CD Player Under $1.5k With Vinyl Sound


After getting exposed to vinyl I begin to feel that I am not enjoying the sound from my CD player anymore. In comparison to the lush, organic and liquid sound from my vinyl rig, the CD player sounds mechanical, compressed and congested as music doesn't seem to flow out in 3-dimensional scale. Whenever I switch from CD to vinyl I often find myself completely immersed into the music. Since I got a turntable I have not found enjoyment in listening to CD's anymore and have been spending considerably less time with the format. In fact, the CD player was left untouched for more than 1 month now. I did try to listen but everytime a CD goes into the player the listening session will be less than 5 minutes before I go grab my records and start spinning some tunes.

My question is, are there any good and musical CD players in the current production around the $1.5k bracket that sound close to vinyl? I am not interested in extreme detail, resolution and transparency. I am more concerned on musicality and an overall toe-tapping factor. I want a sound that is full, natural, lush and organic and yet cast a wide soundstage without any trace of harshness and sibilance often associated with digital. I am aware that some good CD players, often in the higher priced bracket sound extremely close to vinyl, so my interpretation doesn't entirely apply with all digital.

For the record, my CD player is a Krell KPS-30i and turntable a Rega P5. The only aspect I like about digital is on its quietness in the lack of pops, crackles and clicks often associated with analog(dirty or less than perfect records). Other than that I am truly smitten with the vinyl sound. I hope a special CDP could salvage things and bring some life back into my CD collection.
ryder
I agree with audiofeil. It does not exist. I use an old Cal CL15. It sounds great. I usually listen to it only as a warm up. When my system warms up, then I listen to vinyl and in the near future open reel. Maybe if you take your CDs and tape them on an open reel player, they will probaly sound a little better.
I have come to the conclusion that neither LP OR CD is good for all types of music. No one can tell me that techno/electronica or anything in or near this category of music can sound better on vinyl than CD. And the same is (almost) true when listening to well recorded LP's vs. digital. Weather Report on CD? No. Classical on CD or LP? Depends on recording. Rock? I’m NOT going there (what do you think, I'm crazy?!?!) So, (IMHO) it depends on what you listen to. If your tastes lean more towards a particular genre of music...then this is where you need to concentrate your efforts. If your eclectic, and listen to everything under the sun...divi-up and stop comparing things to each other that you cannot compare. Jesus already, its 4:30 AM here and the only other morning marauder that I know is up this early is Audiofeil. Cheers
I am not a big proponent of vinyl so take what I say with a grain of salt. I do know that the better the source the better the sound. However when it comes to a really good cd player then the better the recordings the better the sound. It is all about synergy.

This debate about what's better will forever go on. It really depends upon personal preference. I prefer digital over vinyl others prefer vinyl over digital.

My advise, find the best cd player you can afford based upon recommendation, then find some great recording such as music cds from the Naim label and then sit back and enjoy the music.

Respectfully submitted.
IMHO there is no way digital can come close to vinyl and the way the vinyl can reproduce the low level detail in a recording. I have heard some very good digital front ends and they do not sound like vinyl, ever. They may sound good, but not like vinyl.
I'll not get into that whole CD vs vinyl thing. I play and enjoy both. If you want a very listenable CDP (universal even) see what David Schulte has at The Upgrade Company. I'm liking very much the mod'd Denon I bought from him.