Best universal player for audio

bellyshere

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I want a universal player that can play sacd, dvd-a and cds. Not fussed about dvds. I have an old Pioneer DV-688 which i'm not sure about audio wise. I have a marantz pm6005 amp and q acoustic concept 20s. I play mostly cds but have quite a few sacds and dvd-a. What universal players shine cd wise? Cheers.
 

Dazmb

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Oppo 105 & Primare BD30 are both universally highly rated (outside of the WHF building anyway!). I would have said the Arcam BDP300 for CDP, but it's not a universal player. I had a Cambridge Audio 751 as well for a few weeks last year, but hated it and the 752 is probably the same analogue 2CH stage. Considering the CA players have the same DAC as my (former) beloved king of analogue universal player - the Arcam DV139 - it sounded really odd, with imaging all over the place IMHO. The upscaling and filters on the CA players are gimmicks to my mind (and ears).

The Oppo 105 has some of the warmth of an Arcam Wolfson implementation, but with less 'fatness' of tone (i'm talking about the lovely Arcam warm and fuzzy timbre). However there is more imaging clarity and detail from the Sabre 32 DAC's without straying into being bright or overly lean.

Hope that helps.
 

cannibal_ox77

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Not sure if its a similar issue with all universal disc players but a word of caution on the Marantz UD5007; having used this as my primary source for about a year, with 90%+CD, it is annoyingly slow to load and frustratingly unresponsive to control. Sound quality isn't bad but I knew it was the weak link and since upgrading to an audiolab CD player realised just how weak, in particular very lean bass in comparison. Can't fault its video or digital audio performance, and OK, its an unfair comparison, but if you are mostly listnening to CDs I'd recommend a standalone CD player at any budget. I think you'd have to splash big money on something like an Oppo 105 to get something that impressed enough with CD, can't comnent on the 7007, maybe that is also a big improvement on the 5007 and well priced currently. I guess it all depends how much you listen to hi-res discs. My 5007 is on hand for bluray, dvd and the occasional SACD
 
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Frank Harvey sell them too:

http://www.hifix.co.uk/blu-ray-players/oppo/bdp103eu.html
 
T

the record spot

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Can recommend my current one, the Marantz UD7007. If you're on a budget then Pioneer's LX55 could be rather good. 2007 saw Denon bring out their DVD3930 which is a terrific used buy at around £150.
 

busb

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I bought a CA Azur 751 before they became obsolete - remain pleased. Its replacement is similar but with functionality & dinky colour icons in the OSD but for a lot more. I know the Oppo's are the height of fashion but are so butt ugly. BR discs look pretty damn fine on mine
 
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the record spot

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I don't know about ugly, but both Oppo and Arcam have fascias that are a turn off for me. Much prefer the Marantz 7007 styling.
 

busb

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the record spot said:
I don't know about ugly, but both Oppo and Arcam have fascias that are a turn off for me. Much prefer the Marantz 7007 styling.

+1. Never said the CA was a thing of beauty! The OP states he doesn't care anyway. All three are very solidly made. All I can add is that both CA models work well & are QUIET though I'd prefer a white not blue display with a decent remote that's backlit on the later 752.
 

cannibal_ox77

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bellyshere said:
0r, i could just spend £400 on an Arcam irdac and plug my Pioneer into that?

If you stretch to £540 an M-DAC would give better results and offer a bit more flexibility. Better still, sevenoaks have ex-demo audiolab 8200CD (£500) or CDQ (£600), so you could get a superb CD player and DAC at a good price. I'd stretch to the CDQ though with its superb pre-amp which will allow you to add a power amp as a future upgrade path, or form the basis of a 2nd system. In the meantime it can be disabled to use just as a cd player.

I would have gone down the M-DAC route if my 5007 had co-ax or optical outputs, but I'm glad I got the CDQ as it has so much going for it.
 

Dazmb

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If you don't care about BD playback and are not wanting to use the Uni players DAC for media file playback, then you could do a LOT worse than get yourself an Arcam DV139. This was a £2k + player new with no expense spared on the specification at the time. One of the greatest reference status universal players ever made, and it still sounds fantastic. Plus it has top drawer DVD playback that only was equalled by the top of the range Denon at the time.

Built in England like a tank. It has the same Wolfson DAC as the new CA 75x BD players, but to my ears sounds much better for 2ch analogue. Spec is great with twin toroidal PSU's, dual lasers and audio only mode. The only minus is that it can't do DSD native output for SACD, it has to convert to PCM before output. But still SACD's sound great from it.

If you can find a good clean one then worth a punt. Still sell easilty 2nd hand, and prices seem to be about £300 now on fleabay. But for a 6 yr old disc player to be still worth that sort of money shows how good they were / are.
 

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