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CD player - need your opinion

I decided to try to replace my CD-player (a heavy modded Toshiba SD-4900). In the past 7 years I had the chance to listen to very few CD-players that, in my opinion, were performing great. And these are:
- Teac Esoteric UX 1 and DV-50
- Linn Unidisk 1.1, 2.1, Sondek CD-12, Ikemi
- Sony SCD-333ES, Swoboda
- Sony SCD-XA9000ES
- Tag McLaren DVD-32
- Theta David
- Accuphase DP-100 + DC-101
- Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista
- Naim CDS3 and CD5 + Flatcap II
- Burmester 001
- Mark Levinson 390S
- Wadia 301
- Arcam CD-23 T
- Lua Cantilena
- T+A CD 1240R

I liled them a LOT and, in my opinion these CD-players were head and shoulders over anything else that I listened.

I think the most I enjoyed Linn Sondek CD-12 and Naim CDS3.

The problem is that all these are over $2000 USD and I was never able to commit that much.

Even right now, I cannot commit more then $1150 for a CD-player (new or used in pristine condition).

My question: for $1,150 USD, what I can get in today market that is close to what I liked?

Thank you for you opinions.
rmihai
larry_s
128 posts
 
Rmihai,
What do you think are inside CD players that change the digital to analog???
rmihai OP
55 posts
 
DAC - this is not the point. I just said that for the time being the external DACs are too overpriced.
rbautista
97 posts
 
Rmihai, sounds like you are looking for the deal/bargain of the century. All those players you've listed are no where in the league of your player and budget. If you are looking for a player with those virtues, then I personally think you need to be a little more open minded and realistic to the DACs in general. I'm not sure why you consider them to be overpriced if you are looking for something in the 4-5K range especially compared to the Lin and Naim which is over 9K.

I've personally heard the Ayre and EC which are wonderful players (which are in lines to the players you've listed) and have compared them to the Bel Canto DAC2. Does the Bel Canto do everything better than those two, probably not, but comes very close (80%) for the money without breaking the bank. I've also compared the Bel Canot to the Arcam CD73T, Rotel 1072(?), and Classe .3 which are all within the budget you've specified. IMO, the Bel Canto came much closer in performance to the Ayre and EC than Arcam, Rotel and Classe.

If you were to follow your own general philisophy "of the system is to be as musical and pleasent as posible" and compared the Bel Canto or decent external DAC to what you are currently using, then I'd have to question how musical and pleasant is your system? Plus you've stated that " Hi-fi is a second priority", which to me the Bel Canto and DACs you've tried fit in that category. I'm interpretting what you meant by that statement is "budget system".

Yes, there are other budget players that can be modded to perform close to those you've listed, but then you're back to how much will it cost to have a player modded and stay within your budget? IMO, it's like buying a Civic and modding it to achieve the performance of a high end sports car (porche, vette), but it's still not the same.
rmihai OP
55 posts
 
Thank you Bautista, your comments are making sense. I was thinking more in the last couple of days, and indeed, it seems that an external DAC is the way to go. I listened systems with Bel Canto 1 and 2 and I liked both of them. There is no argument about that.
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