A good (decent?) cd player with a small footprint?
Feb 2, 2006 at 3:27 AM Post #31 of 61
Re: the CAL Delta. I contacted Harold Youngblood, the seller. It's a one-owner unit, really in good condition. I think the rating sounds conservative. And Harold was very quick to reply to my email. He couldn't confirm the ability to play CD-R's, but someone else on this forum did. I also had been a little nervous about the "as is" comment, but felt better after he contacted me.

Re: Teac. Yes, the series used to be more expensive. I had read about reliability issues with some of the Teac 3xx or 5xx series. But heck, $80 is CHEAP. And I happen to like the gold look. I had investigated the 3xx Micro componenets a couple years back as a bedroom system. I may pop on the deal if 1) they are in stock still, and 2) my potential car bill isn't too high.....
 
Feb 2, 2006 at 7:41 AM Post #32 of 61
Quote:

Originally Posted by DougGreenberg
I actually was intrigued by the NEC Multispin cd-rom drive idea, but I don't seem to be able to find exactly what was suggested. Does it have to be a 6x model, or will any in this series do?


Not surprised you're confused, NEC's product naming conventions back in the CD-ROM era were pretty complex. Usually you can find what you need by searching for "NEC 6xe", unfortunately there's none on eBay right now.

The actual CD-ROM unit inside is an NEC CDR-502, which looks like this. When they take a 502 and put it in an external enclosure with a coaxial out, it becomes an NEC MultiSpin 6xe. You can verify it's the one you want by looking at a photo of the back. You see the three RCA jacks in a row (black, white, & red)? Black is the coaxial out. There are other models around that don't have that, which makes them useless as a transport.

I might have an extra one laying around, drop me a PM if you're really interested. Not nearly as nice looking as that Teac unit, but tough to beat for $30!
 
Feb 2, 2006 at 6:21 PM Post #33 of 61
Quote:

Originally Posted by skullguise
Re: Teac. Yes, the series used to be more expensive. I had read about reliability issues with some of the Teac 3xx or 5xx series. But heck, $80 is CHEAP. And I happen to like the gold look. I had investigated the 3xx Micro componenets a couple years back as a bedroom system. I may pop on the deal if 1) they are in stock still, and 2) my potential car bill isn't too high.....


I believe the TEAC Reference components come with a 3 year warranty.
 
Feb 2, 2006 at 8:29 PM Post #34 of 61
Haven't heard about realibility problems with those Teacs - however, people often enough place their players directly on their amps (integrated/power amps, receivers...), without knowing that the heat of the amp isn't good for the mechanics of the player. And personally, the Reference design seems quite nice to me - as does the sound, which is almost on Marantz CD6000OSE level for my ears. I've missed the sale-out of the 500 series over here, otherwise I'd probably have got the integrated amp and the cd player, possible also one of the recorders of the series... Then again, sooner or later the recent 300MkII will go on sale-out, too - So I'm going to look forward to that in two years or so...
wink.gif


Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini
 
Feb 2, 2006 at 8:39 PM Post #35 of 61
I ordered the TEAC and it's supposed to be on its way already
tongue.gif


I consider this an $80+ experiment. My guess is that for my modest needs (a bedstand headphone audio system) it will just fine. I will be using it as a transport feeding into my new Headroom Micro DAC, which in turn will be connected to my Little More Power Headroom amp. It will be kind of funny-looking setup, but I am confident it will be far better sounding than what I have been listening to.

I am fully aware that the TEAC is undoubtedly a better cd player than the ancient Sony CDP-27 unit that we use in our living room setup (hooked up to a truly mediocre Onkyo A/V receiver and on to some fabulous "classic" huge KLH speakers, vintage 1960s, and a JBL subwoofer box). But the truth is that when music is played in the living room, it's almost always at a very low volume, e.g., as dinner background music. I'm the only one in the house who likes/can stand louder music, so it's to headphones I go. The living room rig is mainly used as a sound system for "home theater," and for this it's quite adequate.

If the TEAC turns out to be a lemon, then I'll likely get serious about more expensive options. In any case, once I've had the thing a while, I'll report back on my impressions. Of course, by that time J & R likely will be sold out of this item.
 
Feb 2, 2006 at 9:58 PM Post #36 of 61
Quote:

Originally Posted by DougGreenberg
I consider this an $80+ experiment. My guess is that for my modest needs (a bedstand headphone audio system) it will just fine.


My guess is that you'll be pleasantly surprised by this little guy. I have a friend who bought one of the diminutive home theater recievers from the same line...the build quality on it was impressive.

How about you bring it on down to the meet in Saratoga and give us a listen?
tongue.gif
 
Feb 7, 2006 at 12:32 AM Post #38 of 61
The Teac may be cheap, but the +/-2db frequency response doesn't even equal many PCDP's out there let alone surpass them. One more item on the used market is made by Proceed, it is the PCD (not to be confused with their CDP). If it sounds as good as their preamps, it should be delightful unit. Half-width, but at least twice as tall, it is an unusual-looking beast, but you can check Ebay and A'gon. Prices generally run $375-$500.
580smile.gif
 
Feb 7, 2006 at 3:47 PM Post #40 of 61
Quote:

Originally Posted by jo53mo
What is the dimensions on the player?

Joe


I'll let you know when it arrives.
 
Feb 9, 2006 at 6:57 PM Post #42 of 61
Quote:

Originally Posted by jo53mo
I went to J&R today and i was looking at the display model. I did not see any digital output on the back. I'm pretty sure it was the right model i was looking at.
Joe



My unit arrived yesterday. I have unpacked it, and it does, in fact, have not one but two digital/optical lines out. Also, the color of the PD-H500 is a kind of pale silver/gold, not the strong yellowish gold that is shown in the photos at the J&R web site. I don't think it's bad-looking at all, for what it's worth.

I will set it up and test it out. Unfortunately, I'm not going to have a lot of time for listening to music in the next few weeks, but I'll provide some impressions as soon as I can.
Doug
 
Feb 9, 2006 at 7:05 PM Post #43 of 61
Quote:

Originally Posted by DougGreenberg

My unit arrived yesterday. I have unpacked it, and it does, in fact, have not one but two digital/optical lines out. Also, the color of the PD-H500 is a kind of pale silver/gold, not the strong yellowish gold that is shown in the photos at the J&R web site. I don't think it's bad-looking at all, for what it's worth.

I will set it up and test it out. Unfortunately, I'm not going to have a lot of time for listening to music in the next few weeks, but I'll provide some impressions as soon as I can.
Doug


Thanks for the update. I am interested in this TEAC as well.
 
Feb 9, 2006 at 10:48 PM Post #44 of 61
Sorry to say i was looking at the wrong 500 model in my last post. I also picked one up today from J&R. Now i need to get a optical cable to connect to my Micro DAC.
Joe
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top