CD Players Getting Better?

I find my new Cary 24/96 model "303" to be of stunning quality, and I don't think this quality was available at this price (3k new, 1800 used) until now.

On the other hand, I recently heard an old $200 cd player on a system that was naturally warm and musical sounding but not highly resolving - it had excellent tonality (Gale 401 speakers with NAD amp) and it was extremely satisfying.

Art

Is this a money question or a CDP tech. question? Kind of hard to tell, but isn't it just easier to say this is how much I got, what should I get? I'll answer assuming your question is 'I have $1500 and am trying to stretch that amount as far as I can.'

If that is your question, I think a good way to stretch your dollars is to buy used. No matter what, all you got is $1500 right? You can purchase a nicer used CDP for that amount, than you can a new one for the same. CDP's are on a sliding scale in the used market, but you can find even current technology for about the same discount as older stuff (1/2-1/3 off). Do you need it now, or can you be patient and ambush the right deal when it comes along would be my question.

I say buy used, unless there is some local dealer you would like, or need to keep up a good relationship with. You can buy a damn nice current but used CD player for $1500.

Thanks,
Chris

I really do think some of the new technology offers better resolution and less of a "digital" sound. I'm extrememly pleased with my EVS Millenium DAC II. Before that I was using an old Studer A727...a $3000-$4000 pro CDP from the 80s. It sounds great and it's built like a tank, but the newer DAC chips offer much more resolution and a more natural, refined sound. Some of the Resolution Audio CD50 sell in the $1500 - $1700 price range, and there are many more options. I use my DAC with my DVD player (a Pioneer DV05), and they cost a total of $1650.

I would say go to the used market. I previously used a heavily modified Phillips unit just to play music that was not available in LP format. An audiophile friend was in the upgrade mode, and I purchased his theta tranport and Dac with Theta's proprietary optical link. This is by far the most listenable digital I have every heard, including Levinson, Spectral, Meridian, Wadia. My previous experience was the only differences were their respective weaknesses.. My combo cost less than $ 1800. I actually look forward to listening to disks now. Sorry I waited five years to upgrade. Perhaps the recent move to one box units is to lower price, and attract the audiophile waiting for the new formats.

Dburdick:

Or depending on what you are trying to do in the future, then why don't you consider a "newer" player for less money and then wait for the digital format war to end, and then go ahead and spend that money on a "higher end" model that plays in that format then. That's what I am going to do. I was going to spend about $2K on a brand new Meridian 506.24 if I didn't either find a used one either out there in the field, or here on the internet at a price that was acceptable to me (about $800.00 to $1,000.00), or opt for a newer "24-bit/96-khz." player such as a Arcam CD72 or Rega Planet 2000 and then either wait for the dust to settle on one of the newer formats (SACD or DVD-A), or wait for an affordable universal digital player to hit the market which will not only play discs from the newer format, but will also play my existing CDs as well. My advice then, it to wait and see if you could get a 2 to 3 year old $2K player for $1K or less, and then just sit back and watch the newer formats fight it out. Afterwards, then just get a player that conforms to THAT standard. You'll be surprised at the quality you could get at that price. At that price, you should be able to get a quality player right about now, something that was unheard of as recently as a year ago. That would be my take on this issue.

--Charles--