What makes a Cd player a Great cd player

Rx8man,

I have never heard a tip-top end, high dollar turntable, phono, cart and arm combo. One costing over $20,000, so you may be 100% correct. I just have not tried one in my system. The vinyl systems I have tried retailed for $7000 tops.

Still hear those clicks and pops on a mega-buck rig? I bet you do....:-(

Perhaps over time I would not notice that surface noise. That seems possible.

It's well designed and built.

That doesn't necessarily mean it has to cost a fortune these days because the basic technology needed to do it well is fairly commonplace and also fairly widely understood these days.

How different units are tuned to sound from there is a different story, more one of personal tastes and how well the player integrates with the rest of the system (amp, speakers, room), which can make a huge difference in regards to the final results

Personally, I would assess the player's and systems results using live music performances as a reference standard, not a different format of recorded media, vinyl or otherwise.

If things are going well, either format will do a good job of getting most things mostly right in their own way.

Grannyring, yer right, I hear the pops-n-clicks, but those dynamic swings sure kick our ass !

I think that part of the divergence of viewpoints on vinyl vs. digital probably relates to the kinds of music that people listen to. In two ways:

1)Tics, pops, surface noise, etc. on a vinyl system will be most objectionable on material that has wide dynamic range, such as classical symphonic music. Assuming comparable pressing quality, it will be much less noticeable on rock, (especially if it has been typically compressed), and on jazz, most chamber music, etc., that has narrower dynamic range.

2)It is well established that very low level high frequency hiss, such as lp surface noise, can result in a subjective perception of enhanced air and ambiance. I would expect that to also assume greater or lesser significance depending on the type of music being listened to. And also depending on the quality of the engineering of the recordings -- overly dry recordings will benefit from that effect; recordings that were produced in a good hall, and were properly mic'd and mixed, will not.

Regards,
-- Al