CD Player recommendations

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 18:08:04 GMT, "Colin B."
<cbigam@somewhereelse.nucleus.com> wrote:

>OK, after that last discussion, I'm almost scared to ask!
>
>However, I'm looking to get a new CD player, as my ancient Denon (DCM-320,
>five disc changer) is starting to get cantankerous. Does anyone on the
>'tech' side have any recommendations about what to get in terms of a good,
>solid, well-constructed, sonically transparent CD player? Any of multi-disc
>capabilities, SACD, and digital outputs would be nice but not essential
>bonuses.

If you stay away from the 'high end' labels, they pretty much all
sound the same these days - that's a *good* thing, BTW - so my advice
would be to get a well-made 'universal' player such as one of the
Pioneer or Denon range.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Colin B. wrote:
> OK, after that last discussion, I'm almost scared to ask!
>
> However, I'm looking to get a new CD player, as my ancient Denon
(DCM-320,
> five disc changer) is starting to get cantankerous. Does anyone on
the
> 'tech' side have any recommendations about what to get in terms of a
good,
> solid, well-constructed, sonically transparent CD player? Any of
multi-disc
> capabilities, SACD, and digital outputs would be nice but not
essential
> bonuses.
>
> Thanks,
> Colin

Both Stewart and Mark make valid points. The Denon and Pioneer are
fabulous products for both music and video.
The Denon 3910 which is the latest here in the UK, has a poor
reliablity record with a number of bugs in the software which are being
fixed as we type.

I do believe that the worst is over in terms of glitches with the Denon
product, but on the other hand who am I to say!!
The Pioneer is also state of the art, what ever that means?
I would suggest another brand here and that is the Arcam DV79 DVD
player, which is also a "universal" although doesnt do SACD. It has
excellent stereo performance, as good as any competent CD only player,
plus the icing on the cake is the HDMI video connection, that is of
course if you use a DVD player!?

If you arent into DVD then any Arcam CD only player will not only give
fantastic performance, but are very very good value for money.

Good luck

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Shiner <shiner9@btinternet.com> wrote:
> Colin B. wrote:
> > However, I'm looking to get a new CD player, as my ancient Denon
> > (DCM-320, five disc changer) is starting to get cantankerous.

Curiously the CD shop in my street had 3 Denon players. Only one
is still working and IIRC, I was told that the other 2 broke down
almost at the same time.

A pity since it had an interesting feature for a CD shop: a knob to
fast-forward or reverse through a track. Much more prectical than
the usual 2 buttons.

If you want another changer and you are in the USA there are several
universal changers:

Toshiba SD6915 Cinema Series DVD Changer with DVD-A and SACD Playback
http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_23887.htm
Was $149.00 Special Only $89.88

Yamaha DVC6770 Progressive Scan SACD, DVD Audio Changer
http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_25454.htm
Was $299.00 Now 10% OFF!

Onkyo DVCP802B Black 6 Disc Carousel Changer with DVD-Audio and SACD Playback
http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_23923.htm
Onkyo DVCP802S Silver 6 Disc Carousel Changer with DVD-Audio and SACD Playback
http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_23924.htm
$499.00

> I would suggest another brand here and that is the Arcam DV79 DVD
> player,

Price: £999.90 !!!
http://www.weymouthhifi.co.uk/webs [...] m-dv79.htm

Quoting from the manufacturer's web page:
http://www.arcam.co.uk/prod_diva_DV79_intro.cfm
"The DV79 is an affordable enthusiast level machine"

> which is also a "universal" although doesnt do SACD.

So it is not an universal player, which implies both DVD-Audio and
SACD. It is a DVD-Audio player, which, as all DVD players do, also
plays CD.

For half that (or less) you can buy a Pioneer or Yamaha universal player
with ilink:

Yamaha DVD-S 2500 700 euros (at www.technikdirekt.de)
http://www.yamaha-online.de/produc [...] dprod=1181

http://www.hifi-edition.de/de/pro.php?id=2388

Pioneer DV-757 Ai 479 euros
http://www.mistergooddeal.com/v2/V [...] ouslesprix

> It has excellent stereo performance, as good as any competent CD
> only player, plus the icing on the cake is the HDMI video connection,

The HDMI is available in a 200 euros Samsung DVD-HD945 universal player:

http://www.pixmania.com/pt/pt/5776 [...] d-dvd.html
http://wvw.monsieurprix.com/listin [...] 87398.html

> If you arent into DVD then any Arcam CD only player will not only give
> fantastic performance, but are very very good value for money.

If you think £399.90 or £849.90 for a CD player is "very good value
for money":

Price: £399.90
http://www.weymouthhifi.co.uk/webs [...] -cd73t.htm

Price: £849.90
http://www.weymouthhifi.co.uk/webs [...] -cd192.htm

Considering the prices of DVD players, the main advantage of a CD player
might be the mechanical noise. Many DVD players are a bit/quite noisy.
Of course the more expensive models should be quieter (are they ?).

