Used CD player for 200-300

I had the Music Hall CD-25 and liked it a lot, wonderful sound for the money. I now have a Denon 2910 and am equally happy with it. It sounds excellent, is very versatile and seems to be better built than the Music Hall.

I did have early transport failure in both L-70 and L-53 NAD all-in-one units but don't know if the same transports are used in the CD-only units.

Jdfelice,

In addition to a couple of big-buck dedicated CD players, I also own an Oppo Universal Player. Considering the Oppo is a Universal player and some of the Denons are Univeral or multi-format players, I can't figure out what you mean by this statement:

The Oppo's seem to be respectable, but this would not fit my simplicity preference. I always like Denon equipment, is there a Denon model that would be worth buying?

The Oppo and the Denon would be equally "not simple". Honestly, the Oppos are really good for the price. They play CD, HDCD, DVD, DVD-A and SACD. The only issue with the Oppo, or any other universal player, is that they load slowly compared to a dedicated CD player, and you may need to connect to a TV for some functions, like setup for the hi-res formats, etc.

I'm not saying the Oppos are the best $200-$300 players, but they have incredible funtionality, sound very good (considering the price) and generally have unbeatable video quality. They only lack the "jewel-like" build of some of the more expensive units.

Oh, and speaking of simplicity, most/all of the Oppos have variable volume control so you could connect them directly to a power amp, bypassing a pre-amp, if you choos to. I have my highly mod'd Oppo 970 connected direcly to my amps and the built-in remote controlled variable volume control works great for all formats. It's a nice feature that most manufactuers ingore.

Enjoy,

TIC

What I meant by that statement was,
Oppo all in one units are not simple CD players. I was inquiring about a Denon CD players not an all in one unit. Sorry, it wasn't very clear.
I just thought since I was looking for a CD player to listen to music, I may be able to find a used unit that would be better sounding than a new all in one. The NAD's sound like they fit the description, but may have reliability problems. The Music Hall units are still on the high end of my budget. If i'm patient, i'll find one in my price range, if not I might take a chance on a NAD.

How about this?
I owned one for a while. Inside it looks just like the Music Hall player. To be honest though I preferred the NAD C-541i. My NAD worked flawlessly for the two years I owned it. Good luck.

The Original looks nice, but a little high for my budget. I found a music hall player at the top of my budget. I think I'll give it a try if I can get it, If not the NAD C542 will be in my future. Thanks for everyones input.