why did you choose the CD plaayer you have in your system?

danger boy

I am wondering why you chose the CD player in your system... was it because it made your CD's sound the best they could for the $ you have? or does a good well made CD player give your CD's a warmer sound to them, ie closer to vinyl?

I know a CD can't sound like an album, but the more I listen to vinyl, the more i understand why vinyl lovers love that warm balanced sound over CD's.

CD's now just sound to harsh to me.. granded I don't have any high end gear or anything.. but do higher end CDP's smooth out the sound at all or is that what a tube amp or pre amp is for?

steveinaz

I wanted to try something totally different, and the CEC had an interesting analog circuit, plus AES/EBU digital out--rare on a $600 CDP. The CEC has a warm side of nuetral sound to it, but I prefer it running thru the Benchmark DAC because of the deeper/wider soundstage, improved midrange, and slam it provides.

I think the more expensive players have a more analog sound to them. A good external DAC will help as well. You could try a tube preamp, or possibly speakers with a more laid-back tonal balance. My Energy C-9's really nailed-down the sound I was after.

Gaara

I bought my Jolida based on the recommendations of the forum members here, it was a impulse buy.

Jared

shack

Just because....

Serendipity

I got my Onkyo because it was the best sub-$500 player I could afford at the time.

heiney9

My old Nakamichi OMS 4 died and I needed to get a unit quickly. I bought my bro's Nakamichi MB-2 (music bank; ultra fast vertical changer the same one McIntosh uses the patent for) for next to nothing knowing it had a digital out for the DAC I was going to purchase.

The Nak sounded very nice until I got the Dac. That was 6-7 years ago and the unit was manufactured in 1991 and it's still going strong. Once it dies (parts are next to impossible to get) then I'll be on a quest for a soild unit to do transport duties.

H9

hearingimpared

I needed a player that I could use as a transport with my Timbre DAC. The Oppo received high marks as a transport by writers in the audio rags I read plus it played every digital format available. So I though what the hell for $149 I can't go wrong. If I didn't like it, I would pass it on to my son who is more into video than 2 ch audio.

For $149 I can't complain but I've heard what a good CD/SACD player sounds like and there is absolutely no comparison. . . as a matter of fact one of the writers called it a giant killer. . .I don't agree. For the money, good sound, that's about as far as it goes.

Shizelbs

I got my Shanling at a great price and it looks awesome.

mulveling

danger boy wrote: »

CD's now just sound to harsh to me.. granded I don't have any high end gear or anything.. but do higher end CDP's smooth out the sound at all or is that what a tube amp or pre amp is for?

Well, here's my experience with that:

I've owned the Meridian G08, which is a current $4400 MSRP redbook player. I've owned the Sony SCD-1, a flagship $5000 2ch CD/SACD player. I've also had more modest digital gear, including the Jolida JD100a, Bel Canto DAC2, and Denon DVD-3910. My friend has a Sony 777es SACD/CD, maxxed-out modded by ModWright with the tubed output stage (at least a couple grand in mods and a very solid player to start with - costs over $1K used, bone stock), that I've listened to several times. I've auditoned a Consonace Droplet player, and heard the Audio Aero Prima Mk II DAC in a friend's speaker rig (great digital, but got it's pants beat off by a Scoutmaster TT in the same rig).

My TT cost me $2800. It was a used table & arm, new cart. I did pay a premium for the wood on the table (Koa) so I feel that it's a fair comparison to digital rigs that run about $2000 used. IMO it runs circles around ALL the digital players I've heard, in every area except noise floor (obviously). Both in resolution and especially musicality. Moreso with CD, but even with SACD too. Vinyl sounds more natural, tonally it's damn near perfect, and no grain or glare. The Meridian G08 was the most analog-like and smoothest of all the digital I've had, but we're talking maybe 10-15% more analog-like than the other players. The TT is 100% analog-like

To me, the Meridian wasn't really worth the extra cost over more affordable players like the JD100a or 3910, honestly. The TT, however, is well WELL worth every penny paid and more.

In addition to my speakers, I've got a reference level headphone rig that eliminates the room acoustics from source comparisons. The presentation is very different (headstage vs. soundstage), but the resolution & tonality are as good as it gets, and thus an excellent platform for judging sources on most sound quality criteria. My reference headphone amp is a tube amp, BTW, and I've owned both tubed and SS (and hybrid) headphone amps & preamps.

On the digital side I've only kept the 3910, and only because it's such an excellent DVD player. Otherwise I'd be looking to downgrade further (maybe 2910), even though I'd likely hear a slight degradation of SQ.
I haven't listened to a CD at home in almost a month. Instead I've been enjoying my 100 LPs and adding to the collection It certainly helps that most of the music I like is rock/metal/pop from the 70's & 80's with a dash of classical opera - there's a wealth of cheap used vinyl in those genres.

crossroads

Just try something different to see if it works better than the last.

Ricardo

It has lots of blue lights

ben62670

Cause I found a used 200 disc sony at the flea market for $15. The guy I bought it from said he hooked it up to some speakers, and it wouldn't play :-)
I am only using the digital out into my Outlaw 990 for the dac.

madmax

When I went to pick up my CD transport/dac (used) I got a nice demo of it and knew immediately it was an upgrade for me. Extra octave of nice bass, very smooth, treble sounded very real, midrange was all there. Lots of life in the sound too!

