Replacing CD player and possibly AMP

[SandyF]

My CD player has died. I can hardly complain it is a Musical Fidelity V3, which I bought over 18 years ago.

So, now I'm looking for a replacement. The amp is still working - so I don't have to buy all the pieces together. Speakerwise I've got a pair of DynaAudio 40s which need an AMP with a bit of drive to get them going.

18years on what could I belooking at to replace this stuff?

I don't need a turntable, but something that can handle CDs are essential as I have around 400 of them. Music tastes are classical, jazz - metal, pretty much anything. I do have the odd MP3 stuff - mostly pop tunes of the day from Amazon. It would be nice to have somethign that could handle those (evenfrom a memory stick) but they are not a priority.

I also have an extensive DVD/blu-ray collection and rent discs from Cinema Paradiso.

Is a Universal disc player a good option these days? I know A sales person will try and sell me three boxes, but some blu-ray/disc players from Pioneer get praised for their musicality. A movie player is not essential at this stage, but if I can build a two box solution, that might not be a bad idea. The budget for the disc player and replacement Amp is around £1,500-£1800. The priority is the disc player just now. The Amp can follow in six months time.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Looking at losts of reviews there seems to be a blizzard of stuff about the connectivity with Apps which to me is a bit bewildering.

Where do you start if you are looking to replace something from 20 years ago? Many thanks for any advice.

 

[gibbsy]

What kind of amp are you talking about, bearing in mind you have posted in the Home Cinema section, so assuming it's a multi channel AV amp? Leaving that to one side for the moment I can only speak from experience in players.

I currently have a Pioneer LX500 UD player and a couple of standalone stereo CD players. Even with the Pioneer connected to a stereo amp via RCA I much prefer the performance of my Denon CD player. The Pioneer is a brilliant multi channel SACD player and video player, unfortunately because of the pandemic they are extremely hard to source but will hopefully be back in stock some time in the first half of this year according to Pioneer Australia.

I would agree though that the Pioneers are the best players for audio and I've had my fair share of UD players in the last decade. The LX500 is a keeper. I would though keep a serious music listening to a standalone stereo player and there are some very good performers available at all price points. Denon players are good all rounders as are the Marantz offerings and they are capable of playing the media that you have. Rega build good players but there is some contention about their ability with CD-R.

My choice would be......
£500 and under Marantz cd6007.
£500 to £1000 Denon DCD 1600NE
£1000 to £1500 Cyrus CDi
£1500-£2000 Denon DCD 2500NE

If this question is about any stereo and not multi channel then I'll move it the Stereo Hi-Fi section for you.

 

[SandyF]

It is a stero amplifer at the moment - a Musical Fidelity V3.

You have answered the part of my question about AV. 18 years ago blu-ray was just coming on stream and has now evolved to 4K - with HDMI becoming a dominant connector.

I wanted to know whether with all the developments a two box solution would be better than three. I don't have space for two Amps (tiny flat) so whichever Amp will have to double up as a muisc/AV Amp. At present it is done through RCA.

 

[gibbsy]

There is something of a lack of good players at the moment because of Covid and in recent years many manufacturers have jumped ship and stopped making blu ray players. You're left with LG, Sony and Panasonic as the mainstream contenders although LG are more than a bit naff. The Panasonics will give you the choice of digital transport and direct analogue output and it's those models I would be looking at with the current lack of Pioneer players available.

Depends on what your budget is, the top of the range Panasonic UB9000 is around the £850 mark. That was a player that would have been a contender for me had it been able to play SACD.