What makes a Cd player a Great cd player

06-01-10: Ddan6815

Back when I owned my Marantz cdp, I thought it had a more warmer sound than my current cd player,which I found to be very detailed, and open, but lacked the more laid back sound of the Marantz. However when I switched speakers, and went to my Apogees, the smoothness that was lacking appeared. I think any extra money spent should go towards speakers and quality mastered cds. my two cents

So it seems that you prefer an transparent source and warmer speakers, nothing wrong with this. If it works for you that's all that matters. However, there is more than one way to skin a cat. That's why they make so many flavors.

To me, what makes a cd player great is being able to listen to all of my cd's (not just audiophile recordings) without grinding my teeth. I tend to like them a little smoother, since many cd's, especially earlier ones, are pretty harsh. Analog is still what I listen to when I want great music, so a great CDP to me is just the least irritating one.

Cheers,
John

WOW....I keep forgetting where I'm at. I simply ASKED a question, because I am open minded,and wanted other opinions about a cdp in the 2 to 3k range. I also only shared MY personal experience, which is NOT much, being the reason I ASKED in the first place. I was hoping someone would enlighten me, considering I never purchased a cdp over $500. was that to say I wont, NO, I would if i could get what I would justify as worth the purchase . Now, let me ask the question again, and see if I can get the answer, I was looking for. I love the sound of Vinyl over cds,. If I was to spend 2 to 3k on a cd player, will it even come close to the sound of Vinyl, or will I get the realism that I get from vinyl. And by the way my current cdp, is a Emotiva ERC1, AMP NAD2600, SPEAKERS APOGEE CENTAURUS, SONY 601ES 6 DISC CHANGER , EMOTIVA USP1 PREAMP AND A KENWOOD KD 5077 TT....ALL BUDGET PRICED GEAR

Great CD players, of which there are few, do not absolutely butcher string instruments, and in particular, violin. Go listen to a live violin concerto, or for that matter, a violin concerto played on a $500 turntable - 99.99% of CD players sound fundamentally wrong by comparison.