Do CD-R's sound the same as originals

As noted, I make my CD-Rs on a $600. Pioneer W739-- ie consumer grade. I have 4 CD players and CD-Rs and originals sound different on all of them. They include Levinson 37 Transport and 360S DAC, Sony XA7ES (now sold), Sony 9ES, and of course the pioneer recorder. CD-Rs played back on the Levinson system sound best and I can't really hear any significant difference between them and the originals. The XA7ES is very good also. Playback on the consumer grade stuff sounds worse on both originals and CD-Rs. This seems consistent to me. Interestingly, while the W739 makes excellent copies, it does not sound that great when playing back the copies. I'd guess it's optimized for copying. Craig.

Did you check the copies bit for bit ?

Craig - Your experience mirrors that reported by Stereophile (JA?) when they reviewed one of the Phillips audio CDR recorder/players - he, too, noted possible, slight degradation, but overall was very impressed with the copies that were made. It's not surprising that the W739 makes excellent copies but sounds like a "cheap" CD player on playback - it should be a lot easier (ie. cheaper) to make accurate digital copies than to do quality D/A conversion.

Realizing that Joe hasn't had a heart attack yet, and that no one is reading my comments in this thread anymore, I will abandon it. I hope you all enjoy "perfect sound forever", and kiss my bum!

Adieu Carl. Keep up those bench-presses !