The 'best' CD players of the last 10+ years?

[Jasonovich]

Wow! That is fugly! Sorry Jason 🙂

Doug you need to step up your game hahaha... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 🙂
It's like the VW Beetle, it has character, those curves would make my missus jealous. A few simple operational buttons.
It's almost analogue-risqke.
I like it but I get people might prefer rectangular boxes. 😊

 

[Oxfordian]

The new Hegel Viking CD player is also 5k, and it only plays CDs, nothing else.

And I have no problem with that, as many turntables cost far more. And considering my sizable CD collection which is still growing, I'd consider it an investment, more so than any streamer.

It also looks marvellous, being a slot loader.

You make a good point, if you're still collecting CD's and/or vinyl then investing in good replay kit isn't unreasonable, I wonder which CD player (Hegel or Atoll) would be more reliable in the long term and potentially repairable.

 

[Jasonovich]

You make a good point, if you're still collecting CD's and/or vinyl then investing in good replay kit isn't unreasonable, I wonder which in the long term would be more reliable and potentially repairable.

It also has a built in DAC which is one up on the Hegel.

 

[DougK1]

Doug you need to step up your game hahaha... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 🙂
It's like the VW Beetle, it has character, those curves would make my missus jealous. A few simple operational buttons.
It's almost analogue-risqke.
I like it but I get people might prefer rectangular boxes. 😊

You are such a peacock, Jason, or maybe a magpie 🙂 I like my kit in black and understated. I like Beetles too, so we do have something in common 🙂

 

[JDL]

Wow! That is fugly! Sorry Jason 🙂

Les Francais son't droles quand il s'agit de Hi Di strling.

 

[mightyquin]

Well I'm kind of sorry I asked as this has left me very confused. I didn't realise that £5K was the going rate for a 'not high end' CD player or that you should just buy a cheap DVD player instead which would be just as good.

My old Technics is working fine so I will stick with that for now but look to pick up another later model by Technics/NAD/Marantz or Arcam as 'back up'.

Thank you for the input anyway.

 

[Revolutions]

Well I'm kind of sorry I asked as this has left me very confused. I didn't realise that £5K was the going rate for a 'not high end' CD player or that you should just buy a cheap DVD player instead which would be just as good.

My old Technics is working fine so I will stick with that for now but look to pick up another later model by Technics/NAD/Marantz or Arcam as 'back up'.

Thank you for the input anyway.

I’m possibly going to be selling my Nad C515BEE soon. That’s a great player you can get for £100. Not going to amongst the best players as it was a budget model, and it’s more like 15 years old.

 

[Oxfordian]

Well I'm kind of sorry I asked as this has left me very confused. I didn't realise that £5K was the going rate for a 'not high end' CD player or that you should just buy a cheap DVD player instead which would be just as good.

My old Technics is working fine so I will stick with that for now but look to pick up another later model by Technics/NAD/Marantz or Arcam as 'back up'.

Thank you for the input anyway.

That’s the problem with threads on forums, they can easily get side tracked.

In essence there is a lot of good stuff out there in the pre-loved market, have a look at a few that are in the price bracket you have in mind and do some research on the models that catch your eye.

Come back here for evaluations on items that interest you, people have them or have used them.

I had a Marantz CD50 SE back in the day, a brilliant bit of kit but it went into hibernation in a leaky loft and sadly succumbed to water ingress many years later.

When I renewed my CD source I went for the Audiolab 6000CDT at £400 it’s ace but maybe not what you are looking for.

As people migrate to streaming services or just generally upgrade their kit there are good CD Players and CD Transports coming into the pre-loved market all the time, keep looking and researching you will then be better placed to act when you see what you want.

