BEST CD PLAYER UNDER 300 POUNDS - USED DEALS INCULDED

SHAXOS

New member
Feb 11, 2008
90
0
0
Visit site
Hey guys looking for the best cd player i can get for around 300 and below. I will consider used bargains aswell. Recently saw a deal for marantz cd6002 for 220. Can anyone think of anything better for sound for pound? Midrange and bass performance is most important.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
CD 6002 is £199.99 @ Richer Sounds, and apparantly some other retailers according to another thread (but Im not sure who)
 

drummerman

New member
Jan 18, 2008
540
3
0
Visit site
They're more or less all the same. I really would'nt worry to much. Up to that price I'd personally choose NAD's little player. Real differences start at about £500 depending on who you listen to.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
The Nad C542 is the best player under £599 for me....and it retails at just under £300.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
id go for a arcam cd73 which you can get for £150-200 seconhand of £300 new. Highly regarded player that cost about £500 originally
 

Thaiman

New member
Jul 28, 2007
360
2
0
Visit site
2nd hand,
Musical Fidelity A3 (or X-ray).
Marantz CD17

£100 more will get you a Cyrus CD7Q

and £450 (ish), NAD Silverline S500i
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Arcam CD73 100%. Superb player with a sound that is amazing for the price! I have one and can't say I've heard any better for under £1000! It's forte is timing - it can start and stop like anything! Oh, and it will do bass like nothing else - deep, grippy and powerful. Oh, and it costs £300 new now when it used to cost £450 new 6 months ago!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
There's also Arcam FMJ dvd players e.g. DV29 which regularly go for a small fraction (£300ish) of £1600 original price on ebay. They probably compare well to the CD73, but you get a good picture and sound from dvds too.
 

nij_1

New member
Apr 18, 2008
5
0
0
Visit site
[quote user="peteAllen"]There's also Arcam FMJ dvd players e.g. DV29 which regularly go for a small fraction (£300ish) of £1600 original price on ebay. They probably compare well to the CD73, but you get a good picture and sound from dvds too.[/quote]
 

SHAXOS

New member
Feb 11, 2008
90
0
0
Visit site
Dear Thaiman,
You mentioned the musical fidelity x ray as a possibility. Is it the one which looks like a long metal cyliner/tube like one of the superchargers? I have just found a used on on ebay, whats the market value of them and whats the overall ballance like (warm/bright). Finally how does this player handle bass? I am considering either this player or the arcam cd72 which i could get for 300 and 140 respectivly. Which would you rather go for considering the price difference? Sorry for the number of questions but you have been a great help in the past (speakers and amp) and its worked out great!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Here's another vote for the Marantz CD17. Mine has been absolutely stellar. Either version would be fine, but because of age I'd recommend looking at a MK2 and newer.
 

Thaiman

New member
Jul 28, 2007
360
2
0
Visit site
[quote user="SHAXOS"]Dear Thaiman[/quote]

Dear SHAXOS :)
I can't format my post (AGAIN) so I can't post no picture at the moment! The original X-ray is in a tupe looking one like you mention, However, they are identically the same as A3 CD player! and A3 do sell for a bit less in 2nd hand market.
The X-ray's earliest example will now be 10 years old so make sure you seen it working and read cd well. While we are on X-ray subject, the V3 is properbly one of the best value used cd player out there so if budget can be abuse I would get it for another £100 ish :)
Marantz cd 17 ki would also be a vey good 2nd hand buy at this price point. As for Arcam, I can't comment too much, sorry.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
As Philips and most other manufacturers have stopped making CD mechs now and they aren't particularly reliable anyway, I'd caution against buying a second hand CD player without first having established that laser assemblies are readily available.

Also for £399 you can buy a Mac Mini that many reckon sounds better than CD players costing £1000. It needs to share it's screen with the TV but comes with an IR handset to control all the media functions like home movies, Movies, photos, Music and Music Videos and it can play up to 24/96 audio as well.
 

