so, i need a player, a cd player really. is it just me or would either of these blow away any comparably priced cd player (if you could find one)? both of these can be had for $80 shipped give or take right now.
here's my situation and pros and cons for each. the wife is british and we have to have multiregion ability. we have this in the form of a philips cheapo player. we also have a pioneer which is my preferred player for cd's and region 1 discs. she suggested getting a new cd player for one of our stereos upstairs. after a brief search i came to the following conclusions:
1, quality entry level cd players from companies like marantz, NAD, cambridge audio, etc start at $300+, while mass produced models from sony, onkyo, yamaha, etc still run over $100.
2, the aforementioned dvd models are under $100 shipped and i'm guessing will sound much better that the mass produced cd players and potentially in the same realm of quality as the entry level audiophile players.
denon - pros - a universal player adds much flexibility to system overall, faroujda upconverting, burr brown dacs, direct 5.1 outs, about $84 shipped. cons - no multi region. if i bought this, it would either replace the pioneer in the HT and the pioneer would become the cd player or the denon would be used for audio only.
marantz - pros - upconverting and multi-region, about $82 shipped. cons - no universal, no 5.1 outs, lesser chipsets? not listed by brand and model. if i bought this, it would take over on the HT and free up both other players.
i really don't care about names like faroujda or burr brown as long as the quality is there in the what i hear and see. the 5.1 outs could be useful, but not likely to be used. the universal options again are unlikely to be in high demand as i don't need them now and am unlikely to start buying multi channel audio. fundamentally it's about what sounds good to me, but if anyone has any comparative opinions on what the differences are, they would be appreciated.
there is one other option. that is an oppo product, it would give me all the universal, multiregion and faroujda benefits and probably sound as good, but cost about double either of the other options.
i currently have only one crt tv and no hd anything. i figure when i get around to getting into that game i'll want a bluray player anyway. in other words, i'm not too worried about the video side of things, unless one of these is particularly bad.
hope someone has an opinion. thanks
here's my situation and pros and cons for each. the wife is british and we have to have multiregion ability. we have this in the form of a philips cheapo player. we also have a pioneer which is my preferred player for cd's and region 1 discs. she suggested getting a new cd player for one of our stereos upstairs. after a brief search i came to the following conclusions:
1, quality entry level cd players from companies like marantz, NAD, cambridge audio, etc start at $300+, while mass produced models from sony, onkyo, yamaha, etc still run over $100.
2, the aforementioned dvd models are under $100 shipped and i'm guessing will sound much better that the mass produced cd players and potentially in the same realm of quality as the entry level audiophile players.
denon - pros - a universal player adds much flexibility to system overall, faroujda upconverting, burr brown dacs, direct 5.1 outs, about $84 shipped. cons - no multi region. if i bought this, it would either replace the pioneer in the HT and the pioneer would become the cd player or the denon would be used for audio only.
marantz - pros - upconverting and multi-region, about $82 shipped. cons - no universal, no 5.1 outs, lesser chipsets? not listed by brand and model. if i bought this, it would take over on the HT and free up both other players.
i really don't care about names like faroujda or burr brown as long as the quality is there in the what i hear and see. the 5.1 outs could be useful, but not likely to be used. the universal options again are unlikely to be in high demand as i don't need them now and am unlikely to start buying multi channel audio. fundamentally it's about what sounds good to me, but if anyone has any comparative opinions on what the differences are, they would be appreciated.
there is one other option. that is an oppo product, it would give me all the universal, multiregion and faroujda benefits and probably sound as good, but cost about double either of the other options.
i currently have only one crt tv and no hd anything. i figure when i get around to getting into that game i'll want a bluray player anyway. in other words, i'm not too worried about the video side of things, unless one of these is particularly bad.
hope someone has an opinion. thanks