--
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/

..pt is Portugal| `Whom the gods love die young'-Menander (342-292 BC)
Europe | Villeneuve 50-82, Toivonen 56-86, Senna 60-94

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 18:16:45 GMT, "Colin B."
<cbigam@somewhereelse.nucleus.com> wrote:

>Stewart Pinkerton <patent3@dircon.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 21 Apr 2005 05:14:30 -0700, "Shiner" <shiner9@btinternet.com>
>> wrote:

>>>If you arent into DVD then any Arcam CD only player will not only give
>>>fantastic performance, but are very very good value for money.
>>
>> Given that my current Pioneer DV-575A cost £109, plays any kind of
>> silver disc, and in a level-matched blind test sounds identical to a
>> 'state of the art' £2200 Meridian 588 'dedicated' CD player, I'd say
>> that your 'value for money' recommendation is doubtful. :-)
>
>Heh. Well to be fair, the style and build quality of Arcam are worth some
>amount of change. How much is of course personal.

Build quality? Arcam? You're kidding, right? Take similarly priced
Arcam and Pioneer/Denon players, and the Arcam 'build quality' is
quite simply a joke. I've always been a great fan of Arcam equipment,
especially their top of the range stuff, but build quality was never
one of their big things, nor to be honest is value for money in purely
sonic terms, now that the universal players have become fully mature.
Even my 'Chinky cheapy' Pioneer DV-575A has immaculate sonic
performance.

>No DVD for me--the stereo and TV are on different floors, and will likely
>remain that way as long as we have this house. DVD-Audio wouldn't hurt,
>though. Hmm. Neither would having a CDR burner attached to the stereo...

You don't *have* to have video connected in order to benefit from a
'universal' player, although a small screen is often necessary to
navigate the menus for some types of disc.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Rui Pedro Mendes Salgueiro wrote:
> Yamaha DVD-S 2500 700 euros (at www.technikdirekt.de)
> http://www.yamaha-online.de/produc [...] dprod=1181
>
> http://www.hifi-edition.de/de/pro.php?id=2388
>
> Pioneer DV-757 Ai 479 euros
> http://www.mistergooddeal.com/v2/V [...] ouslesprix
>
>> It has excellent stereo performance, as good as any competent CD
>> only player, plus the icing on the cake is the HDMI video connection,
>
> The HDMI is available in a 200 euros Samsung DVD-HD945 universal
> player:
>
> http://www.pixmania.com/pt/pt/5776 [...] d-dvd.html
> http://wvw.monsieurprix.com/listin [...] 87398.html
>
>> If you arent into DVD then any Arcam CD only player will not only
>> give fantastic performance, but are very very good value for money.
>
> If you think £399.90 or £849.90 for a CD player is "very good value
> for money":
>
> Price: £399.90
> http://www.weymouthhifi.co.uk/webs [...] -cd73t.htm
>
> Price: £849.90
> http://www.weymouthhifi.co.uk/webs [...] -cd192.htm
>
> Considering the prices of DVD players, the main advantage of a CD
> player might be the mechanical noise. Many DVD players are a
> bit/quite noisy.
> Of course the more expensive models should be quieter (are they ?).

Steer clear of the Yamaha and Onkyo models. Neither build their own, you
just paying them to rebrand someone else's stuff. Both companies source most
of their models through Philips, which is a big black mark against them in
my opinion, PARTICULARLY in regards to low-medium priced stuff. Philips' DVD
pickups die like flies. An occasional Yamaha model is sourced through
Panasonic, but they have very common problems also.

Personally, I'd go Pioneer, though I am concerned about maybe needing to use
the video monitor just to access some normal music playing functions. In my
experience their reliability, and the apparent quality of the D/A converters
and analog stage would be the determining factors. To be truthful however, I
haven't listened to one at home, only in the shop.


Mark Z.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 15:57:52 GMT, "Colin B."
<cbigam@somewhereelse.nucleus.com> wrote:

>Stewart Pinkerton <patent3@dircon.co.uk> wrote:

>> You don't *have* to have video connected in order to benefit from a
>> 'universal' player, although a small screen is often necessary to
>> navigate the menus for some types of disc.
>
>Well that's seems utterly silly. It's looking like I can't get a new CD
>player unless I buy a new TV as well, or give up on music that's coming
>out on the new formats. Is it my imagination, or is #$&*#@ Home Theatre
>making it harder to get a pure stereo system?

It's not your imagination, it's market forces! :-)

And all you need is a small cheap monitor screen, hardly a big
imposition. Besides, most 'universal' players will default to standard
2-channel 'stereo' output if you just shove a CD in the slot. It tends
to be things like MP3, DVD-A and SACD that require menu navigation.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering