New CD players.. opinions wanted.

[Andy_G]

OK, I can get hold of an old Sony CDP-991 for the interim, but I will need to eventually replace the CD player.

Going to buy new this time I think.
Lets say I can spend between US$500 and US$800. What would people suggest?

Is it worth looking at players that can also do SACD? Do they still do CD well ?

[Paul K.]

I've never heard one myself, but the Rotel RCD1072 is highly regarded and was a "component of the year" by The Absolute Sound magazine a few years ago. I'm pretty sure it lists for $700 new in the U.S. It also plays HDCD-encoded disks.
Paul

> OK, I can get hold of an old Sony CDP-991
> for the interim, but I will need to
> eventually replace the CD player.

> Going to buy new this time I think.
> Lets say I can spend between US$500 and
> US$800. What would people suggest?

> Is it worth looking at players that can also
> do SACD? Do they still do CD well ?

[georgem]

> I've never heard one myself, but the Rotel
> RCD1072 is highly regarded and was a
> "component of the year" by The
> Absolute Sound magazine a few years ago. I'm
> pretty sure it lists for $700 new in the
> U.S. It also plays HDCD-encoded disks.
> Paul

I'll second the Rotel. I've had one for a couple of years and am really happy with it. Most SACD players do fine with CD. I had a Phillips unit for awhile and it sounded really good.

My only question is why bother with SACD at this point. It's dying a slow death so unless you already have a collection of SACD's I wouldn't bother. I do agree that many of them sound better than CD, but I think it's probably the wrong time to start down the SACD path. Heck, if you want to just dabble in SACD, get one of the inexpensive OPPO players. They've gotten good reviews and if you don't think the CD playback is quite up to snuff, you can still pick up a Rotel and end up at the high end of your budget.

[Todd G.]

All joking aside, I've been a fan of Sony ES series equipment for years. It's well built, has a great warranty, and sounds good. If you need external validation, Stereophile usually places ES players in their "A" class. I've got a Sony XA777ES that I plan on keeping, but I am approaching the need for a new DVD/CD transport myself, and I'm looking at the Sony DVP-CX995V because it appeals to the lazy person in me. Load it up and forget about it for a month or two.
<A HREF="http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11038348">http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11038348</A>

The Sony BDP-S2000ES single play Blu-ray player because thay are made so beautifully inside. It appeals to the engineer in me.
<A HREF="http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665228713">http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665228713</A>

And lastly, the Oppo DV-983H, because people seem to love them. Priced right too. <A HREF="http://www.oppodigital.com/dv983h/">http://www.oppodigital.com/dv983h/</A>

Personally, I'd get rid of the mouse first. I understand they are attracted to the electric field put out by plasma screen TV's, and those screens are kind of tempting since they're chewy an all. I wouldn't watch any shows about cheese until the little bugger was dead and buried. No use tempting fate

[Andy_G]

> Personally, I'd get rid of the mouse first.
> I understand they are attracted to the
> electric field put out by plasma screen
> TV's, and those screens are kind of tempting
> since they're chewy an all. I wouldn't watch
> any shows about cheese until the little
> bugger was dead and buried. No use tempting
> fate

just been to the shops, have mousetraps !!

[brianp]

Live-trap the mouse. Get kitty good and hungry, then give it to her. Explain to her that this is the healthiest, tastiest, most natural food that cats can possibly eat--and also good exercise in the catching. Then cut back on the commercial chow, so she will learn to hunt. Soon you will have no more mice!

> just been to the shops, have mousetraps !!

[Mr.Thomas Aaron Hero]

I just bought a new Marantz CD5001 for $300 and I couldn't be happier, I honestly didnt expect to hear the difference in a new cd player but I was very shocked by the improvement in sound. I researched many before buying the Marantz and had heard lots of good things about it, I am very impressed. Aaron

[ctbowman]

> I've never heard one myself, but the Rotel
> RCD1072 is highly regarded and was a
> "component of the year" by The
> Absolute Sound magazine a few years ago. I'm
> pretty sure it lists for $700 new in the
> U.S. It also plays HDCD-encoded disks.
> Paul

I've listened to the rotel 1072 and it is an excellent player. I almost bought one, but in the end built another pair of speakers instead :P

[pdm]

> OK, I can get hold of an old Sony CDP-991
> for the interim, but I will need to
> eventually replace the CD player.

> Going to buy new this time I think.
> Lets say I can spend between US$500 and
> US$800. What would people suggest?

> Is it worth looking at players that can also
> do SACD? Do they still do CD well ?

AudiogoN has a Rotel 991; looks like a good price, but I'm not familiar with the unit other than to say I own a Rotel amp and am very happy with it. I'd go for the 991 if not strapped for a little cash. I wonder if the name is on purpose.

