New CDP adivce

Anyone got any idea the sort of money I should be spending on a CDP for my current setup ...

Marantz Sr6200
Kef Q1s
Cat5 / Silver Anniversary cables.

Please don't tell me to get a DAC and use my current CDP/ DVD player as the CDP is sooooo old and ****e and the DVD only has 1 optical out so too much hassle the amount I swap between films and music. So, any ideas on models I should consider or prices??

Dave

 

Look out for a Marantz CD6000 KI. A very good cdp for the money, and if you do a GOOGLE SEARCH you see you can get it for £350.

Also the Arcam 72 is well thought of and sounded fine when I heard it.

Lee

 

I can heartly recommend the Arcam CD72..

The only problem i now have is that i am running out of CD's to listen to, and have begun buying somemore..

MP3 to CD copy is just not good enough anymore..LOL..

 

Yeah, mp3 has no place in a real system, only on your computer.

Lee

 

Does your amp not have some form of auto bit stream detection on the DVD digital input, where if fed with a DTS or DD bitstream it will decode them appropraitely, but when fed with a two channel PCM signal, it will simply output it as two channel PCM.

The other option is to simply feed the analogue audio left and right from the DVD to an unused analogue input on the amp.

Whether either of these options are suitable/good enough, only you can say, but it costs little or nothing to try them before spending your money.
I'm assuming you've already tried the CD players analogue outs to the amp, and found it wanting.


As for what you should be looking at if you decide you want a dedicated CDP, it depends what you already have that isn't good enough (current CD and DVD player) and how much you really want to spend.

Marantz CD players are probably as good as most at the lower price levels (even if they are a little overhyped IMO), and will have the advantage that they will probably match the amp better aesthetically (if that's an issue), and will possibly be controllable by the amp's remote.
Richer are advertising the 6000 OSE at £150 at the mo.
They are also doing the Sony SCDXE670 and CDPXE570 as well as the NAD C521, all at £100-£120.

These are probably as good/better than anything elase you'll get for around that sort of money. Spend more, and get more, but I'd suggest that the law of diminshing returns will cut in at or around £300 or so (obviously depending on the model and deal avaliable)

 

Hi,

Thanks for the replies all. Hmm right so I'll consider the Marantz from Richer. I'll try my DVD player when I go home. The CD player is an old Sony that I bought off of a mate for £20. He works in a hifi shop and they got it for repair. The chap who brought it in didnt want it anymore and gave it to the shop who sold it to me for £20 Only thing is, won't I have to change the output options on the DVD player for the outputs to use?? or am I talking complete arse? My current CD player's eject button is knackered and the whole sound just sounds a little boxed in. I'm just checking my options here

Dave

 

Only thing is, won't I have to change the output options on the DVD player for the outputs to use??


Nope!

If you connect the DVD's digital lead to the amp's DVD input, and then connect the DVD's audio out L&R analogue phonos to the amp's CD input L&R phonos, you'll be fine.

The DVD will send output to both the digital and analogue outputs. When playing a DD/DTS DVD, simply select the DVD input on the amp, which will already be setup for multichannel (and this input will have been assigned as digital). For DD, you'll get a downmixed stereo output on the analogue phonos, while for DTS DVDs (AFAIK) you'll get nothing or possibly noise.

For a CD, just select CD on the amp (having assigned the CD input as analogue).

You shouldn't have to adjust the settings on the DVD player at all - leave the audio output as "bitstream" or whatever your DVD player calls it.


Whether the sound is good enough is another matter though.
Only you can decide that.
Personally I think the magazines overhype the shortcomings of most current DVD players a bit, compared to budget CD players. Sure, you probably won't get a £300 DVD player to sound quite as good as a £300 CD player, but that doesn't automatically mean the DVD player is crap (in many ways it's a similar issue to multichannel amps vs stereo amps).
The first generation of DVD players may well have been a bit crap (the first Philips I had 4 years back wasn't very good - very bright), but they were new, and CD playback probably wasn't high on the list of design priorities then. I think things have come on a little bit now - a DVD may not be the equal of an equivantly priced CD player (and really there's no reason to expect it to), but that doesn't mean it's unlistenable). Of course, it depends on the particular model in question as well, just as it always does!

PS - many dedicated CD players also have functions that DVD players might lack - irrelevant for some, but for others not having them might be a bit of a bind.

 

Thanks again for a wicked response

I'll try this tonight and post what I find as the differences. Only problem is, my DVD player is a Panasonic A160 (from bloody years ago) but it's bound to be better than my cheapo cd player

Maybe!!

Oh well, time will tell.

Dave

OMG!!! Just found somewhere in America still trying to sell this for ..... $499! !!!! http://www.panwebi.com/products/220v/video/dvd/pana-dvd-al60.htm

 

I would recommend the marantz players.....the 6000 ose is a nice player, it is admittedly a boom and bash, but it is an enjoyable listen and would trounce your dvd player.

Ad

 

Ok,

Well I've been using my DVD player for the last few days and I can't honestly tell a difference between this and my CDP. So either I'm not built to hear these differences or my CDP really is VERY ****E! Might even buy another when I've been paid

Dave