Separate CD Player

Anyone still uses a separate CD Player ? If yes, what are the advantages and what features should I look for if I have to buy one.
apart from price and space, what are the tradeoffs in buying the integrated DVD/CD player.

If you can recommend a few that would be even better

Thanks
Kumar.

Re: Separate CD Player

I do not, but one reason to do so would be for "load sharing." If you listen to a lot of CDs it may be a good idea not to over use your Blu-ray or DVD player. I have both a DVD & a Blu-ray player in my system for that very reason.

Re: Separate CD Player

Hi kumar, yes I still use a separate cd player. My system comprises a Naim CD5x with a Naim FlatCap-2x power supply. On my CD player the benefits are a dual-mono 24-bit Burr-Brown DAC, Philips VAM1202 transport assembly, Pacific Microsonics PMD200 digital filter, HDCD decoding, 19 discrete voltage regulators, mechanical isolation to the drive hub and laser sled, isolation feet, analog circuits are powered by an outboard power supply, balanced DIN interconnects with earthing, die-cast zinc and extruded aluminum casework with great resistance to external vibration, display off capability.

But really, I didn't purchase it for any of these features. I was sold the moment I listened to it. Amazing synergy with my present system, all of the pace, rythm and timing I would expect from a Naim product. Very analogue sounding, this is the first CD player I've owned that I feel is a step above my Rega Planar 3 turntable. And she absolutely destroys my SqueezeBox 3 for FLAC streaming and Oppo 983 for DVD-Audio playback.

Only thing is that when you get into high-end CD players you end up paying an exponential fortune for small gains. For instance, the Marantz CD5003 is an excellent CD Player, and yet the Naim costs more than 10x this for perhaps a 10-15% improvement, though for me this improvement was very worthwhile in the context of my system.

What is your budget for a CD Player? What pre-amp and speakers do you own? I would strongly suggest auditioning multiple CD players before making a selection, as this is a very subjective purchase. I've auditioned a number of CD Players ranging from a Rotel RCD-1072 to a Rega Apollo, to every Naim CD Player from a CD5i ($1,600) to a CDS3 with XPS2 power supply ($15,000). The Naim CD5x with FlatCap2x ($4,000) I now own is by far the most expensive and most enjoyable piece of kit I've ever purchased.

In any event, depending on your budget I would highly recommend auditioning a Marantz CD5003 and Rega Apollo, they are both outstanding players in their price category.

Cheers,
Alon

Re: Separate CD Player

I still have a dedicated CD player in my system, too. It is a Sony ES 5-disc carousel CD/SACD player. I've owned the player for quite a few years, it sounds wonderful both with redbook CDs and high resolution SACDs, and is very well built. I've kept it in my system for those reasons, and because I've always liked the convenience of multi-disc carousel players for music playback.

However, if this player were to die tomorrow, I seriously doubt I would buy another standalone player, only because I just do not do much serious music listening anymore -- I don't have enough free time. If I was still doing a lot of serious music listening, though, I would look for another similar quality carousel player for CD/SACD playback.

Re: Separate CD Player

Great suggestions from all. Thanks a ton!

Alon, I have a HK 7200 hooked on to sweet sounding B&W 604 series.
I have a 8 year old Sony DVD player which is starting to show sign of old age.
I am thinking of upgrading to a Blu-Ray and a CD player.
Marantz was one of them I was considering. I will also look around for others before I make a decision.

Yes I do listen lot more to music.. mmm.. may be like 65, 35 music and movies.

Kumar.

Re: Separate CD Player

kumar, another alternative altogether would be to purchase a Squeezebox so that you can stream lossless audio from your PC, and if you were looking to upgrade you could purchase an outboard DAC such as a Benchmark DAC1, Behringer DAC or Slim Devices Transporter.

This seems to be the way the market is heading, though I wouldn't trade my CD Player or turntable for anything!

Cheers,
Alon

Re: Separate CD Player

I also have a dedicated cd player. A 5 disk H/K 8380 to go along with an H/K AVR 520, CDR 20 and DVD 5. When playing cd's, I can't really hear that much difference between the 8380 and cd's in the DVD 5. While it's a nice sounding unit, maybe you have to spend a little bit more in order to get a cd player that can really show what a cd player can do.

There's a Pioneer PD 59 on Audiogon for $250 that I've been considering but I don't know enough about it yet.