Cd player advice

J

Jimmysil

Guest
Hi all

This weekend I made of the mistake of listening to Guns 'n Roses appetite for destruction on vinyl.
I could not believe how good it sounded, I couldn't stop tapping my toes.
The reason I say it was a mistake, because it makes cds on my onkyo dvd player sound a little bright. :rolleyes:.

Having recently sold my arcam alpha 7 cd player due to the fact that a comparison with the onkyo showed not enough of a difference to warrant keeping the arcam.

But now I am wondering if there is a reasonable priced cd player, which gives a vinyl like sound.

I understand rega cd players and maybe some older marantz. May fit the bill.

Any one got any ideas or suggestions?

Regards

James
 
There's still a lot to be said for good quality vinyl replay,with the high end market showing no signs of dying(Linn/SME/Michell etc,and even MF now).

What sort of budget did you have in mind for your CD player?....there's certainly a lot of very good machines around the £1k mark,and often good secondhand deals to be had with respect to MF and Meridian machines which have a smooth,spacious sound generally,and may suit the requirements you have.

For what it's worth,I've found Arcam to tend towards a dry,analytical sound,but very good overall,and virtually any DVD based player I've heard so far at the £1k mark doesn't bear comparison with a CD only player at half the price...just my opinion though.
 
Hi Alex

Thanks for the suggestions.

As regards to a budget, don't really know. Its more of a case of someone suggests a cd player and then I can see if can get one at a good price 2nd hand.

As regards to dvd players I agree, most are not that that great with cd replay.
But my onkyo is the best dvd player I have had so far for cd replay (Although it did sell for £850 new).

Regards

James
 
In that case,I'd suggest keeping a close eye on both Meridian and MF players in the used listings,especially in HiFi News and sometimes here as well....another option is to use the digital out from your Onkyo,and add a really good offboard DAC(my favourite is the Perpetual Technologies P1A/P3A combination,which will equal or better any DAC up to £4k or more,but this will add up to about £1400).

Good luck!.
 
I have just bought a Denon 2900 for everything other than CD replay. I bought the Cyrus CD6 @ £600 for that and I must say it really is very very good.


Cheers



Harvey
 
Originally posted by Jimmysil
Hi all

This weekend I made of the mistake of listening to Guns 'n Roses appetite for destruction on vinyl.
I could not believe how good it sounded, I couldn't stop tapping my toes.
The reason I say it was a mistake, because it makes cds on my onkyo dvd player sound a little bright. :rolleyes:.

Having recently sold my arcam alpha 7 cd player due to the fact that a comparison with the onkyo showed not enough of a difference to warrant keeping the arcam.

But now I am wondering if there is a reasonable priced cd player, which gives a vinyl like sound.

I understand rega cd players and maybe some older marantz. May fit the bill.

Any one got any ideas or suggestions?

Regards

James

The Guns and Roses CD doesnt sound as good as the Vinyl, infact I dont think it sounds as good as the Cassette :eek: and thats very scary.

I flirted with the idea of giving up all my vinyl some time ago, then bought an Oracle Delphi which did fantastic things with Jazz, but never set my toes tapping. So I started thinking about selling the vinyl again.

Then someone on the Forum suggested that a secondhand Roksan Xerxes would restore my faith. I was sceptical, but committed the sin of buying one without ever listening (my reasoning : if I'm not happy I can sell it again).

From the moment I played the first album, I couldnt have made a better choice (and using an RB300 arm and 1980s AT cartridge which arrived with the deck).

Then I put some cds on :confused: this is on a system that I have been more than happy with for a while now (Marantz CD17 front end). The turntable stomped all over the CD player and danced on its laser beam.

A well set up vinyl spinner that fits the music you like (this was £350.00 off ebay :eek: ) runs rings round a CD player, nothing comes close. I cant vouch for the accuracy of tone etc, but it sounds so effortless, tight bass, deft imaging, toe tapping, dynamic...................Im going to start buying vinyl again, hell, it even plays some of the moth eaten, mold covered s/h stuff I bought 10 years ago and makes them shine.

So I have had a change of heart, if I could, I would throw out all the CDs and swap them all for Vinyl. Its such an about turn for me.

The CD player is a Marantz CD17, still a Hi FI world favourite and an £800.00 player when it was new and it was trashed by an almost 20 year old turntable, with its original arm and a middle of the road Audio Tech Cartridge. Its never even been serviced.

I always subscribed to the idea that a cheap turntable would never compete with a cheap CD player, but TTs have evolved since digital tried to consign them to the analogue graveyard, so maybe this is a new dawn for the old liquorice pizza, even if its only a short day.

HiFi + had a review of a CD player that 'got close' to vinyl, but at a high cost. I think it was around 5K give or take a few hundred.

My advice: never play vinyl again, avoid listening to friends systems etc.

Then you will forget about all those dynamics and rythmn, the clear effortless treble.
Try, instead to concentrate on the downsides; the dust, the clicks, scratches, replacement cartridges and belts.

But every so often you will remember just how good that old fashioned analogue sounded and all you will have left will be an ancient carbon cleaning brush, hidden away in the side board drawer, because you didnt have the heart to just throw it in the bin :suicide:
 
Cheers for the recommendation Harvey.

