[PaulBoy]

I have recently bought some "proper" headphones (Senn555)
I have an AV receiver (Denon) & DVD player (Pioneer 575A - hybrid SACD & DVD-A player) which gives me a decent enough sound but I expect I can get better sound from a dedicated CD player (?)
My main headphone listening is done on an ancient Marantz CDP (CD52 ) which has a dedicated volume control for headphones (?) Can you still get such CD Players (?) Is this feature a good or bad thing - it's certainly convenient (?)
I was thinking of adding a dedicated headphone amp in the £100-£200 range (?) Rega Ear for example & have read up on it & similar here and over at Head-Fi
I was also thinking of buying a CDP from this century (saw a 2nd hand Arcam Alpha 8 CD Player for £150 or a Marantz CD6000 for similar price - how would they compare against todays models ?)
TIA - Paul

[Brava 210]

i use my sennheiser 595 through the headphone socket on my marantz 5400 and they sound superb,much better than through the amp (yamaha dsp 750)...
gary

[bowenjones]

I was about to post a similar thread. Having recently bought a pair of Senns myself and not having a dedicated cd player, I feel that I'm missing out.
I play my cd's through my dvd player which, quite frankly, is worse quality than playing them through my little portable cd walkman. If it wasn't for the fact that the volume level is so low on my walkman I would'nt bother at all with my dvd player (my amp doesn't have a headphone socket so I listen through my tv's port which has headphone volume control, far from ideal I know but at least I can hear the music).
Without wanting to hijack your thread PaulBoy , I would like to know if there are any all-in-one cd players on the market with an amp and headphone control that will allow me to set a sound style to suit my taste. I'm not too bothered about speakers at present as my music listening is almost always through headphones but I may get some speakers at a later date. My budget is a maximum of £300.
The reason I want an all-in-one is because I would like to place it under the tv along with my dvd player and sky box.
Sorry I couldn't be of any help to you PaulBoy but maybe someone can help us both out

[PaulBoy]

bowenjones - no problem! as you say perhaps we can both get some answers
I noticed this on the Marantz site ...

The CD5001 CD player employs the well known high quality CS4392 digital-to-analogue converter and a reliable CD transport mechanism, delivering the highest musicality as well as convenient features. The rigid chassis and metal front panel provide a rock-solid base for high quality performance. The Auto Music Scan (AMS) quickly finds the music on the disc and the Quick Replay enables to repeat favorite passages. The pitch control allows adjusting the playback speed as well. It plays CD-R and CD-RW discs and displays CD-Text information such as artist name, and track titles. A choice of coaxial or optical digital outputs combined with the high grade analogue out guarantees the best connectivity. A high quality headphone output and supplied remote control complete the picture.

... and read somewhere else that this CDP has a very good quality headphone output - anyone care to comment? Paul

[bowenjones]

Cheers PaulBoy. Something like that would be ideal. I'm not too concerned about getting an amp as I can always connect it to my 5.1 system if I wanted to listen through speakers. The fact that it has a quality headphone amp built in is what I'm looking for. I'm off to work now but will check back tomorrow.

[PaulBoy]

Back to my original post (sort of) I am still considering the Rega Ear headphone amp and having seen a fair number of 2nd hand CDPs around could afford the amp and something like an Arcam Alpha 8 or Marantz 6000 OSE or CD5400 OSE (?) I cant find details of what outputs are on those CDP & need to know if they will have phono out as thats all the Rega Ear has connection wise - anyone (?) - surely they must all have phono out (?)
My alternative (as per my last post) is something like a Marantz 5000i which says it has a high quality headphone output - anyone have a view on that (?)
Paul
PS I have spotted a new CD5400 OSE in a clearance sale for £125 I am VERY tempted

[bowenjones]

Originally Posted by PaulBoy

bowenjones - no problem! as you say perhaps we can both get some answers
I noticed this on the Marantz site ...

... and read somewhere else that this CDP has a very good quality headphone output - anyone care to comment? Paul

I went and got this from Richer Sounds this afternoon.
They let me try it in the shop using my headphones (senn hd 485's) which was good of them as they had to take the display model off the shelf in order for me to demo it.
It didn't take me long to realise just how good the headphone output was - it was simply miles better than what I was getting with my personal cd player. I took a couple of Cd's that I was very familiar with. It was as if I was listening to different mixes of the songs as there were "bits" in the music that I hadn't noticed before. I had the chance to demo a few other players in the shop but decided against it as the Marantz had exceeded my expectations by a long, long way. The fella who was serving me also had a listen and he was also really impressed too (he's now going to buy his dad a set of 485's for xmas ). Another bloke in the shop said that the player had just got 5 stars in some hifi mag and the review stated that it was the best player they had ever listened to in that price range. Who am I to doubt them?
Anyway, I brought it home and linked it up to my amp (I only have my trusted old Videologic Digitheatre dts at the moment - don't laugh ) and I was really amazed at the sound quality. I used the analogue connection as I haven't got time at the moment to rearange everything in order to try out the digital leads. The music sounded much more detailed when compared to cd's played through my dvd player. Can only imagine what a decent amp will do for this player.
Back to the headphones. I honestly can't beleive the difference in quality compared to what I was listening to previously. It was like the first time I had my senns. They replaced a very old and cheap pair of jvc's and the difference was like night and day. It's the same again now!
The output level for the headphones can go very loud. In fact, I can't turn it up to half way without worrying about the damage it might cause to the headphones (or my ears for that matter). Even when it's set at a loud level there is absolutely no loss in quality. If anyone gets a chance to demo this cd player, make sure the level is low when you hook up your headphones.
As you can probably gather, I'm rather impressed with this player . There is a downside though
This is a pressie off my wife for xmas and being so, it has to be packed away after tonight . But, I haven't got work in the morning so I'll still have a few hours of enjoyment out of it

[PaulBoy]

bowenjones - if I follow you I presume you got a Marantz 50001 from RS (?)
Glad to hear its lived up to expectations - I went down a slightly different route & found a new Marantz 5400 OSE in a clearance sale for £125 - It also had a headphone socket and to my ears sounds excellent (significantly better than my old CDP) So as we said earlier we have both benefitted from this thread! Paul

[bowenjones]

Yep. the cd 5001. Thanks for pointing it out PaulBoy
I hope you are as happy with the 5400 as I am with mine