CD Listening - Universal player or BDP?

[admin_exported]

Hello everyone,

I have a Rotel RA05, which I use to listen to music and amplify TV.

I listen to LPs and CDs, and I already have a decent LP turntable.

For listening to CDs, I would like to combine my amp with a blue ray player, because I have my hi fi in the living room (6x4 meters roughly) and I do not want much stuff around.

I need to choose between a universal player worth 400-500 euros (like Marantz UD5005 or Denon DBP1611UD) or a standard Blue Ray for around 200 euros (like Panasonic DMP or Sony BDP).

My questions are:

- does the quality of sound proportionally increase with price?

- would a Panasonic DMP or Sony BDP decently play music to my Rotel amp?

- or should I accept to have two separate devices and buy a simple CD player? and would a Marantz or NAD entrly level cd player play music significantly better than a universal player or a BDP?

I mostly listen to classical and jazz music.

Advices very welcome.

Thanks in advance

 

[John Duncan]

I have a universal player (see signature) which is much better via its analogue outputs than the one I had previously (the entry-level Son) so yes, sound quality does improve with price. Note also that some manufacturers like Denon, Marantz, Cambridge etc pay particular attention to their players' stereo sound, so to my mind it's worth paying extra - some of these players are now worthy replacements for a base-level CD player.

That said, your 500€ budget rules out the Cambridge players in Europe, so the Marantz and Denon players look like your next best bet. It would be worth hearing one against somehting like a Marantz 6004, though, so that you can decide whether the convenience of one box is worth the cost.

 

[Paul.]

I don't really like the CD performance of my Panasonic BDT 310, I found the pioneer bdp 330 I had before hand much better. The pioneer was a poor bluray player however so it went. Can't even really put my finger on what it is, it just sounds a bit dead to me?

 

[manicm]

I have a universal player (see signature) which is much better via its analogue outputs than the one I had previously (the entry-level Son) so yes, sound quality does improve with price. Note also that some manufacturers like Denon, Marantz, Cambridge etc pay particular attention to their players' stereo sound, so to my mind it's worth paying extra - some of these players are now worthy replacements for a base-level CD player.

That said, your 500€ budget rules out the Cambridge players in Europe, so the Marantz and Denon players look like your next best bet. It would be worth hearing one against somehting like a Marantz 6004, though, so that you can decide whether the convenience of one box is worth the cost.

The 651BD is around 500 though? But its Blu-ray playback may not be quite as good as the others. You can also add an optional wireless adapter (standard with the 751BD).

 

[ISAC69]

I strongly recomend to continue hearing music via the CD , I used to listen to music in the recent years in

my DVD just bought a CAMBRIDE AUDIO CD and it is extremely better than the DVD, the sound is whorm and natural ,

in the DVD it sounds dry and artificial .

 

[manicm]

The CA 751BD sounds very good with CDs - at least as good as my Arcam Solo Mini. DVD players seldom played CDs well (well I liked my Pioneer but it had a bright but well-imaged sound - so its subjective), but premium Blu-ray players at 500+ seem to play CDs really well.

 

[John Duncan]

The 651BD is around 500 though?

That's in Sterling. 1000€ on the continent, it seems...

 

[fr0g]

The 651BD is around 500 though?

That's in Sterling. 1000€ on the continent, it seems...

For the record, its 5995 SEK over here in Sweden. That's from the official store (HiFiKlubben). According to www.xe.com, that works out at £557.

 

[cheyworth]

The other option is a Bluray player and a DAC, Arcam rDAC and a Panasonic DMP player should come under budget.

 

[dariushifi]

Hello everyone,

I need to choose between a universal player worth 400-500 euros (like Marantz UD5005 or Denon DBP1611UD) or a standard Blue Ray for around 200 euros (like Panasonic DMP or Sony BDP).

I would recommend denon 2012 rather than 1611. Sonically very strong, great Burr Brown DAC.

In UK it is less than 500 pounds.