Thanks for the comments karkus, but I will keep the Project turntable. I love the sound of the vinyl too much to forget about it.
Anyway how would my old man be able to play his Hendrix vinyls.

I have just brought a Rega Planet 3 Cd player from Tino, which I should be testing this weekend.
I will let you know how I get on with it.
 
Just a post script. The Cd Player I was talking about is a Reimyo CDP-777 and its £9500 :eek:
 
Hi Karkus
22years ago i had a lin sondek lp12 with a rega tone arm cant remember which cartridge mordaunt short pageant three speakers with a classic mosfet amp can still remember how good the rolling stones emotional rescue sounded and same as you say i somtimes think were being conned when you read the mags as every year a piece of equipment is superceded by the next new product which is said to sound better so 22yrs on things from then should pale to insignificance so why is it they dont.
Cheers Gonzo.
 
Originally posted by gonzo
Hi Karkus
22years ago i had a lin sondek lp12 with a rega tone arm cant remember which cartridge mordaunt short pageant three speakers with a classic mosfet amp can still remember how good the rolling stones emotional rescue sounded and same as you say i somtimes think were being conned when you read the mags as every year a piece of equipment is superceded by the next new product which is said to sound better so 22yrs on things from then should pale to insignificance so why is it they dont.
Cheers Gonzo.

Profit

and apparently Rega arms dont gel with Linn Sondek, so what you were listening to was probably not even the full cream version.

Its only since I bought the Xerxes do I realise what I have been missing, I suspect that even the cheaper Rega Planar TTs sound brilliant.
 
and apparently Rega arms dont gel with Linn Sondek, so what you were listening to was probably not even the full cream version.
No, they don't. The Rega arms and the Linns suspension don't get on. Shame really, as the RB300 wipes the floor with Linn's budget arms, and is a lot better focused than the Ittok. Now the Ekos, that's another story................:)
 
Hi Guys

I now have my Rega Planet CD player, I am very happy with.

It has a very nice sound to it, which seems to take the digital edge of cds. It makes the music less tiring.

So I am a happy bunny :D

James
 
Interesting thread. But to make a fair comparison you'd need
exactly the same source. Which is obviously imipossible.
(unless you can cut your own vinyl and burn your own CDs from the same hi def master)
 
Now the rega has had time to warm up a bit more, I can say that I am increasingly impressed with it.

It has warmth, but at the same time it shows more detail than my arcam alpha 7 did.

I am now re listening to my cd collection. One album sounded much more detailed compared to the last time I heard it. I could not stop my self from smiling.
 
But to make a fair comparison you'd need
Not really. As the better quality CDs and vinyl are taken from the same masters. So you can do direct comparisons. It's not worth arguing about though, as CD is the dominant medium.

I've given up on trying to find a CD player that gives me the satisfaction that vinyl does, and just buy up CD players to hear different takes on the digital media. I've sold more expensive players than the one i've just bought............... even thinking about selling my SACD/DVD-A player as neither medium does much for me. However, the picture quality ensures i'll probably keep that, and the missus likes it as well so that's that!!:D
 
Jimmysil

Having recently sold my arcam alpha 7 cd player due to the fact that a comparison with the onkyo showed not enough of a difference to warrant keeping the arcam.
But now I am wondering if there is a reasonable priced cd player, which gives a vinyl like sound.
Did you write a letter (Via e-mail I think) to What HiFi?? If not, someone did with exactly they same question with exactly the same kit! It appears in the Sound Advice section anyway.

Cheers

Croc
 
Hello James,

Originally posted by Jimmysil
Hi Alex

Thanks for the suggestions.

As regards to a budget, don't really know. Its more of a case of someone suggests a cd player and then I can see if can get one at a good price 2nd hand.

As regards to dvd players I agree, most are not that that great with cd replay.
But my onkyo is the best dvd player I have had so far for cd replay (Although it did sell for £850 new).

Regards

James

Both Alex and I are both strong supporters of the Perpetual Technologies Upsampler/DAC combination, they really do give you more than a glimpse of the performance of the (justifiably) highly rated dCS Purcell/Elgar combination at real world prices (the dCS combo is around £15k).

You have expressed a desire for a single box player, and there are a lot of really great players entering the marketplace right now, with the Musical Fidelity X-Ray V3 at £899 leading the charge, and exceptionally good player and a fabulous transport for use with outboard DAC's, but right now the player I would very seriously look at would be the new Inca Design Katana, either the standard or the SE, at £595 and £995 respectively. You get a CD player built to truly insane standards for the money, a Philips VAM 1202 transport, a Burr Brown HDCD DAC, a power supply big enough to drive a small integrated, the whole thing is heavily shielded and heavily braced, and most importantly it sounds incredible, in fact I'd go as far as saying it give the MF A308 CD player a run for it's money, and it includes both single ended and balanced outputs with coax S/PDIF digital and TOSLink digital outputs. The SE has about 30 changes made to it and that, to my ears, has the performance to surpass even the A308 £995.

These players are just getting into the shops now, but give Activ Distribution a call to see which retailers have them in stock now. I'd definitely give one of these an audition before making a buying decision. BTW, the production models with have a really elegant wooden remote control with stainless steel buttons, the advanced prototype I have has been supplied with a standard plastic remote.

I hope this helps and please keep us posted on your journey to audio nirvana.

Best wishes,

Dave
 

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