Question Technics CD players - which is best?

misior

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Hi
I would like to buy a Technics CD player and simply hook up to my amp/speakers or headphones.
There is a massive selection of them on ebay - must have been popular 15 years ago!

Could you please explain, what means what and what sounds best:

1. 2DAC / 18 bit high resolution
2. 4 DAC
3. class AA
4. MASH
5. combination of the above like 4 DAC / MASH

Also, are there any good old CD players of other brands? I heard that most sounds harsh and only Technics is soft/lovely.
Thank you in advance. I will be watching this thread.
 
Technics made very good sounding CD players. Check they play well and read the CD before you buy as the lasers and mechanisms are getting old.
So your question
Cheapest way to convert digital to analogue is using a single chip Digital to Analogue Converter. But Technics said let's put two separate chips for left and right.
CDs and actually use 16 bits but Technics used 18 bit converters with some clever electronics to increase resolution (although source was 16bit).
4 DACs was probably more marketing than anything else. I believe the AA class was also marketing and used for their high end players.

MASH -multistage noise shaping and 1 bit.
This is a different approach to conversion. Instead of converting a 16 bit word it can be converted to a digital 1 bit stream. This is integrated so that 1 will have a positive outcome on the analogue signal and 0 a negative. This avoids using precision resister ladders in the AD converter.
Anyway MASH was praised and if you can get a good working model then go for it.
 
I had one of the higher end version - SLP -777 - like this one - technics SLP777 CD PLAYER WITH REMOTE | eBay

Sounded very good to my ears and built like a battle ship.

Also worth looking at the early Rotel version (RCD 820 iirc) with the early metal Philips CD mechanisms. I had a mid range Rotel (not expensive) and after using it for about 10 years took it into a Hifi shop and compared it to a Meridian nearly 10 times the price but this has a newer plastic mechanism. Surprisingly the Rotel held up pretty well, if the CD mechanism is nice and stiff and keeps the laser and disc in alignment there is less work for the electronics to do and so you arguably get a better sound because you are interpolating and correcting less.
 
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