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Let's talk CD Players!

anmpr1

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I really don't understand the 2.73 times price difference for the same model sold in the USA compared with AU, which is a little higher against the local Japanese prices (taxes and freight the main contributor).
I'm not sure what you are asking. Is it that the USD price is three times higher than the price in Australia? What exactly is the Japanese price? Is it less or more than the USD or Yen price? Can you explain in detail your issue?

Generally, when buying something exclusive and expensive like an Accuphase you have to take into consideration importer and dealer fees along with any duty or other government fees. Local VAT, sales tax, etc. Currency exchange rates play a roll.

In the past (don't know how it is now) Accuphase made region specific gear which the company considered out of warranty if sold out of its intended region--that is, grey market. Typically, line AC was specific to the region, and not adjustable. Thus if you bought direct from Japan you had no warranty and the item could require a transformer in order to adjust operating voltage. I understand that Accuphase will not issue repair tickets on grey market goods.

FWIW, my impression is that the Japanese company doesn't have much of a presence in the US. My guess is that Americans with those kinds of dollars in their purse would be more inclined to gravitate towards McIntosh--a long established US company with an extensive dealer network--probably selling for equivalent dollars as Accuphase.
 

mjoshi

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I've got CD player as well as Cassette deck, don't remember when was last time I used it, maybe it's time to start playing it again.
 

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restorer-john

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It's a fine player for sure and the digital input is nice. I've actually sold it now though. I decided that CD's just weren't my thing. For now I'm sticking to vinyl and digital downloads.

Wow, that didn't last long.
 

cistercian

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CD is my preferred format. Unlike some people my collection of them is not huge. I used a Sony
CDP-291 for 30 years until last week when the gear rack became so warped it was unserviceable.
It had a headphone out that I used if I did not want to use my amp and I like the phone jack on my
inexpensive Rolls mixer for that too.
I ordered a Tascam CD200BT to replace it and put it in line. The audio was horrific...no bass, no mid bass,
heck even lower mids were rolled off. Just a craptacular analog audio chain. Headphone out was identically
horrible. So I bought a RME DAC and used the tascam's coax digital out into the DAC. The improvement over
the old Sony cannot be overstated. I have spent hours listening to my CD's and am amazed at the new details
I am hearing. Night and day difference. Based on this my advice is just get a transport and use the best DAC
you can and enjoy CD format. I had no idea how poor the old Sony was until this happened. It used a budget
DAC chip optimized for cost and not performance. In the case of the Tascam I consider the analog section vestigal
and worthless. I guess they figured pros would use the digital out and included analog as a "feature".

I expect really nice CD players have better DACs and analog chains so those would be nice. BUT...the RME ADI-2 FS
has such a nice headphone amp and other features I will only buy CD players as transports from now on.
I am frankly amazed at how much better the DAC sounds.

I have zero interest in streaming, ripping files to the PC etc. I just wanted excellent CD performance. Mission accomplished.

The Tascam was too expensive. When it fails I will buy something more basic. I don't see upgrading the DAC ever.
The RME is spectacular.
 

digicidal

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I expect really nice CD players have better DACs and analog chains so those would be nice. BUT...the RME ADI-2 FS
has such a nice headphone amp and other features I will only buy CD players as transports from now on.
I am frankly amazed at how much better the DAC sounds

I think very few higher-end CD players actually have better DACs - and few if any (at any price) have one that competes with your RME. Not that it's an issue, of course - 16/44 is a fairly low bar (although one that strangely still seems difficult for some manufacturers). Even before I had any dedicated DACs I only bought CD players I could use as a transport however.

At the time I figured that I was mostly using AVRs with them... and those DACs were much better - I'd definitely want to use them. Then @amirm had to come along and measure the performance of said AVR DACs... and blow that belief out of the water. :rolleyes: Not like I can hear the difference anyway however... I definitely enjoyed the hell out of that "diminished resolution" for many, many years.
 

JungleXray

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I have a Onkyo DC390. Love it.

Was the first piece of "hifi" equipment I bought new. So it to me it has a sort of sentimental value.
I subscribe mostly to the "bits are bits" camp. I ran the digital out to a DAC, good to go. No fancy boutique player for me.

I no longer use it in my main stereo. Everything now is ripped to an old Mac mini and played through iTunes.

A CD player is on the fringe of being a legacy/obsolete piece of tech. But so is my turntable :)
 

Sal1950

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Sukie

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I have a Onkyo DC390. Love it.

Was the first piece of "hifi" equipment I bought new. So it to me it has a sort of sentimental value.
I subscribe mostly to the "bits are bits" camp. I ran the digital out to a DAC, good to go. No fancy boutique player for me.

I no longer use it in my main stereo. Everything now is ripped to an old Mac mini and played through iTunes.

