CD Player - back to the future

Paulq

Well-known member
Dec 2, 2007
333
13
18,895
Visit site
As part of a second system I am looking to build I am after a decent CDP as I still actually do like them and buy a fair few. For my main system I normally rip them to a NAS then store them but I actually want to start using a CDP again.

My dilemma is whether to buy new or used. Marantz always made decent ones (amongst others). Question is would you buy new or look for one of the earlier more renowned models? Only caveat is that it needs to be available in silver *yes3*.

Thus far I have looked at the new Marantz stuff which is priced at around the £300 mark; a Yamaha at around the same plus an Audiolab at nearer £1k which I am reluctant to spend really. So a sensible budget is around £400 and am happy to buy second hand as long as it's as near to mint as I can get.

Any ideas on what's worth me looking for?

Thanks in advance!
 

Blacksabbath25

Well-known member
Sep 20, 2015
309
88
10,970
Visit site
Paulq said:
As part of a second system I am looking to build I am after a decent CDP as I still actually do like them and buy a fair few. For my main system I normally rip them to a NAS then store them but I actually want to start using a CDP again.

My dilemma is whether to buy new or used. Marantz always made decent ones (amongst others). Question is would you buy new or look for one of the earlier more renowned models? Only caveat is that it needs to be available in silver *yes3*.

Thus far I have looked at the new Marantz stuff which is priced at around the £300 mark; a Yamaha at around the same plus an Audiolab at nearer £1k which I am reluctant to spend really. So a sensible budget is around £400 and am happy to buy second hand as long as it's as near to mint as I can get.

Any ideas on what's worth me looking for?

Thanks in advance!
what amplifier are you using in the second setup ?

i would say the marantz cd6005 or cd6006 both you can have in sliver and both use the same Dac

both in your budget and the bonus is if your got an iPhone you can plug it in the front of the cdplayer .
 
muljao said:
Does your second system have its own DAC?

If so the Cambridge audio cxc seems like a well built, well received silver CD transport at 249 now

If it doesn't I would question buying a pure CDP. If you ever feel the need to try SACD then stick with marantz. If pure CD then I can recommend Creek Evolution or even second-hand Destiny 2 players as I love the way they sound (in an analogy sense). Or anything by Bel Canto.

It really depends on exactly what you want as even some blu-Ray players make a decent hash of playing CD s, however here you may be paying for bits and circuits you are never going to use.

The idea of a transport only if you already own a decent external DAC is a route I would consider. Is that NJC Audio dac part of your second system?
 

muljao

Well-known member
Jul 18, 2016
334
91
10,970
Visit site
To be honest I use a blue ray as a CD transport and find it perfect, being that the DAC more or less decide the sound. I have suggested that once or twice, but looking at the OP signature I'm guessing a CD player means a CD player :)
 
Blacksabbath25 said:
Paulq said:
As part of a second system I am looking to build I am after a decent CDP as I still actually do like them and buy a fair few. For my main system I normally rip them to a NAS then store them but I actually want to start using a CDP again.

My dilemma is whether to buy new or used. Marantz always made decent ones (amongst others). Question is would you buy new or look for one of the earlier more renowned models? Only caveat is that it needs to be available in silver *yes3*.

Thus far I have looked at the new Marantz stuff which is priced at around the £300 mark; a Yamaha at around the same plus an Audiolab at nearer £1k which I am reluctant to spend really. So a sensible budget is around £400 and am happy to buy second hand as long as it's as near to mint as I can get.

Any ideas on what's worth me looking for?

Thanks in advance!
what amplifier are you using in the second setup ?

i would say the marantz cd6005 or cd6006 both you can have in sliver and both use the same Dac

both in your budget and the bonus is if your got an iPhone you can plug it in the front of the cdplayer .

You could but I see little point in buying an amp with an inbuilt DAC and a CDP. One of those DACs is redundant and worthless.

To the OP, if you're going to buy second-hand buy recent models as the earlier ones are going to need servicing / belt / laser replacement at some point and some laser mechanisms are becoming hard to find.
 
muljao said:
To be honest I use a blue ray as a CD transport and find it perfect, being that the DAC more or less decide the sound. I have suggested that once or twice, but looking at the OP signature I'm guessing a CD player means a CD player :)

Me too, however I use an expensive Oppo as a CD P, a bluray player and a streamer in my second system. No reason why not to assuming the quality of DAC utilised is good, but also as I said it may be overkill if only CD replay is required.
 

Blacksabbath25

Well-known member
Sep 20, 2015
309
88
10,970
Visit site
Al ears said:
muljao said:
To be honest I use a blue ray as a CD transport and find it perfect, being that the DAC more or less decide the sound. I have suggested that once or twice, but looking at the OP signature I'm guessing a CD player means a CD player :)

Me too, however I use an expensive Oppo as a CD P, a bluray player and a streamer in my second system. No reason why not to assuming the quality of DAC utilised is good, but also as I said it may be overkill if only CD replay is required.
at least with the marantz cdplayers you can use your USB and plug an iPhone in and play cds

its not to bad
 

Paulq

Well-known member
Dec 2, 2007
333
13
18,895
Visit site
Thanks for all the replies - really appreciate it. They have made me think so there's now two scenarios:

1 - For the second system there's no DAC and the CDP would be plugging into either my trusty PM66 KI or one of the newer Marantz amp offerings so it's as traditional a setup as you could want really but also very simple. The NJC wouldn't be in that setup.

I do prefer the older stuff if honest but also recognise, as one of you said, that there's an increased likelihood of it going wrong so newer is probably better. I actually hadn't (stupidly) considered a Blu Ray option.

2 - On the back of me thinking about it I also wouldn't mind sticking a CDP/CD transport on the front end of the Linn system and wonder whether a similar machine would do it justice given I'd be connecting through optical to use the Linn DAC?