 

[JDL]

Doug you need to step up your game hahaha... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 🙂
It's like the VW Beetle, it has character, those curves would make my missus jealous. A few simple operational buttons.
It's almost analogue-risqke.
I like it but I get people might prefer rectangular boxes. 😊

Sorry Jason, I'm with Doug on this one. The CD player in question is needlessly ugly.😄

 

[Jasonovich]

Sorry Jason, I'm with Doug on this one. The CD player in question is needlessly ugly.😄

You and Doug see Austin Allegro, I see Taylor Swift.
Maybe I need my eyes tested? 🤣

 

[matthewpianist]

The best one I've had, overall, was the Musical Fidelity M2scd. The next best was the Denon DCD1600NE.

 

[record_spot]

I'm going with my current player - the Kenwood DP-990SG from 1988. Bought mine a couple of years ago and it's been terrific. Hopefully it's got a few years left in it, but it just makes listening to CDs a very dynamic but organic listen. £600 back in its day, so around £1500 or so now. Paired with my Cambridge 200M DAC and there's very little difference between the two.

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/kenwood/dp-990sg.shtml

 

[Stuart83]

Had a similar experience recently when building a new main hifi for the back bedroom.

I thought an old favourite of mine the Marantz cd52 mk2 which is 30yrs old was too old for the newer system and it's eject wheel failed a common problem thus started looking for a newer player.
I demoed a few of the modern favourites including the new model Marantz 6007 and a higher end cd 60 and actually convinced myself the 6007 was better.

I took it home from richer sounds and hooked it up whilst fully expecting the improvement to make me smile and validate my decision only to after some weeks start to pine for the old cd52's sound.

Thinking it was impossible for the old cd52's sound to be better went through the usual motions I go through of convincing myself it's just because I was used to the older players sound and that a newer player will of course be an improvement, especially an award winning modern one.

A few days past and a new edject wheel/cog arrived in the post courtacy of ebay "again" so I replaced it and decided to give it a quick once over whilst it was open.

After the repair I put it into my second hifi in the living room to be used the pioneer a400 the original amp it was both bought and paired with and thought nothing more of it.

Until about a week later the yearning for its sound returned.
Now repaired and looking like new I just admitted the impossible and swapped them round.
Immediately on playing the satisfaction and joy it always brought me was back.

After a little research past the usual found that a lot of older Marantz players were thought to be sprinkled with fairy dust 😯

I mention this because on subject the Marantz cd52 can be had for 100 £ one even going for 79 £ both in working order one in new condition.

Off subject the "hifi bug" has started again when both modernising and building a main hifi now I have a back bedroom in a new property out of the way of everybody.

I'm looking into both cd transports and running a power amplifier in conjunction with the acram sa30 for the said plusses the internet describes.

I will be opening a new thread not to hijack this one so I can get a bigger understanding of what they offer towards music quality if anything.

 

[bp_reid]

I recently picked up a used Arcam CDS27 for under £200, and while it's a bit slow to operate, it sounds good and the streaming performance is a bonus, easier to listen to via my amp & speakers than my Chord Mojo2/Poly combo - the Arcam is just a bit warmer and more solid.

 

[record_spot]

10+ years?

I'd go with the Cambridge 752BD (possibly an obvious pick given I've had one in use almost constantly for the last decade) and probably the original Leema Pulse from around 2007. Great players both.

 

[Rodolfo]

My favorite player for a bunch of years has been a Sony CDP-CA8ES. It replaced my first Sony player which I bought in 1985 when I got my first CDs. I have used and cared for this unit since new and am fortunate that it -and the remote- still work, and that the music still plays beautifully for my tastes and requirements. I am still seriously into CDs and do shop around/browse regularly. In my experience, it would require a lot of patience and time investment for me to be LUCKY and find something worthwhile for about the OP's imagined 100 pounds, even in the used markets. It's possible, but it usually takes more like $300 to draw my attention. The most common limitation in what is offered is a missing remote, even for the few units that are cosmetically acceptable/clean/nice and that appear or demonstrate good maintenance.

Good luck to the OP: enjoy your working MASH unit, and be diligent and patient in search of a worthy addition or replacement.