Let's talk CD Players!

[Sal1950]

But if any millionaire (or billionaire from Seattle ;-) is reading this post, he / she is welcomed to send me a message...

I could send you $5.00, would that help get you started?

 

[Herbert]

Yes, as sending samples to anodizers eats a lot of stamps and only 5% of the "genuine" laser diodes
I bought for the BU-1 work within specs...

 

[Frank Dernie]

I like top loading players, though it limits where they can be put...
This is a cheap Chinese Original Da Vinci CD player I use as a transport into DAC/Amp sitting on a subwoofer!

This is a 20 odd year old Goldmund Mimesis 36+ which has been my main source since I bought it new and is still going strong. It is on the top of the rack with one of the Devialet remotes next to it. (I have 2 one next to me and the other next to the system.

This is a Chord Blu I bought used as a backup years and haven't needed... it is sitting on a coffee table just in case

 

[Herbert]

Hm- compared to the almost decent looks of an Audiolabor Saphir / Denon DCD-S10 / Philips CD-100
especially the Chord looks like it was designed for a 007 villain...
"Some Brahms before your execution, Mr. Bond?"

 

[Robin L]

I've got 8 devices that play CDs, but this device has been ripping CDs to my computer for about 10 years. At $27, new from Amazon, a crazy steal:

 

[Frank Dernie]

I like the Denon, owned the Phillips decades ago. The Goldmund is the most ergonomic but I like the styling and machining in the Blu.
The Audiolabor is tacky manufacturing and ugly in my eyes.

 

[Jaysz]

Put my marantz up for sale late last night
Sold early this morning

 

[Herbert]

Whish I bought a Philips CD-100 back then or at least kept the Marantz CD-73. The Toshiba XR-Z70
mentioned earlier replaced it back then..

 

[Frank Dernie]

Whish I bought a Philips CD-100 back then or at least kept the Marantz CD-73. The Toshiba XR-Z70
mentioned earlier replaced it back then..

Wish I had kept mine. One of the best bits of kit I owned.

 

[sonci]

I love cd players, it's the ceremony of playing an album from start to finish, not just shuffling and browsing.
But I also find cd players very good sounding probably because they natively are less prone to jitter than external dacs. Even though most of those who listen to music these days use streaming services and probably rip their cds,
I much prefer the sound of a cd player when I want to listen intently..

@ Herbert, You ruined a piece of art man.. rip inside for a Buffalo dac?!

 

[Herbert]

Not at all - the piece of art crumbles to ruins when I play 1khz at -60dB - with the Nak´s original
DAC Section - as far as I remember the PCM56 reolves 15 bit in the real world-
the sine degrades to a sawtooth.
But with the Buffalo II (and any modern DAC) it is a perfect sine again.
It is putting the best of both worlds together:
The piece of art concerning the suspended,
heavy die - cast mechanism overall built-quality and possibity for precise adjustments
is maintained but I have now a mesureabely better sound.

 

[Sal1950]

I love cd players, it's the ceremony of playing an album from start to finish, not just shuffling and browsing.

I always play full albums and have everything ripped to the hard-drive, it's the attitude, not the gear.

 

[sonci]

Not at all - the piece of art crumbles to ruins when I play 1khz at -60dB - with the Nak´s original
DAC Section - as far as I remember the PCM56 reolves 15 bit in the real world-
the sine degrades to a sawtooth.
But with the Buffalo II (and any modern DAC) it is a perfect sine again.
It is putting the best of both worlds together:
The piece of art concerning the suspended,
heavy die - cast mechanism overall built-quality and possibity for precise adjustments
is maintained but I have now a mesureabely better sound.

15 bits or not, I really doubt that Buffalo sound better than a pair of PCM56 but that's not the point, it's like rebuilding Michelangelo's David in titanium because it's stronger. In the end its your player and you can do whatever, but these rare gems should conservated I think..
You can always sell the original cd player and buy a dozen of Topping dacs..

 

[Willem]

I think the Philips CD100 is the best looking player of all time. Sadly mine gave up after many happy years and stupidly I ditched it.

 

[levimax]

My technics DD turntable, which cost a small fraction of the cost of these older hi end CD players, and is a decade or two older, still plays perfectly with parts readily available...probably worth more to. Funny how technology works out sometimes.

 

[Frank Dernie]

My technics DD turntable, which cost a small fraction of the cost of these older hi end CD players, and is a decade or two older, still plays perfectly with parts readily available...probably worth more to. Funny how technology works out sometimes.

Wow I have never had a turntable which cost "a small fraction" of a CD player, which one is it?

 

[Herbert]

15 bits or not, I really doubt that Buffalo sound better than a pair of PCM56 but that's not the point, it's like rebuilding Michelangelo's David in titanium because it's stronger.

Well - as always in audiosciecereview it is about proper reproduction of a signal and not the "sound".
And obviously you neglect the fact that the PCM54 (not 56, sorry, I was wrong here) does not
faithfully reproduce the lower bits.

Needless to say:
The sound is made by the recording staff and no one and nothing else.
This is why the CD was introduced btw as record / consumer tape playback suffers from too many variables.

And of course the Nakamichi was advertized back in 1986 for faithful sound reproduction introducing the
"digital deglitching circuit". When you take a closer look, it is nothing else but a circuit proposed by
Burr Brown to minimize the liearity error of the PCM54.
This is as good as they could get in 1986.
So I am just following the path and got better in 2012.

 

[Victoria]

I like top loading players, though it limits where they can be put...
This is a cheap Chinese Original Da Vinci CD player I use as a transport into DAC/Amp sitting on a subwoofer!

View attachment 35825This is a 20 odd year old Goldmund Mimesis 36+ which has been my main source since I bought it new and is still going strong. It is on the top of the rack with one of the Devialet remotes next to it. (I have 2 one next to me and the other next to the system.View attachment 35826This is a Chord Blu I bought used as a backup years and haven't needed... it is sitting on a coffee table just in case View attachment 35827

Ohh! Someone who shares my love!

The CD transport I had was the Musical Fidelity A1008 (the original model with the fully exposed CD and mechanism and all)!

What a thing of beauty.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Any of you guys ever own a Spectral CD player? I had friends with a couple. I could never make myself pay that much especially as I had external DACs, but those were beautiful machines.

 

[Wombat]

And it could have been better:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/0-2mm-T...289395?hash=item23ba781d73:g:FdoAAOSw~eJctDgY