Best CD Player in the $2000 - $3500 Range Used...

[SolRage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ServinginEcuador This would easily be my CDP of choice for the $3200 range: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....lay&1125245177 And I own one of these, which is also incredible for the price: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....lay&1127066522

Neither link works.

 

[Slow_aetk]

I'm completely satisfied with my Marantz SA-11S1. With CDs it has a clear edge over the Bel Canto DAC 2. IMHO it squezzes out 99% of the CDs content. Very musical. With SACD... it's even better. I just recently had a SACD buying frenzy...
Telarc classical SACDs are awesome recordings.

Difficult to find used but you may find one around $2500 on audiogon.

 

[walkman666]

I don't think a PC set-up would be preferable, sonically, to a $2k-$3.5k used cd player. That would be one strong cd player. Audiogon and Audio Asylum forums have far more threads and digital front geek audiogeeks than here, so if you have not done so already, I'd do searches there as well.

Based on reading, and a discussions with friends, and research, I think there's a really long list of players that fit that price tag. Some have already been mentioned. Some brand names and models to consider after a persusal of Audiogon listings with some knowledge of what folks frequently suggest/rave about include:

- Linn (eg, Ikemi, Unidisk)
- Lector (eg, cdp 0.5 cdp 7)
- Ayre cx-7
- Mark Levinson (eg, No. 39)
- Cary (eg, 303/300)
- Sim Audio Eclipse
- Meridian G07/G08 (a fave here, but not nearly as popular in the other forums)
- Naim (cd5x new is in your price range, used it would be a cdx2)
- Esoteric DV-50
- Consonance Droplet 5.0 (new $3k, getting strong reviews and a friend of mine looooves it)
- Various Sony sacd players with mods
- Wadia (eg, 302)
- Electrocompaniet

There's so many to choose from. You'll need to audition. That's your priority, and if you can't...think about what type of sound flavor you most like (warm, musical, analytical, fast, neutral, etc.), and read the forums and then get a short list. I got my Moon Nova that way. I knew I wanted something clean sounding, neutral and fast (but not a Naim as Naim seems to want matching components and cables optimal sound, which is cool, but I did not want to go down that road...I like what I heard though) and had a price range, and...

Good luck, - walkman

 

[SolRage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braillediver The Naim CD5x would be a good choice used. Should be had for about $2300 used. I love mine so much I added a Hi-Cap to it. The CD5x can take an external power supply. The CD5i can’t so it’s a dead end- no power supply upgrade path. The CD5x takes a lot of its design from the CDX2. Looking internally it’s hard to differentiate the CD5x from the CDX2 where looking inside the CD5i it’s obvious that it’s not a CDX2. For that kind of money you could look for a used CDX2? Trust your own ears and you won’t be disappointed. Mitch

Could you give a critique of the CDx's overall sound characteristics? It's one of my top choices and reviews/comparisons is what i'm mainly looking for. I've heard that Naim does rhythm and pacing quite well - which i like. But i'm not sure i'd want to invest in a player for superb rhythm and pacing (although i'm sure their goodness doesn't end there).

 

[SolRage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkman666 I don't think a PC set-up would be preferable, sonically, to a $2k-$3.5k used cd player. That would be one strong cd player. Audiogon and Audio Asylum forums have far more threads and digital front geek audiogeeks than here, so if you have not done so already, I'd do searches there as well. Based on reading, and a discussions with friends, and research, I think there's a really long list of players that fit that price tag. Some have already been mentioned. Some brand names and models to consider after a persusal of Audiogon listings with some knowledge of what folks frequently suggest/rave about include: - Linn (eg, Ikemi, Unidisk) - Lector (eg, cdp 0.5 cdp 7) - Ayre cx-7 - Mark Levinson (eg, No. 39) - Cary (eg, 303/300) - Sim Audio Eclipse - Meridian G07/G08 (a fave here, but not nearly as popular in the other forums) - Naim (cd5x new is in your price range, used it would be a cdx2) - Esoteric DV-50 - Consonance Droplet 5.0 (new $3k, getting strong reviews and a friend of mine looooves it) - Various Sony sacd players with mods - Wadia (eg, 302) - Electrocompaniet There's so many to choose from. You'll need to audition. That's your priority, and if you can't...think about what type of sound flavor you most like (warm, musical, analytical, fast, neutral, etc.), and read the forums and then get a short list. I got my Moon Nova that way. I knew I wanted something clean sounding, neutral and fast (but not a Naim as Naim seems to want matching components and cables optimal sound, which is cool, but I did not want to go down that road...I like what I heard though) and had a price range, and... Good luck, - walkman

