• Welcome to ASR. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Rotel CD Players - which is best of current offerings?

EL_PW

EL_PW

Member
Joined
May 4, 2021
Messages
69
Likes
97
Howdy Folks,

I'm in the market for a new cd player and have been looking at quite a number of models and manufacturers and I came full circle back to Rotel for highest bang to buck. But which one?

If I'm reading the specs correctly the cheapest one at $599 CD11MKII has the highest SINAD of the 4 models they currently offer. Going left to right is cheapest to most expensive $599, $999, $1,399 and $2,299:

1738626461889.png


My questions are (1) is higher SINAD always better and (2) why would the SINAD be lower the higher up you go in price?

Genuinely scratching my head here.

Thanks!
 
EL_PW said:
Howdy Folks,

I'm in the market for a new cd player and have been looking at quite a number of models and manufacturers and I came full circle back to Rotel for highest bang to buck. But which one?

If I'm reading the specs correctly the cheapest one at $599 CD11MKII has the highest SINAD of the 4 models they currently offer. Going left to right is cheapest to most expensive $599, $999, $1,399 and $2,299:

View attachment 425914

My questions are (1) is higher SINAD always better and (2) why would the SINAD be lower the higher up you go in price?

Genuinely scratching my head here.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

The figures you are looking at are not SINAD. S/N (signal to noise) and SINAD are very different. Not only that, S/N in CD players has been an 'artificial' number pretty much since the earliest days. The noise component of S/N is often specified with the outputs muted, hence the silly >125dB number.

The distortion numbers in Rotel's specs are nothing to write home about. That said, they may do better when tested. And also bear in mind, many CD playere THD specs are THD only with no noise contribution. SINAD will be limited by the CD format itself in all but poorly designed players.
 
restorer-john said:
The distortion numbers in Rotel's specs are nothing to write home about. That said, they may do better when tested.
Click to expand...
I do have to wonder how they managed to get a PCM5102A based player up to 0.009% of THD in this day and age... that chip with its 2 Vrms single-ended output is hardly a low distortion wonder (and its digital filter periodic ripple is on the lowest ranks of what still passes as hi-fi) but around 0.003% (-90 dB) is certainly achievable. The CD11 MkII may be best hooked up to an external DAC (ES9039 or AKM or Cirrus based, generally no more than about $200). Still cheaper than the 14.

BTW, why one would buy a basic CD player new in this day and age is a bit beyond me. You get all the convenience of a basic CD player in the 1990s. No playback volume normalization (some fancy Sonys actually had a database feature with per-CD volume settings back in the day, but even that has long been surpassed by software), no playlists, no nothing. Maybe you'll get a subtrack display if you're lucky.
 
AnalogSteph said:
why one would buy a basic CD player new in this day and age is a bit beyond me.
Click to expand...

Because someone has a rack full of CDs?

But I just use mine as a transport to to send digits to the DAC that decodes it and everything else.
 
I'm still waiting for a nice modern transport that does not cost an arm and leg and is tray-based rather than slot loading. In the meantime, I just use my legacy CD/DVD players that have optical out. I expect with my level of equipment (and hearing) gains from a higher-cost transport would be minimal.
 
EL_PW said:
Howdy Folks,

I'm in the market for a new cd player and have been looking at quite a number of models and manufacturers and I came full circle back to Rotel for highest bang to buck. But which one?

If I'm reading the specs correctly the cheapest one at $599 CD11MKII has the highest SINAD of the 4 models they currently offer. Going left to right is cheapest to most expensive $599, $999, $1,399 and $2,299:

View attachment 425914

My questions are (1) is higher SINAD always better and (2) why would the SINAD be lower the higher up you go in price?

Genuinely scratching my head here.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
The Rotel CD players look nice, but the market has developed further in terms of technology.

In the ASR Sinad list there are enough balanced DACs for €300-500 that easily outperform even the DT-6000 and have both larger ESS DAC chips and/or newer ones installed (9038/9039 Pro).

A Camebridge CXC transport should be in no way inferior to the DT-6000. But for €100-300 there are many new and used CD players that are perfect for transport.

When I see that Rotel has installed a simple plastic CD drive in a top model for €2300, which costs the end customer €50-100, then I find that very disappointing. I would look on the second-hand market for a solid old Sony (also SACD), Teac VRDS or similar, there are a lot of them for under €500 and a CD transport with belt drive doesn't have to be more expensive than a CXC.
 
AnalogSteph said:
I do have to wonder how they managed to get a PCM5102A based player up to 0.009% of THD in this day and age... that chip with its 2 Vrms single-ended output is hardly a low distortion wonder (and its digital filter periodic ripple is on the lowest ranks of what still passes as hi-fi) but around 0.003% (-90 dB) is certainly achievable. The CD11 MkII may be best hooked up to an external DAC (ES9039 or AKM or Cirrus based, generally no more than about $200). Still cheaper than the 14.

BTW, why one would buy a basic CD player new in this day and age is a bit beyond me. You get all the convenience of a basic CD player in the 1990s. No playback volume normalization (some fancy Sonys actually had a database feature with per-CD volume settings back in the day, but even that has long been surpassed by software), no playlists, no nothing. Maybe you'll get a subtrack display if you're lucky.
Click to expand...
Most of my cds come with extensive playlists(each player listed on a track) and very extensive booklets,ie, 15-30 pages, or more. Granted ,most are polyphony choral music or classical instruments and voices( late Medieval to Renaissance period).
 
I have recently purchased cd11 mk11. Here in Canada for 589.00 . To expensive I thought . I previous bought and returned without lose because of 30 day return policies an Onkyo 7030, Pioneer PD 10 ae, Moondrop dis dream 2 Fiio dm 13 and SMSL CD80. These all before the Rotel. I was at the end of my rope looking for a player that gave at least a passable quality of presentation. Anything with an ESS Dac sounded like glass ,clear and shimmery. The Onkyo and moonbeam like Jvc portable from 1997 ,I know I still had it in the closet.The pioneer which you have to forgive at its price just as bad. The SMSL was not out of the question but as a transport through the older but very good AD1955 in my Tonewinner AD60 amp. The Rotel is above and beyond anything . Smooth in operation ,audio quality and big time in quality of construction. Its presentation through new SVS Evolution nanos and the amp is for the price pleasantly impressive. I know it’s objective but at 70 years young I have owned a few good players through the 80s till now. Ihave heard good things about the other British brands of course but I think I have found one of the strongest contenders I in the higher so called budget audiophile bracket
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

NTTY
Rotel RC-03 Review (Preamplifier)
2 3
Replies
42
Views
10K
OldManMatt
OldManMatt
T
Interesting blind test comparisons of CD players
Replies
18
Views
2K
RandomEar
RandomEar
NTTY
  • Poll Poll
SMSL PL200 Review (CD Player)
5 6 7
Replies
131
Views
37K
Roland68
R
flightops
A subjective review of SMSL SU-1/C100 and older CD players
Replies
0
Views
800
flightops
flightops
Scytales
Sony SCD-555ES Review (SACD & CD Player)
2
Replies
30
Views
7K
Scytales
Scytales
Back
Top Bottom