(I also see the madness in the latter suggestion......just before anyone says it :) )
 

bubobubo

New member
Nov 9, 2016
34
0
0
Visit site
some good bluray player is as good as any cd player in my opinion and the are also very good bluray player with ecellent cd quality, so why to stuck on a cd player that plays only cd? *unknw*
 

seemorebtts

Well-known member
Feb 2, 2013
66
0
18,540
Visit site
I was using a arcam bdp100 blu ray player as a CD player which was much better than the cheaper marantz CD players.theres one on eBay at the moment in silver will go for £150.or could I suggest the arcam cds27 which can be had for about £450 and plays SACD and streaming in hi Res.iv never been a fan of marantz having owned the 6005 CD.very cold and boring player :-(
 

Blacksabbath25

Well-known member
Sep 20, 2015
309
88
10,970
Visit site
seemorebtts said:
I was using a arcam bdp100 blu ray player as a CD player which was much better than the cheaper marantz CD players.theres one on eBay at the moment in silver will go for £150.or could I suggest the arcam cds27 which can be had for about £450 and plays SACD and streaming in hi Res.iv never been a fan of marantz having owned the 6005 CD.very cold and boring player :-(
i agree with maybe the older Arcam cdplayers are very good but not a fan of the cd 27

Marantz are ok depends what you put them with .... but it's always best to demo first anyway
 

lindsayt

New member
Apr 8, 2011
16
2
0
Visit site
Paulq, you could buy a CD player for £10 or £20.

Just do an ebay search on CD players, sorted in ascending order. And take a punt on whatever you fancy.

Check out the Lampizator archives for his thoughts on the players with the best DAC chips in.

Diminishing returns with digital sources starts at £10.

And at that price, if it ever goes wrong, buy another player for £10 to £20.
 

tino

Well-known member
Sep 29, 2011
135
10
18,595
Visit site
Second system : Sony UHP-H1 - does everything and has a decent DAC

Main system : Roksan Oxygene CD transport (because it looks nice and is £999 at Richer Sounds)
 

Paulq

Well-known member
Dec 2, 2007
333
13
18,895
Visit site
Thanks - a few there to look at and I have had a squiz on eBay. For the second system I am not going to spend the earth as it's just not warranted but I have looked at the Yamaha CDS300 which 'looks' a nice player but I have no idea about the DAC or componentry - any views on this one? There's also a newer one i think - the 301.

For the main one (and this may be more of a long termer than immediate) then there are a couple of Cyrus machines knocing about that would actually suit me gicen their compact form factor. Older stuff like the CD8 still looks reasonable - I assume that they are decent enough also?

Thanks again.
 
Paulq said:
For the main one (and this may be more of a long termer than immediate) then there are a couple of Cyrus machines knocing about that would actually suit me gicen their compact form factor. Older stuff like the CD8 still looks reasonable - I assume that they are decent enough also?

Thanks again.
I'm sure the cyrus cd8 will sound fine if it's still working......not the most reliable used buy ,lots of probs with discs not reading and eject mechs not working properly......I was looking to buy cyrus kit second hand until i read about so many issues with mainly cd players.
 

Paulq

Well-known member
Dec 2, 2007
333
13
18,895
Visit site
I'm sure the cyrus cd8 will sound fine if it's still working......not the most reliable used buy ,lots of probs with discs not reading and eject mechs not working properly......I was looking to buy cyrus kit second hand until i read about so many issues with mainly cd players.

[/quote] Hmm ok - I think I'll forget that one then. Thanks for the tip. That's the major hesitation for me to be honest - the risk associated with what was once regarded as a great piece of kit but with the inevitability of mechanical failure at some pont. I think I'll make the call to just buy new.
 

Paulq

Well-known member
Dec 2, 2007
333
13
18,895
Visit site
Thanks Mark though I must confess I don't know a lot about, or have any experience of, Arcam stuff at all.

In fact, I am that long out of the CD game I don't know much about anything to be honest - least of all what's worth looking at and what's not *acute*
 
well the Arcam's are good solid players,I had the cd72t then got the upgrade module fitted to take it up to the cd82 that's the model below the cd92 mentioned earlier.The difference with the upgrade was very noticeable and i'm sure the 92 would be another level up ,also spotted a couple of rega's...the planet and the apollo,very well regarded back in the day especially the apollo.The naim cdi(italic) is also a good player and can be found round about your budget but not the first iteration it is a bit on the more edge of your seat side,All these players are well regarded and will be a step up in performance from the budget marantz kit you've been looking at.
 

MrReaper182

Well-known member
Apr 6, 2014
189
36
18,620
Visit site
You can get some great CD players second hand. I'll get on ebay and look around the charity shops If I was you. I once found a Bang & Oulfsen CD player in a charity shop which I brought for 50 quid and sold online for 300 quid.
 
MrReaper182 said:
You can get some great CD players second hand. I'll get on ebay and look around the charity shops If I was you. I once found a Bang & Oulfsen CD player in a charity shop which I brought for 50 quid and sold online for 300 quid.

If you have time to spare I would concur. If you simply want a decent CDP to keep then you are barking up the wrong tree and not really relevant to the OPs question.
 

paulkebab

New member
Dec 26, 2014
66
1
0
Visit site
Is a very good player IMO mine has been very reliable so far, got it a few years ago. Plus points are the internal DAC, definitely not a cheapo one it sounds very good with only the lower midrange sounding slightly recessed; quiet in operation and a good remote; coax, optical and phono out are all there I use mine as a slave; front USB to play from a pen drive or portable HD.

Just one poor point, the tray loading instead of a full size drawer but it enhances the looks somewhat.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts