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CD player with quiet transport?

I recently purchased a Toshiba SD 4800 DVD player, which I was planning to use mainly for two channel audio listening. Unfortunately I find the transport noise to be unacceptably loud for classical recordings. I am a total newby in the audio world - would I have been better off buying a dedicated CD player, and could somebody recommend me a very quiet machine that doesn't cost the earth - preferably under $200, or am I being unrealistic here?

Alternatively, is there anything I could do to make the SD 4800 more quiet?

As an aside, I am using the SD 4800 (described as having quiet transport on Audioreviews.com) with a Nak AV-500, which according to Audioreviews.com suffers from a noisy fan. The noisy fan is a total joke. There is no chance to hear the fan even in quietest passages of Holst's The Planets - and certainly not while the SD 4800 is busy humming away.

Many thanks
xd7
jeffloistarca
1,004 posts
 
Given your budget I would suggest you scope out the market for current players. The best bet is to go to a chain store (Tweeters, Circuit City, etc) and listen to the various units they sell, chances are you'll come across a DVD or CD player that is quiet enough that you won't be distracted. Once you've done your homework at the store do some due diligence, check out audioreview.com to see what people think about the model(s) you're interested in, then run a google search and see what the best prices are. Good luck!
cellorover
417 posts
 
Describe the noise. Is it while the disk is spinning or more mechanical? The player more than likely has a nylon wheel that guides the disk from the top. It has metal edges and spins on more plastic. If this is the case, go to Radio Shack and buy a tube of silicon LUBE GEL. Use it very sparingly and apply it with a toothpick. Do not get it anywhere other than inside the grooves of the wheel. If you get it on the laser, say good buy to the machine. You can also deaden all the plastic around the transport with mortite (speling) or similar putty.

We have a $189 Panasonic DC/DVD player in the basement for a second video system. It does not sound bad at all for Red Book CDs. As mentioned, go and listen.

Good Luck.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
If you are a music lover, I would recommend getting a high-quality used DVD/CD machine like the Sony 7000 I just got for a second system that I have. It was a quantum leap in sound quality over the modest DVD player I had (Panasonic 320). This was a reference quality machine from several years ago and can be purchased for about $200-$300 used. I use it with an inexpensive NAD Doly pro-logic integrated amp and it sounds terrific and I've never noticed any noise.
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