[mecano]

CD72 was a recommended CDP at Hi-Fi Choice at that time at 400pounds.I m also looking for earlier Arcam players like the alpha and delta lines.BTW i have to say that i really like the look of earlier Marantz and Arcam CDPs(from the early 90's).Arcam players are common at ebay.co.uk the problem is the cost of the shipping out of UK.

 

[Dane]

Just some quick impressions:

I picked up the CD72 and everything is working fine, the look and feel of the unit gives you the impression that it will last for 10 more years. The seller was very keen on making sure I could get hold of him if I encountered a problem, he really seemed quite attached to his CD72 - he had to sell it because his wife didn't like the way it looked

OK, my main source is a Primare D30.2 and it might seem a little unfair to compare against that, but it's what I got and what I'm used to listen to from my speaker system. So far I've only tried one CD (Supertramp, "Some Things Never Change") on the CD72. In order of significance (to me):

1. The wraparound, 3D, allmost eerie soundstage I like so much from the Primare just isn't there on the CD72. Everything stays firmly between the speakers, still, given this limitating it's quite nice and accurate.
2. The Primare digs deep with excpetinal dynamics and control, the CD72 falls behind here with some loss of bass control, but still nice and punchy, just a little, well muddy (relatively speaking).
3. The overall presentation of the CD72 does not seem that detailed, but I may fool myself here since I'm really not very good at listing for details (I didn't do direct A/B).

Keep in mind that the Primare ticks in at allmost 20 times the cost of the CD72 and considering this the CD72 puts up a fair fight. It actually sounds very good and enjoyable - damn good in fact. I listend to the Supertramp CD from start to finish without feeling the urge to try the Primare. Also the CD72 does not, to my ears, sound "digital" in any way - very nice! This thing plays music

This will be a nice upgrade for the office. And it looks cool too in a retro kind of way

Thanks for showing me the light - I even saved some money

I'm not really prepared to by the budget Sony unit just to see what its like - but it has to be a pretty damn good player to beat the CD72.

 

[mecano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dane - he had to sell it because his wife didn't like the way it looked .

as i said i really like the retro look of some older CDPs like your Marantz or earlier Arcam and Adcoms.Congrats on the CD72 Dave.Since is a 10+ years old CDP i guess that if you change the electrolytic caps to newer ones it will sound better.Or change the line out op-amps,thats a cheap upgrade.Any comments about its head-out?
Also i ve heard that the transport of older CDP/Transports can be "re-tuned" and,as a result,sound "like new" again i don t know if this is true

 

[Dane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mecano Since is a 10+ years old CDP i guess that if you change the electrolytic caps to newer ones it will sound better.Or change the line out op-amps,thats a cheap upgrade.

Not sure I have the guts to do that, it would be horrible if I broke it. If the op-amps are sockted I guess I could easily try it - but they are most likely soldered in.
Quote:

Originally Posted by mecano Any comments about its head-out?

See your other thread.
Quote:

Originally Posted by mecano Also i ve heard that the transport of older CDP/Transports can be "re-tuned" and,as a result,sound "like new" again i don t know if this is true

Not sure I get this. It's digital right, either it reads the data or it doesn't...

 

[mecano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dane Not sure I get this. It's digital right, either it reads the data or it doesn't...

i read about that here:
http://www.1388.com/doctor/JAN2001/2022/2022.html
http://www.1388.com/

"retune of the transport"

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duncan It cost me $90, but is worth every penny... a Philips CD850 from 1990/1991... Their 'flagship' player to promote the [then] new 'Bitstream' technology... This thing has more features than you can shake a stick at, a sound quality that put this player amongst the best of the whole decade... and to me, its the best sounding CD player i've ever heard - even compared to the Sony 333ES I heard yesterday, I could sell its virtues all day long, and still have more to say ...

I'll be expecting one of these on a couple of days. I'm not sure whether it is the mkII version though.
Very curious about its performance and in comparison with a portable Sony D211 and a originally 200$ Yamaha (CDX-something) cdp.
Thanks Duncan for pointing me to the right direction

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda Thanks Duncan for pointing me to the right direction

No problem.

I'm just hoping that you're as pleased with yours, as I am with mine

Congrats on getting yours for a great price

 

[mecano]

Another very good early 90's CDP is the Sony 339ES.This player received rave reviews from Hi-Fi Choice when it came out (1991-92)and its build like a battleship.
I m mainly looking for a CDP that whould be easy to modify:An old player is a bit like a vintage car:it may need some cleaning,some new parts etc.A new superfast clock can work wonders on an old player.
Also...how about using a vintage Lasedisc players as a redbook source?
http://www.1388.com/doctor/jonopinio...001/index.html

 

[Audio Redneck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duncan I know this is walking away from the Sonys in question, but I think its worth a mention... Look for any classic CDP (as example, this Philips CD850) that uses the CDM4/19 mechanism... even though 14 years old, can play CDRWs

Personal experiance....

I still have my second CD player, a Sony CDP-32 at my dad's house. For the most part, I feel there is little difference in sound between it and most NEW sub $200 players out there, and as much of the differences can be attributed to capacitors & resitors as DACs (not to discount any of what Markl said, I agree). It plays CDRs just fine that are burned slowly (around 4x).

