Differences in CD players? Am I crazy?

I am not so sure there really is all that much differance between most off-the-shelf CD players.

First, you have the transport which is the proverbial 'turntable', or to be more direct, the thing that spins the Cd and the laser that reads the data. Then comes the DAC, or the thing that converts the data to audio form.

My primary Cd player (Audio Aero) can only hold one Cd at a time, but there are occasions where I want to load up five CDs so I don't have to be bothered changing CDs all afternoon. So, I use my Yamaha CD player as a transport and I use my fiber optic digital cable to run the information through my Audio Aero DAC and I I get the best of both worlds.

The point is, until you are ready to shell out mega-bucks for a high end CD player, there is not all that much differance unless you have invested in really high-end components down-the-line.

Tomek,
Consider this analogy. If you put a larger carburetor on an engine without improving the exhaust airflow, the power increase is at best minimal. If you improve the flow of air through the engine and out the exhaust, the power increase in dramatic. A music system is only as good as it's "weakest" link, not it's most expensive component.
One other thing. Be patient. It sometimes takes time for a new component to "burn-in." They sound better as they age.
Happy listening, Joel

You ain't crazy and you ears are fine. As you mentioned with your experience as to headphones, speakers rule the roost. I think CVs are only OK for rock n roll and are a mess for anything else. There are plenty of good, and inexpensive, speakers out there from the likes of PSB and Paradigm which would bring out your music much better.

Have fun,

Charlie

The real fun with all of this comes when you CAN hear the differences in various pieces of gear, and are left to decide which one, if any, actually sounds better than another. Be obsessed with the music, not the system.

Here's my 2 cents. It is important to remember that what
you hear in terms of sound quality is the sumation of all
components/cables/source etc. Using an extreme example of
perhaps what your experencing; if you take a $20,000 cd
player and compare it to a $200 cd player using an inexpensive receiver as your preamp/amp and inexpenive
speakers I would bet you wouldn't hear a difference.
Here's another example. In an inexpensive system you
try to hear the differences with interconnects. Good luck.
The higher the resolving power of a system the easier
it is to hear differences.