Then, the guy played his TT for me. I took the CD player at that point considering it was good enough for a second source...

madmax

JimBRICK

I bought mine cause I saw an advertisement for it online locally. I got an older nakamichi. it's from the early 90's and built like a tank. It only have analog outputs as well. I was always reading on here that cd players sound better then dvd players for music and people were right. Now that I'm in the process of slowly building a budget 2 channel system this will be the next piece I upgrade on it. Just have to wait to see a good deal on a little better cdp. Hopefully an sacd. I have a good source on a nice set of monitor 10's from a member as well and am just waiting for some pictures and a price.

anyone have any recommendations on a good cdp in the 100-200 range? preowned.

jrlouie

I wanted to get tubes into my theater system as it serves double-duty. That way I could listen to 2-channel music via the tubes and use the same rig for your typical 5.1 solid-state theater.

cfrizz

I chose my new Rotel to replace my old Rotel.

MSALLA

My ols sony DVD broke and the tweeter in our town was closing. They said that they would give me a brand new Denon DVD2900 for $350.00.
How could I pass that up.

zombie boy 2000

I didn't "choose" the player in my system other than as an interim player between CDP's. Right now, I'm saving my coins for a Bada.

treitz3

Why did I choose the CDP I have in my rig?

Rega Apollo chosen for sound. Demo'd in store.

Jolida w/L3Mod's next after I listen to Jesse's Hot Rod Jolida.

Wasted too much dough in the past getting CDP's that "match" my rig [which has constantly changed]. Screw that from now on. With all the CDP's that I've had in my life, I could have paid cash for a really, really, really nice CDP and been done with it. Lesson learned.

Added note, I also liked it because it had no transport.

halo

Simple.

When SCompRacer brought over his ModWright Platinum Truth modified Sony 9100ES it knocked the snot out of my Jolida JD-100 (Ei elite gold pin tubes and aftermarket PC). The difference was night and day. So I really wanted one but price was an issue with me.

A couple weeks later my wife and I were at his house and we compared both my McAlister Audio modified Sheng Ya & Jolida vs the ModWright modified 9100ES and, after hearing all three players, she told me that I had to get one. No point in arguing with the boss

strider

I was sold by the specs of mine. Can't recite 'em off the top of my head, but the DAC specs were way better then anything else I knew about at the time. Apparently, when in 2 ch mode, it uses 3 DAC per channel. It sounded like it should work. I disliked Sony at that time and still do, but the ES line I trusted. Since I've started trusting my ears more and the specs less, I've found I like the sound better when using the internal DAC's vs running the digital signal to my HK avr. I'm kinda proud (I know, sounds corny) that I can hear a difference; it was a moment that I view as one of the first stepping stones to being a critical listener. Next I'd like to listen to some higher end CDP's and see if I can tell a difference.

AndyGwis

No doubt, the Sony ES stuff if actually pretty good for the money, especially if you want SACD playback. I really like the sound and flexibility of my Sony SCD ES and Theta DAC combo at the moment. All for under $500.

MillerLiteScott

I have had a new to me CD player for 24 hours and the reason I chose it (Jolida JD100) was because it seemed to have the sound that I was looking for with in a reasonable budget. I do like the sound. It does have some minor mods which I was surprised to find. It has EI gold pin tubes and dynamat generously installed in the chasis and top cover. It is very detailed and open with punchy bass, much more so than any of the other cd players I have owned. It is built like a tank compared to the other CD players I have owned or seen.

The source of your music will be the the starting point for your music. The better your source is the better sound you will ultimately end up with as long as your other gear is of decent quality.

venomclan

It was purty;)

cstpeter

I started with a Pioneer DV-563A universal player that was doing an admirable job; however, all redbook CD was handled by my Denon 3806. When I ditched the home theater and went 2-channel, I needed a better player, so I got a used Denon 2900. After a few months I realized that was a weak link in the system, so I started auditioning different players. I home auditioned a McCormack universal player, a McIntosh CDP, a Musical Fidelity tube buffer/power supply...and listened to many more in stores. After all that, I found the perfect synergy with my current PS Audio DAC. The $1000 DAC was, in my opinion, clearly superior to the other much more expensive players.

That said, my modest turntable setup still beats up on my digital gear. Can't wait to upgrade to a truly nice TT!

VR3

Shizelbs wrote: »

I got my Shanling at a great price and it looks awesome.

Bingo

Early B.

Tubed, inexpensive, build quality.

cmy330go

After trying a few I finally stopped with this Arcam because it was able to take some of the sharp edges of digital off without sounding overly smoothed. It also didn't sound clinical like the Cambridge Audio pieces that I tried.

LuSh

Because I could talk to the person who helped build my DAC and transport and perform various upgrades. The reputation of my unit among high enders was legendary as I did some research. I have thought about parting with it in favor of a KRELL SACD STANDARD but alot of people have told me I'm nuts if I did it. The thought of running a fully balanced system seems appealing.

Joey_V

mulveling wrote: »

Well, here's my experience with that:

My TT cost me $2800. It was a used table & arm, new cart. I did pay a premium for the wood on the table (Koa) so I feel that it's a fair comparison to digital rigs that run about $2000 used. IMO it runs circles around ALL the digital players I've heard, in every area except noise floor (obviously). Both in resolution and especially musicality. Moreso with CD, but even with SACD too. Vinyl sounds more natural, tonally it's damn near perfect, and no grain or glare. The Meridian G08 was the most analog-like and smoothest of all the digital I've had, but we're talking maybe 10-15% more analog-like than the other players. The TT is 100% analog-like

To me, the Meridian wasn't really worth the extra cost over more affordable players like the JD100a or 3910, honestly. The TT, however, is well WELL worth every penny paid and more.

Mulveling,

What you just said there in the last sentence I quoted you pretty much sums up my rationale of getting into vinyl. I heard it at Chris' place (cstpeter) and it was definitely an ear-opener. No doubt about it... 100% my type of sound reproduction.

Only problem is, funds.... as always.

Thanks for your thoughts, it's well appreciated.

Joey

F1nut

I bought mine because it sounds better than vinyl.