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CD player suggestions? (1 Viewer)

Andy Anderson

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Messages
317
Hi guys--

Okay, a DVD player really isn't the proper tool for listening to 2 channel stuff--I've tried and tried, but my Panny CP-72 just accesses data way too slowly for me, and has a NIGHTMARISH user interface. It's almost a joke, how horrible the usability of this unit is. In its defense, though--it displays a beautiful progressive scan picture, and has to be the cheapest DVD player with the Sage/Faroudja chip in it.

Anyway, it's probably a good idea for me to pick up a great CD player. I'm not worried about SACD (or DVD-A, for that matter) so I'm just looking at plain-jane 2 channel reproduction. It's necessary that it be able to play CD's and CD-R's, however. I don't care about MP3 or WMA (the CP-72 will handle that stuff).

Any suggestions? Price point I'd say is under $500 or so--this can be stretched if I'm particularly blown away. I want to stay away from modded units or those with analog gain-stages...I'll be putting together a dedicated analog 2 channel system together in a couple of years. I'll look at those then.

My system? Well I'm glad you asked:
the parts that matter for 2-ch
Marantz SR7000
B&W 603 S2 Mains
SVS CS-Ultra Sub (when I'm not using Marantz's full range "Source Direct")

the rest, for those interested:
B&W 602 S2 Rears
B&W LCR6 S2 Center
Toshiba 42HDX82 RPTV
Hughes E86 (HDTV STB)
Panasonic CP-72 DVD
JVS SVHS VCR (Model # escapes me)
Xbox

Thanks in advance, y'all!
Andy
 

Manuel Delaflor

Supporting Actor
Joined
May 25, 2001
Messages
657
Buy any CDP that do upsampling, the higher the upsampling the better. Or you can go another route: ADE-24. I made a review about this unit here on the HTF, it is under the "tweaks" forum.
 

KeithH

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2000
Messages
9,413
Manuel,
Upsampling generally isn't found in $500 players. In fact, I can't think of a $500 player available at present that upsamples. The forthcoming Philips DVD-963SA DVD/SACD player at a retail price of $500 will upsample to 24/192, but it is obviously not a dedicated CD player and it remains to be seen how it handles upsampling.
Andy,
This subject has been discussed quite a bit, so I suggest you conduct a search. A player you should definitely look at is the Sony SCD-C222ES SACD/CD changer. It is a great CD player for the money ($500 retail, $350 from authorized mail-order dealers), and you get SACD as a bonus. For more information on the 'C222ES, go to www.crutchfield.com .
 

Wilson W

Agent
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Messages
37
Andy, if you want something nice but doesn't cost too much (don't we all), and is also a unique player (not the curcuit city players), I recommend some of those "economy audiophile products".

They are usually small companies that are dedicated to making a good affordable products; like NAD, Rotel, Arcam,...

There are lots of reviews of these players in hifi mag if you are not familier with them. If you are, you'd know they are great. Another good thing is that it won't be something that all your neighbors would have!
 

Andy Anderson

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Messages
317
Cool-

Thanks for the suggestions, guys--keep 'em coming. I will definitely check them out.

SACD would be a neat feature to have I'm sure, but with a reciever (Marantz SR7000) and not separates, I don't really have a good way of implementing bass management for DVD-A or SACD. I don't think an Outlaw ICBM integrates well with a receiver, unless I'm reading their literature incorrectly. I'd also heard about certain players that have bass management in them, but I don't know much about that anyway.

Actually, the DA converter in my Marantz is wonderful--even a transport would be great, but I'd want it to have a robust playback feature set. I'll definitely look into the players and conmpanies mentioned above--thanks much.
Anyone else care to chime in?

By the way, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to y'all!!

Cheers,
Andy
 

DanaA

Screenwriter
Joined
Nov 21, 2001
Messages
1,843
When I set out to audition a new dedicated CD player recently, I started with the Sony 555ES. It's a wonderful player, but, when I got to a second store with the Arcam 72T, I was sold and bought it right there and then, well at least after working down the price some. This is by far the best CD player I've ever owned. And, yes, different CD players do have very distinct sounds. The dealer told me that Arcam was raising the price of the unit from $799 to $899 in the near future. It comes in silver and black. I wanted silver, but he only had black in stock. Fine, but the unit we were listening to during the audition was silver. I asked how old it was and he told me that they had had it only a couple of weeks and that it had less than 10 hours actual use. I said I would buy it right then and there if he'd give it to me for $599, to which he agreed. ;) :emoji_thumbsup: I just love the crystal detailed, musical, dynamic sound this particular player puts out. A joy to own.
 

Bill Blank

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 3, 2002
Messages
222
I love my Rega Planet 2000 which can be found used on Ebay and Audiogon for around $600. Music Hall makes a pretty decent player that sells for $500 new, the CD-25.

You'll notice a HUGE difference from your Panny DVD player, make sure you use the analog connections too.

Cheers!
Bill
 

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