Thanks for the list and suggestions. I tried to describe my preferences in sound earlier in the thread. As for your additions:

I'm more of a neutral guy. I love the signature sound of my R10s and want something that will enhance their characteristics without getting in the way. I'm not an analytical nut, but when you get into this price range it seems to me most players are pretty good in the detail dept. Fast is good and all, but i don't think it's absolute essential. I'd say more like accurately speedy (if that makes sense). Musical is a definite must. I listen to alot of classical and i need something that brings out all the many details that those great recordings hold. But i also need something that can add punch and fire to my rock and metal albums.

Since i probably won't be able to test (m)any of these players out, i'm mostly relying on reviews and comparisons. I'm getting into research mode on here and elsewhere. This decision will probably take me a while.

 

[SolRage]

And i'd also like to add that i don't need nor want an SACD player. If a great player ends up having that feature, that's fine, but i have a huge (1500+) cd collection and none of it is in SACD. So i need a player that plays regular cd's superbly and if it plays SACDs that just a nice added bonus.

 

[walkman666]

Sure thing SolRage. Well, I'm a Sim Audio fan, as you can tell from my signature. In your price range, a used Sim Audio Eclipse (which is a 2-box set-up) is supposedly a highly praised cd player in terms of several of the qualities for which you seek in your sonic flavor (speed, neutrality, details, musical). Not sure if it's the winner on great bass, but the bass on my Nova sure is tight, just not "huge". However, I think all of these players get high praise. The key is whether it meets your sonic needs, and ultimately, only listening to it will tell you.

I can tell you that I mostly listen to rock, hard rock, alt rock and acoustic rock, indie stuff, and that's why I was leaning towards Sim and Naim. I wound up with Sim. I am very happy. You might be very happy with (m)any of these brands. If you place a greater weight on speed and neutrality, I think Naim and Sim do this stuff well. Naim also allows you to build and change and add and stuff which some folks love doing. With Sim, there is a very reputable modder (Richard Kern at Audiomods.com) who mods the Nova and the Eclipse (not the Equinox) and that makes them even better. His mods are "modest" ($300 for the nova, $400 for the eclipse) as he focuses on the electrolytics only (capacitors). Mine happened to come that way as I got mine used from someone who had Richard mod the unit. Food for thought.

Note: Sim Audio's warranties do not transfer.

Some of your preferences are strengths in some players and not in others. Soundstage, midrange, organic quality, neutrality, bass, accurate timbre. That's a lot of criteria: I think it'll be hard to find the player that excels in all of these characteristics sound-unheard, but good luck.

- walkman

 

[jefemeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolRage That first one looks quite interesting.... Can you give me any helpful reviews? Especially on how they sound compared to any of those i listed, sonic trademarks, how you think it would sound with my gear, etc.

Wadia 860. Perhaps the most famous single-box CD player of all time. It's since been replaced by the 861 but there really isn't too much difference. The 861 upgrades the DAC chips from PCM1702 to PCM1704 which basically equates to 24bit processing as opposed to 20. The 861 also has a different current-to-voltage stage following the DACs. That's basically it. Here's some reviews:

http://www.audiorevolution.com/equip/wadia/
http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/archive/...rintreview.htm
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr...4996&read&3&4&

Here's the owner's manual:
http://wadia.com/library/manuals/w860man.pdf

This particular audiogon sale is for a Great Northern Sound modified unit. I have not really heard a GNSC player, but the reviews on them are always 100% enthusiastic.