[pdm]

Provided Link: Rotel 991 (http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlplay&1214102286)

[daneo]

> OK, I can get hold of an old Sony CDP-991
> for the interim, but I will need to
> eventually replace the CD player.

> Going to buy new this time I think.
> Lets say I can spend between US$500 and
> US$800. What would people suggest?

> Is it worth looking at players that can also
> do SACD? Do they still do CD well ?

Andy - This is a little outside the normal box
<A HREF="http://www.nysound.com/exec/servlet/CategoryServlet?action=productdetail&itemID=shy-2112-01003&formID=0">http://www.nysound.com/exec/servlet/CategoryServlet?action=productdetail&itemID=shy-2112-01003&formID=0</A>

I don't think it does SACD but I'm not sure, I have one and it does do HDCD. This is a great deal though this is the company that makes the "Vincent" line of products and this player is in the $1000 - $1500 (US) range with the Vincent name. A few people on the board here have this CD player. A good step up from my Marantz CD-67 SE. You can choose to run the out put though the tube or not. Great build quality and all aluminum remote. Happy Hunting...Dane

[kenperkins]

Get yourself a Marantz CD5001. It goes for around $300US and is amazing sounding. I couldn't be happier with mine.

[vasyachkin]

> OK, I can get hold of an old Sony CDP-991
> for the interim, but I will need to
> eventually replace the CD player.

> Going to buy new this time I think.
> Lets say I can spend between US$500 and
> US$800. What would people suggest?

> Is it worth looking at players that can also
> do SACD? Do they still do CD well ?

if you're going to be spending as much as $500 or more i think u might as well get a dac.

buying a CD player in 2008 seems absurd.

[pdm]

> Get yourself a Marantz CD5001. It goes for
> around $300US and is amazing sounding. I
> couldn't be happier with mine.

Nice unit. Crutchfield for $299 w/free shipping.

[romanbednarek]

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/wildwestelectronics_1995_17908256

Provided Link: http://www.wildwestelectronics.net/cambridge-audio-azur-640c-version-2.html


> OK, I can get hold of an old Sony CDP-991
> for the interim, but I will need to
> eventually replace the CD player.

> Going to buy new this time I think.
> Lets say I can spend between US$500 and
> US$800. What would people suggest?

> Is it worth looking at players that can also
> do SACD? Do they still do CD well ?

I very strongly recommend one of the Cambridge Audio cd players. Jeff B has one and I told my friend about it based on his suggestion. My friend has the $1000 model and he couldn't be happier with it. The highs are very natural and not harsh and the bass is very full and deep. It is an excellent sounding CD player. One neat thing about my friend's model is that you can send the digital output from another CD player (like a changer) into this unit and use the D/A processing.

The have some of the models at the link below but I wouldn't necessarily recommend getting it from that particular place. Jeff probably can recommend where to get one and maybe which model to get.

[johnastockman]

Provided Link: Spearit Sound (http://www.spearitsound.com)


> The have some of the models at the link
> below but I wouldn't necessarily recommend
> getting it from that particular place. Jeff
> probably can recommend where to get one and
> maybe which model to get.

Here's the place Jeff recommended to me. This is where I'll be getting mine! Free shipping on some items.

John A.

[Andy_G]

> OK, I can get hold of an old Sony CDP-991
> for the interim, but I will need to
> eventually replace the CD player.

Well, I plugged in the Sony CDP-991 I got from Rabbitz (local fellow diy speaker guy, frequents DIYAudio). It seems to sit in the rest of the system beautifully, and sounds great, proably better than the old Marantz.

Seems there is now no need to bother hunting for an expensive replacement ;-))

Thanks for all the suggested CD players though.

[Jeff B.]

> Here's the place Jeff recommended to me.
> This is where I'll be getting mine! Free
> shipping on some items.

> John A.

Yes, that's where I bought mine from. They were very nice to work with.
Jeff

[stephenhero]

> if you're going to be spending as much as
> $500 or more i think u might as well get a
> dac.

> buying a CD player in 2008 seems absurd.

i used to work in a hifi shop 98-2003. we figured out the expensive cd transports were going the way of the dinosaur once we hooked up a pioneer 414 to a levinson DAC thru a theta timebase linque conditioner. i have a $700 rotel rdd-980 collecting dust in the corner because every pioneer dvd player ive bought for cheap has either come close or out performed the rotel. right now i am using a $99 toshiba a3 on my counterpoint da-10. it blows me away how much the digital transport side of things has gotten better. however, the dacs in the cheap dvd players aren't as good. my advice - buy a cheap but good upconverting dvd like a $79 pioneer. then find an older dac on ebay or somewhere. there is no good reason for the audio industry to be building cd players in 2008 other than to make a buck off of someone who doesn't know any better.