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CD Players Getting Better?

I am in the market for a CD player and am wondering if it
is worth the extra money to go for a newer player, or look
for a great deal on an older player. As an example, am I
better off spending my $1500 on a 5-6 year old $3k player
or getting a 1-2 year old $2k player. I know, of course
that this depends on the player, but in general what is the
best approach? Have CD players improved enough over the
past few years to justify getting a newer one?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
dburdick
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
If you spend $1500 on a 5+ yr old player first make sure the manufacturer is still in business and then check with them to make sure the laser/transport can still be repaired.
If both answers are yes then I'd go with the older player. Power supply and analogue output stages have more bearing than the DAC chipset in my experience, and the older player should be better in both of those regards.
chickdishong
14 posts
 
Sorry, I beg to differ with Seandtaylor. The newest 24 bit chip sets, as well as the newest upsampling decoders are light years above the older ones. While the power supplies and analogue output stages are also critical, there have been no major advances in these areas in some time. You should demand both!
jdaniel18ee
88 posts
 
My problem, after extended listening to a player with the new chips, is that the sound of SACD is still better, granted that selection is still an issue, but no more so than it was with CDs in their first few years.
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