By the way, the 860 also has digital inputs which allows you to use it as an external DAC as well as a CD player. So you can hook your DVD, computer, satellite, etc up to it.

http://www.wadia.com
http://www.greatnorthernsound.com/

 

[SolRage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkman666 Sure thing SolRage. Well, I'm a Sim Audio fan, as you can tell from my signature. In your price range, a used Sim Audio Eclipse (which is a 2-box set-up) is supposedly a highly praised cd player in terms of several of the qualities for which you seek in your sonic flavor (speed, neutrality, details, musical). Not sure if it's the winner on great bass, but the bass on my Nova sure is tight, just not "huge". However, I think all of these players get high praise. The key is whether it meets your sonic needs, and ultimately, only listening to it will tell you. I can tell you that I mostly listen to rock, hard rock, alt rock and acoustic rock, indie stuff, and that's why I was leaning towards Sim and Naim. I wound up with Sim. I am very happy. You might be very happy with (m)any of these brands. If you place a greater weight on speed and neutrality, I think Naim and Sim do this stuff well. Naim also allows you to build and change and add and stuff which some folks love doing. With Sim, there is a very reputable modder (Richard Kern at Audiomods.com) who mods the Nova and the Eclipse (not the Equinox) and that makes them even better. His mods are "modest" ($300 for the nova, $400 for the eclipse) as he focuses on the electrolytics only (capacitors). Mine happened to come that way as I got mine used from someone who had Richard mod the unit. Food for thought. Note: Sim Audio's warranties do not transfer. Some of your preferences are strengths in some players and not in others. Soundstage, midrange, organic quality, neutrality, bass, accurate timbre. That's a lot of criteria: I think it'll be hard to find the player that excels in all of these characteristics sound-unheard, but good luck. - walkman

Thanks for the reviews. More to add to the list (it's getting quite long). I love rock too. I listen to rock, metal, and classical just about equally. And on occasion i'll get into jazz and alternative stuff so it's quite hard picking a player to suit all my needs.

Trying to rank the criteria in order of importance:

Bass (since my R10s definitely need more)
Neutrality (so as not to interfere with the R10s signature sound)
Soundstage (I'm a sucker for soundstage, i admit)
accurate timbre
midrange
organic quality

The fact that the R10s (coupled with the Supra) does the last three so well means i don't necessarily need a player that uber-excels in those categories.

 

[SolRage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefemeister Wadia 860. Perhaps the most famous single-box CD player of all time. It's since been replaced by the 861 but there really isn't too much difference. The 861 upgrades the DAC chips from PCM1702 to PCM1704 which basically equates to 24bit processing as opposed to 20. The 861 also has a different current-to-voltage stage following the DACs. That's basically it. Here's some reviews: http://www.audiorevolution.com/equip/wadia/ http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/archive/...rintreview.htm http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr...4996&read&3&4& Here's the owner's manual: http://wadia.com/library/manuals/w860man.pdf This particular audiogon sale is for a Great Northern Sound modified unit. I have not really heard a GNSC player, but the reviews on them are always 100% enthusiastic. By the way, the 860 also has digital inputs which allows you to use it as an external DAC as well as a CD player. So you can hook your DVD, computer, satellite, etc up to it. http://www.wadia.com http://www.greatnorthernsound.com/

Those reviews are awfully enticing. It sounds damn near close to the characteristics i'm looking for. "with a studied neutrality and excellent broad-band dynamic range consistency," "One could highlight various specific strengths, but the firm, dry, and exceptionally deep bass particularly stood out, as did the sweet and uncommonly well controlled treble." "If the 860 did have a character of its own, there seemed to be a slightly 'shiny' quality, and some lack of extreme top-end transparency."