A CD player is on the fringe of being a legacy/obsolete piece of tech. But so is my turntable :)
I now have my CD player neglectfully sitting under my sofa, without a cable in sight!

One day the internet might crash (Qobuz out) and my phone might die (micro SD card with ripped collection unavailable), all other portable devices in the house might explode (can't transfer said SD card) and my PC might give up (can't access music stored on the hard drive).

On that day I will be ready to plug in my old love and fire her up one last time!
 

greenhorn

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That said, at the other end of the spectrum, you have the Sanyo SFP-101N which costs less than $5 retail (Chinese copies) and they are pretty much industry standard in plastic boom-boxes and even some high end CD players....

View attachment 34550

Whenever I see a CD boom box thrown on the side of the road or at a junk shop, I'll open the lid and peer inside. 9/10 times you'll find one of these. The giveaway is that top gear frame moulding shape- very unique and easily seen.

Here's NAD's current model C 546 BEE CD player. It uses exactly the same, cheap $5 mechanism:

Are the problems with this mech inherent to the design, or because of crappy manufacturing tolerances? Asking because I bought a CD player for my Dad (who finally decided to upgrade to CD) - an Onkyo C7030 - with a well reviewed wolfson DAC. I got mine cheap for $20 locally because it had started skipping and the owner had since decided to upgrade. $10 and a replacement mechanism later, it was signing as usual. It's been at my parent's place for about 2 years now, and my mom tells me It has begun to skip on some CD's. At $5 a pop, I think of a replacement laser as sort of changing a stylus on a TT, and have bought up about 10 replacements - which should be enough for a while. But are they inherently bad ?
 
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UCrazyKid

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Still love mine and use it every day (as a transport). Musical Fidelity A3.2 CD
 

MDAguy

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I find it fascinating how the "CD player" has been apparently dying this slow death now for the better part of a decade... I mean it's gone the way of the 8-track and cassette in cars, right? But I absolutely love a) possessing my music in a physical format and b) regret selling all my vinyl back in the 80's (to replace it with CD's ironically) .. and will not repeat the same mistake again. I even still have and love my SACD's (all 15 of them).. lol.
 

zain

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Did a title search here and did not find much discussion.

- Do you still own a dedicated* CD Player (or players)? *plays CDs only Why or why not?
- If yes, what model(s)? Pics would be nice.
- anecdotes about CD playback most welcome
- links to measurements of CD players also welcome

Thanks for this man.
 

Mart68

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I use CD exclusively, gives me control over what mastering I get to listen to. Usually the original if possible.

These days use an Audiolab transport which is fine, but still have a large collection of players dating back to the 1980s. This one is my favourite:



It's a bit cantankerous now and sometimes will not play past track 6 but occasionally you can get a full album out of it.
 

rwortman

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I use CD exclusively, gives me control over what mastering I get to listen to. Usually the original if possible.

These days use an Audiolab transport which is fine, but still have a large collection of players dating back to the 1980s. This one is my favourite:


It's a bit cantankerous now and sometimes will not play past track 6 but occasionally you can get a full album out of it.

Umm. I think when I rip that CD to my server and stream it to my DAC I am listening to the same master with a heck of a lot more convenience.
 

Robin L

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Umm. I think when I rip that CD to my server and stream it to my DAC I am listening to the same master with a heck of a lot more convenience.
I remember when I started with digital gear for recording [nearly 25 years ago], one idea was that when having a file to transfer/master to CD, having that file in RAM rather than a hard disc would have advantages, some potentially in sound quality, but also with reduced jitter. Of course, now I can heard that file on Micro SD or mini flash drive. I'd think there's potential for better sound from a file ripped from a CD than the CD itself. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
 

watchnerd

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I bought a Audiolab 6000CDT CD transport and have it hooked up to a Topping E30. Best sounding CD player I’ve yet owned. I bought my first CD player in 1985.

I like the fact that from here on out I can upgrade DAC’s every few years while keeping a quality transport. I had the E30 originally hooked up to a NAD CD player (516BEE). The Audiolab 6000 was an appreciable step up from the NAD.

If it's only acting as a transport to an external DAC, how does it have a sound, let alone a best sound?
 

Alexanderc

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I bought a Audiolab 6000CDT CD transport and have it hooked up to a Topping E30. Best sounding CD player I’ve yet owned. I bought my first CD player in 1985.

I like the fact that from here on out I can upgrade DAC’s every few years while keeping a quality transport. I had the E30 originally hooked up to a NAD CD player (516BEE). The Audiolab 6000 was an appreciable step up from the NAD.

View attachment 120073
More importantly, how is it in use? Quick to load and change tracks? Reliable? How is the remote? Solid button pushes? Able to find the right button by touch after a while?

I’m not in the market now, but soon I would like to move my current CD player to my office and have something a little nicer to use in my listening room. This seems to be a solid candidate.
 
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