However, for the money: unless it is an ES model, has some odd feature you really want, or you just love the looks of it, I'd say pass on it as a few bucks more will buy you the same/better sound and more features (ie an inexpesive DVD player.) I'd trade the Sony for a Marantz any day.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duncan No problem. I'm just hoping that you're as pleased with yours, as I am with mine Congrats on getting yours for a great price

My Philips CD 850 arrived today and, damn, that was a huge package the post guy gave me

The first thing I noticed is that the headphone out had its own potentiometer which is nice to have because that means the real audio data goes to the analog out without going through such a amp/preamp.
This thing has tons of features and I still haven't figured them all out.
Reading my self-burnt test cds was no problem. The transport is pretty quiet. The display is huge and displays all relevant information. Ok, enough about the features...did I mention that it has a digital out as well, so in case I feel upgrading to a real good dac in the future...

Anyway, the sound: I have listened to it for about an hour with a Grado Sr125 and without an amp. Obviously my expectations were quite high, especially after Duncan's raves and Pink Floyd's agreement.
And my expectations were absolutely fulfilled. To sum it up, the sound is really natural (this term might have been overused but this is just how it sounds to me). When I listened to a sax I was like "So this is how a sax sounds like"....and the female vocals....oh my god, so sweet. It just sounds extremely real, less harsh than most source I've listened to. I think sweet is the right word. Soundstage is awesome, I heard details I never heard before and so on and so forth.
I bet you guys have been reading this kind of impression at least a thousand times but I just to had to express my excitement somehow. This is a great player and if you can get your hands on one: GET ONE!
Maybe I can give you one comparison: My first audiophile experience was about a year ago when I listened to a Rega2000 (headphone out) with a pair of Grado 325 at a hifi store (At that time I was just looking for a store which have the Koss Porta Pros

). Well, obiously I was floored. Since then I have listened to many many headphones, done a lot of testing with different music, some amps and some sources. And one hour I ago I was just as floored as I was 6 months ago. So if you could measure a source by the wow-factor then this source definately deserves a big wow.
Again, thanks Duncan, this is a great player and so cheap as well!
I just can't wait until my Gilmore Lite and the Grado 225 arrive....I can't even imagine how great that's gonna be

edit: and did I mention that I'm going to join team source matters?

 

[Audio Redneck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda My Philips CD 850 arrived today and, damn, that was a huge package the post guy gave me The first thing I noticed is that the headphone out had its own potentiometer which is nice to have because that means the real audio data goes to the analog out without going through such a amp/preamp. ....... <snip> edit: and did I mention that I'm going to join team source matters?

Everyone together now: PICS! PICS! PICS! PICS! PICS! PICS! ...........

 

[Duncan]

How did I miss this?

Sorry saint.panda. Not having the email notifications working at the moment, I missed the fact that you'd got the 850 home

I'm genuinly glad that you like the player, I know its quite a stab in the dark when you're looking at products based solely on someone elses opinions... I was feeling a little... erm, nervous? waiting for your opinions, just incase you thought the player was trash.

Anyways... i'm glad that you like the unit. I don't know how long you've had yours now, or how long it was out of use before it was sent to you, but mine... it took 3-4 days to really settle down, and sound its best - which is, to me - great

Glad you like it. (any updated opinions?)

Duncan

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duncan How did I miss this? Sorry saint.panda. Not having the email notifications working at the moment, I missed the fact that you'd got the 850 home I'm genuinly glad that you like the player, I know its quite a stab in the dark when you're looking at products based solely on someone elses opinions... I was feeling a little... erm, nervous? waiting for your opinions, just incase you thought the player was trash. Anyways... i'm glad that you like the unit. I don't know how long you've had yours now, or how long it was out of use before it was sent to you, but mine... it took 3-4 days to really settle down, and sound its best - which is, to me - great Glad you like it. (any updated opinions?) Duncan

Hi Duncan,
for me the player didn't really need to settle in as I think the previous has been using this quite a lot as he told me.
Another thing I have noticed is that the transport is really quiet and the headphone out is pretty decent (no hiss even if I turn up the dial to 12).
I really need to wait for the Gilmore Lite for further opinions but so far this has been a great player! I can only say again that the sound is very clean and natural, it's so relaxing to listen to it (even with Grados).


Quote:

Originally Posted by Audio Redneck Everyone together now: PICS! PICS! PICS! PICS! PICS! PICS! ...........

Sorry, I don't have a digicam here at the moment.

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda Sorry, I don't have a digicam here at the moment.

I do...

But my particular CD850 isn't particularily the cleanest looking sample ever made, so would feel somewhat embarrased putting pictures of it on public display

Saint.Panda...

If you've only (so far) heard it out of the headphone output, you're definetly in for a treat... whilst the headphone output is definetly better than the average player today... the line out, that is another notch of five above, sounding (to my ears) much cleaner...

Regardless... enjoy

 

[hgus]

While on the subject, I have to ask if anyone have listened to my "vintage" cd player, a Musical Fidelity CDT, probably '87-'88, with a tube output stage?

It was a $50 find, here with my Revox all-tube power amp. The setup sounds nice enough, however I haven't tried it against anything else, and it might just be the IMHO killer combination of the above power amp and my Advent speakers that gives me the magic...

On the subject of bargains I found a Rega Planar 2 turntable from '98 today for $50, including a pickup. It retails for $450 without pickup normally, and mine is in very good condition.

So I can finally try the phonostage of my Revox...