What CD For £500?? (2 Viewers)

[James_N_H]

I am currently updating the majority of my home cinema and hi-fi system, at the moment I have the Arcam CD72 which I picked up for a bargain price a few months back, I would however now like to upgrade to a new cd player for around the £500 mark, could anyone give me some good suggestions?

My main type of listening music is dance and I will be partnering it with a Marantz SR-7200 (Rotel Power amp to come soon) and also B&W DM605 S2 speakers.

Thanks

 

[KeithH]

James, I live the US, but I read Hi-Fi Choice and What Hi*Fi? out of the UK frequently. One of these magazines recently had a cover article on CD players in your price range. I don't have the magazine in front of me, but I will try to track it down in my house. Anyway, you may know that these magazines have loved the Arcam DiVA CD72 and CD72T, the latter being a recent replacement for the former. You might want to give the CD72T a listen, assuming you have the original CD72. I have read that the CD72T is better, though I don't think the improvements are substantial. The CD72T was covered in the article I referred to. Other players that were reviewed there and that garnered high marks include the Rotel RCD-1070 and Exposure 2010. The Exposure was rated the best in its class, meaning that it beat out the Arcam player, which had been their favorite mid-priced player.

Another player to consider is the Sony SCD-XB770 UKSE. It plays stereo and multi-channel SACDs, which is a great bonus. It has gotten good reviews as a CD player, though the British magazines (at least one of them) found it to be lacking in comparison to the Arcam unit. Still, give the Sony a listen along with the other CD-only models and let your ears decide. Finally, other players you should listen to are the NAD C 541i and Marantz CD6000. I say CD6000 in general terms because Marantz has offered the CD6000OSE and CD6000OSE KI Signature models, and possibly others.

 

[James_N_H]

Thanks for your reply, I have actually tested the CD72 and CD72T side by side and I could not tell any difference in sound quality with my system, the only difference I noticed was the new display, in a more revealing system the differences may be more apparant but not in mine. I also read What Hi-Fi, well every month and the exposure 2010 costs £600 new where the arcam costs £430 new so I dont really consider them to be in the same class.

The Rotel RCD-1070 I am actually considering its just getting supplies in the U.K, as I am after a Rotel RMB-1066 but none of my local dealers can get one.

To be honest im not interested in multi channel music, as theirs hardly any available in the U.K and my DVD player decodes it anyway so I would rather keep a cd player how it was intended for 2-channel use

referred to. Other players that were reviewed there and that garnered high marks include the Rotel RCD-1070 and Exposure 2010. The Exposure was rated the best in its class, meaning that it beat out the Arcam player, which had been their favorite mid-priced player.

 

[KeithH]

James, no problem. I understand that the Exposure player is priced out of your range. However, it was close enough to be reviewed alongside the Arcam. Give the Rotel player a listen. As I said, there are other players to consider in your price range as well.