Best CD players up to £1000

Justafan

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Hello one and all

So I'm thinking of future upgrading for my hi-fi which is a budget/midrange Marantz/Mission combo. I'm just wondering what is the established manufacturers that are consistently good in all areas of music reproduction, mainly UK based brands that are easier to find in (Scottish) hi-fi shops. I don't like anywhere a decent retailer so am looking for ideas for shortlists before making a long journey for demoing equipment.

Based on various magazine reviews and whatnot I'm thinking the likes of Cyrus, Creek, Roksan are a good starting point. Oh, and I'd rather look at manufacturers that offer matching amps.

AND, if you also have suggestions for which speaker manufacturers would go well with the electronics, I'd appreciate that too as it'll be a complete upgrade.

CHEERS! :thumbsup:
 
Hi There, This is all very subjective and will get a great deal of different responses without further information;

What is your current system.

What is your budget.

Any particular preferences i.e speakers standmount or floorstanders.

Also what kind of music do you tend to play as this may influence any recommendation.

Cheers

Scorpion
 
Hiya, well basically I'll be looking to spend up to and around £1000 on each component, if necessary. Or rather, no more than £1000 on each CD player, amp, and speakers I should say.

Definitely standmounts rather than floorstanders.

Music tastes are primarily rock/pop from the 60's onward, covering various different bands. Also getting into classical though, so really I want a system that is good enough to cover anything I want to listen to now, and in the future. And I would think (hope!) that for the amount I'm looking to spend I should get a system that will cover all the bases!

Oh, and current system is Marantz 6000OSE KI sig, Marantz PM7003 and Mission 780's.
 
Hiya, well basically I'll be looking to spend up to and around £1000 on each component, if necessary. Or rather, no more than £1000 on each CD player, amp, and speakers I should say.

You might want to change the balance of your spend - Spending £1,500 on speakers might yield better results with a £500 CD player - all other things being equal - than your current budget split.

I've not noticed huge differences in digital front ends, but differences in speakers can be quite marked. That said, when I bought my latest speakers I preferred them to some costing almost twice as much. It comes down to system/room matching, and personal taste.
 
Which part of Scotland are you in?

Spending that sort of budget then demo is your best friend. Try and see a couple of dealers and tell them what you want when you phone to arrange it.
Don't go in with any preconceived ideas as to what brands you want to buy and take it all on your own personal likes and dislikes. You might be surprised at what you finally purchase.

As a short list for UK brands consider Naim, Arcam, Roksan, Cyrus etc. Each has their own type of sound which may or may not suit you.

I would say that would be a good starting point.
 
I always heard that to best match your components in a system they should be of roughly equal value, but if that's not the case I'm happy to be educated :)

I'm in Inverness. There is one hi-fi shop in town and it's a bit crap to be honest, and the guy who owns it is a complete arrogant ****. I tried demoing stuff there years ago and it was dreadful; the room was badly laid out, he was staggeringly unhelpful and left the door open so you could hear the shop and customers in the background!

I reckon I'll arrange significant demo time in a few shops in Aberdeen and Edinburgh/Glasgow and just see what they can suggest that would fit in with the sort of music I listen to. Aberdeen is only a few hours away but for Edinburgh and Glasgow I'd have to arrange an overnight stay to get the best out of the day.
 
Aberdeen is only a few hours away but for Edinburgh and Glasgow I'd have to arrange an overnight stay to get the best out of the day.

I can recommend Loud and Clear in Glasgow, if you venture that far down.

:)
 
Yeah I've got a lot of time for Loud & Clear; I visited their Edinburgh branch and got an Atacama rack from them and liked the fact that the brands they stock weren't the usual mass market varieties that a lot of other places stock so I'll definitely be visiting them again.

I had a good experience with Sevenoaks in Edinburgh too; the young guy that assisted me took great pains to help me the best I could, whereas I wasn't too impressed with Hi-Fi Corner on Rose St. They used hugely expensive cables that cost as much as the individual components!
 
I always heard that to best match your components in a system they should be of roughly equal value, but if that's not the case I'm happy to be educated :)

I'm in Inverness. There is one hi-fi shop in town and it's a bit crap to be honest, and the guy who owns it is a complete arrogant ****. I tried demoing stuff there years ago and it was dreadful; the room was badly laid out, he was staggeringly unhelpful and left the door open so you could hear the shop and customers in the background!

I reckon I'll arrange significant demo time in a few shops in Aberdeen and Edinburgh/Glasgow and just see what they can suggest that would fit in with the sort of music I listen to. Aberdeen is only a few hours away but for Edinburgh and Glasgow I'd have to arrange an overnight stay to get the best out of the day.

I personally do not subscribe to the 33/33/33 theory or specific brand. I reckon you can get a decent CDP for say £300, amp for £700 and crucially speakers for £700 - 800.

No need for 'stratosphere' Money to get the sound you want.

We are back to the days of bartering.

Just a Thought but of course always audition.

Best of Luck

Scorpion
 
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So where would the majority of the budget be best spent? I mean I always assumed (or was told rather) that it's better to spend the most on the source because of the 'rubbish in rubbish out' saying, and more expensive speakers are only going to be as good as what the source can provide i.e. they won't reveal more than what is available to hear.

What do you guys think has been the best way of allocating your budget on a whole system, and why?
 
With digital sources I'm of the view that speakers are the most important, followed by amp and then source. Try and find somewhere that can demo all the kit together. Theres not much point in trying out speakers with a completely different amp. Audio Emotion in Leven seem to have a fair bit of stuff with some nice sounding second hand kit.

Might be an idea to try your stuff with some new speakers and see what sort of improvement you get. I've always liked the Marantz sound.

Unfortunately Sevenoaks in Edinburgh has closed down, although Chris (Crustyloafer on here) is now at the Edinburgh Cinema Centre and they have some very nice bits and bobs.
 
I personally do not subscribe to the 33/33/33 theory or specific brand. I reckon you can get a decent CDP for say £300, amp for £700 and crucially speakers for £700 - 800.

No need for 'stratosphere' Money to get the sound you want.

We are back to the days of bartering.

Just a Thought but of course always audition.

Best of Luck

Scorpion

Totally agree. When you put together a good system for reasonable money, you need to spend a fortune to better it. And the gains keep getting smaller and smaller.

The path to audio nirvana can be miserable and expensive.

System synergy is the key, not necessarily uber expensive speakers, cdp's or amps.
 
You might want to have a look at the Linn DS range as well as traditional CD players for that sort of money too. They are digital streamers which avoid all of the physical and electronic noise associated with CD transports, and give a very ncie sound indeed.

There's a unit called the Sneaky DS which is source, preamp and power amp for £875, but you can disable the power amp and connect to something better (and you can also disable the preamp later too). Alternatively there's the Majik DS for about £1700 which is source and preamp, just add power amp and speakers. If you need multiple sources then you'd have to look at the Sekrit DS-I or Majik DS-I.
 
I do plan to audition a complete system when I visit somewhere rather than listen to bits and pieces otherwise it'll be pointless as different shops will have different acoustics of their listening rooms. And I'd be relying on my spotty memory which would be even worse!

I do like the Marantz sound, but I've also had little experience of other makes to compare it to so I don't really know what I'm missing out on and am curious as to how other makes might add their own character and how that will relate to music I've know for years via Marantz.
 

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