Presumably you wish to transfer CDs to a Hard Drive? And use a streaming service such as Qobuz, and be able to access Internet Radio. Do you have a DAC? Perhaps the DAC stage of the CDP can be accessed by another device. Answer those questions and then you can get recommendations
I was in a similar situation. I need to replace my CD player and re-rip my 600 or so CD's. I started with an Innuos Zen Mini (in your price range) and ended up with an Innuos Zenith MK3. These streamers allow you to rip and store your CDs as well as to stream Qobuz, Tidal and possibly other music services from the internet. They feed into a DAC which feeds a preamp and then an amp. However, some very good DACs also come with a preamp and are able to control the volume and various inputs. In my system the sound quality of the Zenith far surpassed that of the Mini. But, read the reviews, there are many.
I’ve been recommending the combination of Melco N100, which is a 2TB NAS/Streamer, combined with Melco D100, their Optical Disc ripper that combined with the N100 can be used as a CD transport. That is two boxes, but they are each half sized so space wise its one box. Total cost around $3K, and no DAC included
Forgive me if you’ve made a decision by now as this may be late.
I "researched" for about 6 months and ended up with a QUAD ARTERA PLAY + Integrated Media Player. I only use it as a CD player while it does have a DAC.
I connect to a McIntosh amp via balanced XLR. The menu is clunky but the transport is exceptional. It gives you some interesting options (for e.g., selecting only the tracks you want on a particular CD and it remember your settings the next time).
The thing is built solid. Loading/unloading of a CD is almost silent and I can barely hear the transport when it’s spinning / playing a CD. I’ve "a-b" with a few others and at this price point, and have been extremely happy. I paid a bit north of $2500 but have seen it for $2000 since I purchased. https://www.atelier13-usa.com/quad-artera-solus-play (Note the
Quad Artera Play+ not the Solus is on the same page) A review from
What Hi-Fi?: https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/quad-artera-play
"And whatever you do, enjoy the music", Hans Beekhuyzen
Thank you all so very much. You have really educated me about the current approaches to having both CD and streaming. The Technics (thanks, M-DB) looks like the only deck so far that combines both in one box and the reviews seem good. OK, so that gives me lots of research to do. Thanks so much, this community is great.
I stand corrected. Thanks m-dbI I had no clue. Just the tax puts it above budget. Unless you live in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire or Oregon
DAC Great CD/Ripper and playback One or two hard drive bays Streamer/Server Balanced VERY well built. I’m talking serious build quality, HEAVY!
It will double as a standalone Preamp and has a phono input for playback or to digitize you LPs. 1/4, USB, WiFi, RCA, XLT, all the digital hook ups.
Cool little unit..
I had to fix it too. The wife manage to mess up the caddy, DON’T ASK! I took the top off, pulled the CD unit and installed a new one in 15 minutes while sipping my morning Joe.. 300-350.00 new
I had it hooked directly to a Cary V12r valve amp and class ds doing bass duty. I also used a Puffin as a Phono/Tape Preamp doubling for my Reel to Reel too. BIGGER :-) A work in progress...
Like I said two great preamps.
My Cocktail and a Parasound Zpre3, are two of the biggest bang for the buck buys out there. AND I’m a MAC guy...OK... Big time..
It was bought in 2016, about 5-6000 hours of actual CD play time and 15000 hours of just being on, and used as a preamp for HD, streaming, TT or RtR playback.
A pretty good CD player with USB input are the new Luxman units. You can play CD/SACDs with these players. You can also hook up a streamer to the USB input and then stream into the internal DAC of the CD player. It is a good solution for someone with a lot of CDs.
I have a Sony SCD-1 player for CD/SACD’s and a Gustard X26 Pro DAC ($1500) with ROON READY Rendu streamers from Sonore. However with my solution I need 2 source inputs on my preamp.
The Rendu’s have excellent sound quality and are ROON READY. They take Fiber Optical cable or regular Ethernet and input into the USB input of a DAC.
BTW - the lower cost Luxman CD player/DAC is $3K and the top of the line one is $16K.
tweak1, no I don't. It's a bit pricey and I'm just now looking into streaming choices.
I'm currently using a Logitech Squeezebox Touch and a separate Modwright/Truth Denon 3800 for CD/SACD play. We love the convenience of the Squeezebox but its fidelity is somwhat low tech The limitations and expense of digital sources have kept me from investing in an upgrade in the past.
The Denon no longer recognizes SACD's which led me to begin shopping. I'm told there are one or two services that are now quite close to matching disc presentation so I've been shopping the possibilities.
Since my Denon, player mechanisms have advanced in quality despite the popularity of streaming. I'm also considering the Yamaha CD-S1000 and an economical streaming devise. Looking into the Cocktail just now.
Dan did offer to repair if the parts were still available.
Thanks to Youtube it seems the Denon laser assembly is known for a short life span. Since its not playing SACD's but still playing CD's it may be as simple as an alignment adjustment. I thought I'd get under the hood before making a decision. Still procrastinating.
The modification included a power supply for the tube output stage and an umbilical cable. The improvement was nothing short of stunning and kills the Squeezebox.
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