All big "+1's" in my book. I think it's going to the top of the list.

Any reviews from anyone on the Meridian G08? I've heard it's one of those "jack of all trade" types that seems to be quite popular for the money...

 

[SolRage]

After doing some research it seems my top candidates are:

Wadia 860/861
Meridian G08 (any reviews for it on here?)
Esoteric DV-50 (if i could find one in my price range)

I just don't think a Naim is what i'm looking for. I've read quite a few reviews and while they sound promising in a lot of areas, i think the above meet my requirements more closely. Right now i'm leaning toward the Wadia, but it's still early.

 

[Loftprojection]

For the kind of money you're looking at spending, you definitely a have LOT of choice and many different personalities in each of those players. A couple of months ago I was shopping for a CD player in the $1000-1500 range. I brought my speakers with me to several shops to make sure I would have at least a pretty good objective comparison point. I listened to the Naim CD5i, Shanling CD-T100, Creek CD50MKII, Jolida JD100, Unison Unico, a Musical Fidelity, a Moon, a Cambridge 640C, Arcam CD73, an Audio Refinement and a Cyrus. I ended finding a demo Arcam CD23T that I found the best for my taste and price. I can tell you there is a VERY clear difference when you pop the same CD with same amp/speakers in the Naim CD5i, then on the Shanling CD-T100 and then in the Moon,... They all sound incredible, but one of them ends up having that personality that you are looking for. I think it will be very difficult for you to buy without listening, specially in that price range.

But, considering what you describe, I think you should try to take a look at Audio Aero. It is not a well know company but everything I've ever read about their CD players is positive. Very musical and very detailed at the same time. I own their integrated amplifier, the Audio Aero Prima MKII and I'm very satisfied, I compared it to several amps and always came back to this very detailed but not aggressive sound the Audio Aero provided. I got a great deal on a demo unit again! haha I'm not very rich so I have to jump on deals when I find one and that was sure a good one.

Here is some links for Audio Aero

http://www.globeaudiomkt.com/audio_aero/index.htm#Three
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/srch_fs.pl
http://www.unitedhomeproducts.com/id75.htm
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/a...itole24192.htm

Have fun shopping. Whit that kind of budget you will have incredible sound no matter what you buy.

Cheers

 

[KShaft]

If its dynamics, and PRAT you are looking for, along with strong bass response, Id definately check out the Ikemi. That was my favorite cdp out of any Ive owned including an scd-1, sacd mods 555es, and(at least in the high end catagories, well for your average joe high end....)a metronome cv-2.

Also, I never had problems with bass output on my r10s when I had my cary 300 sei with nos 6sn7s and sophia mesh plate 300b's. I owned the supra and thought it had outstanding midrange but I personaly thought it lacked oomph on the bottom end, at least compared to the cary. Your version is probably superior to mine as I owned one of the very first versions of it.

k.s.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

I didn't read anyone else suggesting this, but why not go to a meet, or contact someone with what you're looking to buy, and take a listen for yourself? All the reasearch in the world won't even come close to what ten minutes listening to this stuff with your own ears can do for making the right decision.

 

[SolRage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ServinginEcuador I didn't read anyone else suggesting this, but why not go to a meet, or contact someone with what you're looking to buy, and take a listen for yourself? All the reasearch in the world won't even come close to what ten minutes listening to this stuff with your own ears can do for making the right decision.

I'm looking into a way where i might be able to arrange something like this. It would be the best possible solution. But living where i do makes it difficult. Not to mention the taking off from work, flying down to somewhere, and trying out all these players and trying to make a decision on the fly. It would be alot of work. Not to mention it'd be a royal pain in the ass to haul those R10s and Supra to everywhere i went just to try the stuff. A meet would be a GREAT idea if i had a clue of when and where they were going to be held. But i imagine most are in major cities which are all a hell of a long ways away from here.