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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
scott22
260 posts
 

Like you I bought 700 classical CDs for $200, older stuff most never played lots of great music from great musicians. I bought a Marantz cd 6007 for $500 works fine. Streaming will come later for me. 

tweak1
3,643 posts
 

Since you already have a dac, check out Audioman's review of the Audiolab 6000CDT transport. I upgraded from several CD players that died just a few months ago to the CDT. The improvement is beyond anything you can get in a $1000 player (There's a couple FS on Agon right now)

boxcarman
396 posts
 

OK, most CD's made before year 2000 sound crappy on most players of any price.  Most Musical Fidelity players will add some life into them,  I am unsure if they try to expand the frequency response or something else, but it does help the old CDs.  that being said, a quality used player will beat a new inexpensive one any day.

celtic66
1,648 posts
 

+1 ericsch   I run that player and for the money, well it's very decent and of course one may add an external DAC and greatly improve it.  The shoebox design I like also.  Very solid build.  Cheers

moonwatcher
415 posts
 

I recently bought a new Denon DCD-800ne CD Player for $499 and love it. I had not bought a new CD player in 30 years (my Sony and even older Magnavox were mostly doing fine). However, nothing lasts forever, and I have a fairly large collection of about 1200 CDs I want to continue to play. Yeah, I do streaming too, but CDs still sound a touch better for whatever numerous reasons.

This model has sadly been discontinued by Denon, but I found it factory refurbished or perhaps simply NOS by them at an online vendor. It looks new to me.

It performs well with its internal DAC and processing. One feature I liked and wanted on it over its little brother, the DCD-600ne, was its USB input for playing files such as FLAC and DSD. Long term, I can use it as a decent transport if I ever buy a better DAC implemented better than its 32-bit/192kHz Burr-Brown PCM1795.

Note that it does play CDs gaplessly. Unfortunately, many late model CD players don’t, which is beyond dumb. So if gapless playback is important to you, ask before you buy. Good luck.

DENON DCD-800NE CD Player with Advanced AL32 Processing Plus | Accessories4less

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