Advice on CD player upgrade. (1 Viewer)

[Chris PC]

I don't necessarily need SACD or DVD audio. What are some inexpensive CD players that I can look at to replace my 15 year old Sony CDP-C50 5 disc carousel. I want another 5 disc carousel. I won't be getting rid of the old one, its a trusty unit thats worked flawlessly 99.9% of the time. Cleaned its lens lately for good measure and I'll keep using it somewhere just to see how long it will last.

So what 5 disc CD, SACD and DVD audio players are out there that will impress me with their newer DAC's and other assorted electrical improvements?

 

[EricRWem]

Check out the Cambridge 640c. Under $500. Awesome reviews all around the place. The company's pedigree in audio is what you would expect with a name like that.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/
http://www.spearitsound.com/

The overkill, you could do, would be getting a Denon 2900 at Crutchfields for $699 free shipping, no tax. This would give you SACD and DVD-A as well as being a heck of a nice player all the way around.

Just depends on what you want and how much you are willing to spend. I have also been hearing about people getting deals on Pioneer Elite 47's.

 

[Chris PC]

Right. Any of those 5 disc carousels? I will check them out.

What about the Marantz 4000 ose 5 disc carousel? That looks cool.

 

[EricRWem]

You know, I almost could see you checking out the Yamaha s1500 or the Onkyo 802 for disc changing high rez lovin'. Video wise, neither player is that great, but both these units have pretty nice audio capabilities for redbook and high rez.

The Cambridge units are single disc. My $0.02: I usually find that single disc players are just better overall in terms of manufactering and quality.

 

[EricRWem]

I'm curious myself now: Are there any "audiophile" grade CD changers out there? We've mentioned what we know about the universal scene, I'm talking about strictly for CDs...

 

[Chris PC]

Sony SCD-CE775 SACD 5 Disc Changer?

 

[EricRWem]

Sony ES SCD-C2000ES
5-disc CD/SACD changer


I see that, too. Thoughts on either of these?

 

[Ricky c]

marantz cc4300

 

[Ricky c]

marantz cc4300 5 disk player

 

[LanceJ]

If you want a changer's capacity but audiophile audio performance, buy a changer and then add an external DAC via the changer's digital output. I'm not very familiar with these but do know many exist & in a very wide array of price ranges (from around $150 to $X,XXX). I'm sure someone here has some experience with them? IMO as far as final sound quality is concerned, the quality of the DAC chip itself and its associated analog output stage are much more important than the disc transport.

Actually, if you think your receiver/processor's internal DACs are of high quality then just buy a good quality/basic CD changer & hook it up that way.

 

[EricRWem]

I guess I'd just go digital from the CD player to my HK 630. Probably would do just fine. Nice suggestions, though I have a friend of mine who really wants it, so I'll tell him he doesn't have to spend a mint to get it done.

 

[Chris PC]

Good ideas. I'll look into that. Another HTF member has mentioned DAC's. For the right price, I'd go for that.

 

[EricRWem]

I wonder how the Onkyo 802 is? I know it did miserably in the latest Secrets shootout in terms of video performance, but it looks like it could a good universal audio changer, if nothing else...

The audio DACs really don't blow me away on paper...

 

[Garrett Lundy]

McIntosh has a five disk changer

 

[EricRWem]

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/mcprod/s...product=MCD205

Ah yes, I know this brand well. Whew!!!!

 

[Drew_W]

What exactly are you looking to spend? I second the DAC idea since there are no "audiophile" changers out there.

 

[EricRWem]

Well, I'm debating between upgrading to a universal player as I'd like to get into high rez. Obviously it's all taken care of at that point.

This side of the equation just intruiges me. Not sure I really want to get into external DACs and expenses like that.

 

[Howard_You]

Yamaha announced a 5-disk universal player, the DVD-C750 for $300. Onkyo also has the DV-CP602 for $500.

 

[EricRWem]

The CP-802 from Onkyo? Yeah, it looks solid enough. The audio DACs could be better, though. The Yamaha I don't know much about.

A changer is nice but not critical. Just kind of feeling it out.