Best CD player under $2000

RE: Tidal is lossless.  Well, not really.  Tidal and other streaming services, must compress to fit a lot of channels into a small stream.  Maybe after they compress and otherwise modify the bits and bytes, they don't change the signal, but I have never heard a streaming service that compares to the best in home sources, at least on good recordings.  IMnsHO, anyone who touts such has not heard a really good system.

Go with the flow .Unless you spend $2,000 you won't  be happy. Does that mean anything  that cost $200 is a piece of garbage? All I can say is you don't  have to be an audiophile  if you not rich.I feel sorry for the guy who has to spend $2000 ,5,000,10,000 because these guys are never happy.Even when there system has $500,000 speakers ,and cost a million or more .. .LOL .

danvignau

RE: Tidal is lossless. Well, not really.

That's probably technically true, because of Tidal's reliance on MQA.

Tidal and other streaming services, must compress to fit a lot of channels into a small stream.

Oh no, that's mistaken. Qobuz, for instance, is hi-res and completely uncompressed.

I have never heard a streaming service that compares to the best in home sources, at least on good recordings. IMnsHO, anyone who touts such has not heard a really good system.

Perhaps you should go back and check your streamer and DAC settings, because - as you state - you're somehow listening to compressed audio.

Bought a used Mac MVP891 ($5000) for $2500 and am sorry I did. The transport tray was wonky from day one, and and is now sitting and waiting for repair. I am a fan of OPPO. That said I bought Panasonic DP-UB 9000 for $1000 and could not be happier. The Pan is missing SACD but otherwise is great IMOP.  

the Denafrips Avatar transport mentioned earlier is actually about $1200, the website lists prices in Singapore dollars...

I would also suggest Marantz SA-11S3 used for around $2K.

The best CD player under $2000 is a $300 pro grade CD player, like a Tascam, with an optical feed to your favorite DAC.

As a  DAC/Trans
Here is my latest YT upload,, showing off the SEAS Thor speakers,,but also one gets to hear the Cayin CD17, with mod = SPARKSOLAB Descrete opamps + Mundorf Silver caps.
The one thing holding back jmy system is a more open preamp = the Cayin's musicality is limited by the preamp.
The cayin CD19 mark 2 is avaliable has a   rectifier tube, other than that the board looks identical to the Mark1.
later on next year i will order the Primaluna tube CDP. @ $3K.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Y9WRTjl9c

Used Ayre?

I concur with many of the above replies, but I would throw a marker in for the recommendation of any of the Oppo's ending in a 5.  With one big BUT (no pun intended), send it to Ric Shultz at EVS and let him do his magic to it.  He is an artist!

is Ric still working on Oppo's ? I have his modified Oppo Sonica and it's awesome...

Any chance a Dynaco CDV PRO with upgrades could be a nice unit and still have a good run? Or is a 25+- yr. old player not worth the effort?

Sparkler Audio makes a very good sounding nos CD player for about $1700.00. Sparklers designer is from 47 Labs and knows what he is doing. I have had mine for about a year and really like the sound.


http://sparkler-audio.com/portfolio/S503_en.html

Another thing to consider are dedicated Optical Drives, mainly used for ripping CDs, that will also play CDs when connected (usually by usb) to a DAC.  I experimented with an Apple Optical drive outputting into an Oppo 105, and the results were pretty close to to those obtained from just using the Oppo.
  Currently I am using the Bryston Optical Drive as a dedicated CD transport.  It has to be paired with a Bryston Streamer which then feeds into a separate DAC, so all of that would exceed the budget here, but for red book it does sound a bit better-mainly low level detail retrieval, particularly in the bass—than my Oppo as a transport into the same DAC.  Melco  makes an Optical player that can be played directly into a DAC for around $1500.  The biggest issue with the Bryston is that mechanical grinding noise that rippers make, which occurs at the end of tracks.  Not a big deal if I am listening a a Bruckner Symphony whereeach track might be 30 minutes, but if I’m listening to an album of Chopin Mazurkas that are each 90 seconds in duration it’s more noticeable.

micthurst

Consider an Ayre spinner.  Have fun!

Happy Listening!

Denafrips makes excellent products that are very well built
from their Ares 2 dac, pontus to terminator + very musically involving Non digital 
and have a very good transport if you need one Vinshine Audio $$ in Syngapore 
scroll down page yellow is in US$$ from Pontus on up very good huge linear power supplies and at least 200 filtering capacitors ,name brand parts in many areas and very good 3 yr warranty and soak tested for  100 hours and retested before it leaves excellent price performance value.