Thaiman

New member
Jul 28, 2007
360
2
0
Visit site
[quote user="Ashley James"] they aren't particularly reliable anyway[/quote]

My aging Marantz 63 still read every single cd that put in the tray! Some of the new so call High End Cd player however doesn't like copy protection cds!. DAC is a great way to go however you will always wonder "How would different transports sound like with my DAC"!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="fr0g"]CD73 brand new Sevenoakes ebay shop 299 - full warranty etc... major bargain.[/quote]
also agree with CD73. though from the same shop another 200 will get you a brand spanking CD192!!!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="Thaiman"][quote user="Ashley James"] they aren't particularly reliable anyway[/quote]

My aging Marantz 63 still read every single cd that put in the tray! Some of the new so call High End Cd player however doesn't like copy protection cds!. DAC is a great way to go however you will always wonder "How would different transports sound like with my DAC"![/quote]

according to Ashley (from what he says in another thread) all transports will sound the same through the same DAC as it is the DAC that determines the output quality. his reasoning is that the transports merely feed the DAC the 1's and 0's... What are your thoughts Thaiman?
 

drummerman

New member
Jan 18, 2008
540
3
0
Visit site
I'm not thaiman but Ashley of AVI is as I understand it right. All a decent transport can do is make the error correction system work less and thus make the dacs job easier. A good transport will also give speed accuracy/stability that'll allow outboard dac's to be connected and although this is not a common problem anymore there have been a few products that were falling short in that respect.
 

Thaiman

New member
Jul 28, 2007
360
2
0
Visit site
[quote user="ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit"]according to Ashley (from what he says in another thread) all transports will
sound the same through the same DAC as it is the DAC that determines the output
quality. his reasoning is that the transports merely feed the DAC the 1's and
0's... What are your thoughts Thaiman?[/quote]

That WAS my thought until I had Audio Sythesis DAX. We (me and some audio mad friends) blind tested it with different digital outputs from various cd players, and we could hear different.
I don't think the different was vast enough to warrant spend silly money on such a dedicate Transports like Chords Blu (£4k) or similar price Wadia.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="drummerman"]
I'm not thaiman but Ashley of AVI is as I understand it right. All a decent transport can do is make the error correction system work less and thus make the dacs job easier. A good transport will also give speed accuracy/stability that'll allow outboard dac's to be connected and although this is not a common problem anymore there have been a few products that were falling short in that respect.
[/quote]

without trying to start an arguement... if this is true then why doesnt everyone sell their CDPs so they can buy a cheap 50 quid CDP to feed a Chord DAC64 or similar? seems a little strange to me that so many people are still willing to part with a large amount of cash for a CDP when all they need is a cheap transport and high quality DAC...?
 

drummerman

New member
Jan 18, 2008
540
3
0
Visit site
[quote user="ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit"]without trying to start an arguement... if this is true then why doesnt everyone sell their CDPs so they can buy a cheap 50 quid CDP to feed a Chord DAC64 or similar? seems a little strange to me that so many people are still willing to part with a large amount of cash for a CDP when all they need is a cheap transport and high quality DAC...?[/quote]

I dont think you are to far wrong there though there's the argument I've mentioned before re. reading-speed accuracy/error correction. Dont forget, not everyone wants two boxes and the associated choice of cabling and not everyone wants to spend a lot of money on cdp with or without external dac. As to why they make expensive players, the upsampling technology and often complex output stages are not cheap and you do normally pay for quality. Having said that, a lot of players across the board use similar technology and the gap between what a relatively cheap one sounds compared to one hundreds of pounds further up the scale has definitively closed over the last few years. Whether I like them or not, its amazing what CA is capable of doing with their Anagram technology upsamplers, not many years ago this would have been the ultra high end of things. There's an argument that red book cd transports sound better than DVD-CD-ROM drives with associated spif cabling though I'm really not an expert and can't quite see why that would be apart from quicker reading times of the former
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts