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First CD player help!

Hi everyone,

I am going to the darkside....

But only in my bedroom :) 

I am a turntable enthusiast. It's been my only source for many years but I recently setup a turntable in my bedroom system and honestly do not enjoy having to get out of bed to flip the record and because I'm not actively listening I feel I'm not getting everything from the listening experience I would in front of my main. 

I know all about streaming and love it but only for when I'm on the subway, my car, running around etc. When given all of the world's music my ADD head wants to move onto the next artist, album or song, before whats playing even finishes.  I miss selecting a piece of physical media, putting it on and letting it play. 

So that got me thinking about CDs. 

I'm a young(ish) guy, 30 and got into music around the same time the first MP3 players hit the market so never really got into CDs. I recently purchased a guy's entire CD collection (400plus) and am now trying to figure out a decent CD player to add to my bedroom system and possibly down the road another for my main rig. 

My bedroom setup is tube based. Rogue RP1 pre, Rogue ST-80 amp, Vandersteen 3Asig speakers. And one of those cheap Schiit Dacs.

I think I'd rather go CD player vs transport at this time. And would like to spend around $500 (either new or used works for me).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers,

Sammy

 

 

128x128sammyshaps
shtinkydog
678 posts
 
if you decide to go with a changer, heads up on the Onkyo 390. it is full of bugs. and with your ADD (you said it, not me), it will drive you nuts.
mesch
3,473 posts
 

If considering Crutchfield, I would go for the Cambridge or the Yamaha.

Within budget, both have coax digital output for your external DAC to compare to the internal one. 

With Crutchfield you have 60 days to run the player hard (play a large portion of your new collection). If you were to identify one with a faulty transport you could replace it. 

mofojo
2,288 posts
 

IMO it takes a whole lot more money on a streaming system to match or better a transport. The 2 choices in the 500 range are the Cambridge and the Audiolab. I bought the Cambridge and I like it very much. Never heard the Audiolab. 
 

streamed or hard drive songs through the same dac via Bluesound Node do not sound as good . YMMV. 

mwinkc
367 posts
 

+3 on the Marantz cd-6006.

I know it's been replaced by the 6007 by now.

I had Yamaha & Sony CD players in that same, lower price range and found the cd-6006 to be superior enough to trigger an all nighter,, listening to favorite CDs to hear more in the music than I had been hearing on the other decks. I miss playing the SACD layers, but it sounds fine.

I haven't pursued higher end CD players/transports because the streaming bug bit.... I'll leave it at that.

 

mahler123
3,305 posts
 

A Sony Universal Player would fit your budget.  You can then also spin SACDs, Blu Rays, etc

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