bit machines and sound quality you prefer in your case as compared to later 18 times oversampling for example?? Your insight would be appreciated....

I'm not sure I can help you with that because I really don't know anything about the technology, but I know the machine is not the newest or the latest technology. I'm really not sure if the 1Bit technology is what makes it sound better, but it is the only 1Bit machine I own, with all the others being various flavors of oversampling and filtering. It is also the only Kenwood I own. The only thing I can say for certain is that my Kenwood is the best sounding of all the CD players I own and I've got a bunch.

As I mentioned in another thread, I have directly compared it to a Sony CDP-101 (1st generation machine), Magnavox CDB650, Denon DCM-520 and a Denon DCD-1100 for extended periods of time and it always comes out on top. The first three of these players I bought new, at one time or another, and the Denon DCD-1100 I was given by a friend. The Kenwood I bought for $10 at a thrift store.

What it does better is hard to explain, but it really seems to be truer to the music. The music signal from low to high volume seems to be much better scaled with smaller changes in signal intensity, but still with full dynamic range. This seems to result in more definition and better internal detail in complex pieces, with a fuller and richer presentation overall. It also seems to image slightly better than the others as well. But IMHO the differences in sound quality between CD players is subtle at best, so these differences are not really quantium leaps in quality. I listen to a wide variety of music too; from classical, to blues, to folk, etc.

I am pretty sure that the Kenwood is probably the newest and latest technology of the machines I own, so there could definitely be better ones now on the market. But, it is the best I've got. I have also been told by friends and read in various places that the CD playback quality from some good quality DVD players will embarrass some pretty high-end CD-only players, but I don't have any personal experience with this.

Hope this helps to answer your questions!

*EDIT: I should also add that I am very much an analog guy and do a majority of my listening with LPs. So it could be that the Kenwood is the most analog-like of the CD players I own.*

 

[gewoonmaf]

I'd say keep the Sony ES, the Marantz and the Kenwood.

 

[mhedges]

I would keep the 222es for sure. I used to have one untill I sold it to pay for a C555ES, which was by far the biggest buy/sell mistake that I have yet made in this hobby.

Mark

 

[davidguilbault]

I'd say keep the Sony ES, the Marantz and the Kenwood.

Yep, I think that's what I'll do. Boy, I really do appreciate all the great advice I get on AK. Thanks all.

 

[myu701]

On the recommendation of thunderroad, I picked up that Kenwood (it was ~$20 shipped, with remote). I have to say that he's onto something. I compared it with a variety of other digital players in my possession, and it was bested only by my TOTL Marantz DVD-P. Quite a surprise.

 

[myu701]

^ Follow-up...

I'm finding more and more that components can be hidden or revealed, depending upon the amplifier. There's also the matter of decibel handling. A lot of competent CD players will sound just fine, even great, at lower volumes.

Putting both the Kenwood DP-R4430 and Marantz DV-9500 in my ADCOM/Carver 250wpc system revealed a different story. Cranking it up, you could hear the Kenwood becoming bright and harsh. On the other hand, with the Marantz there was no degradation of the sound as the volume increased.