Last CD player - great sounding, durable, and easy to live with?
Aug 14, 2010 at 11:00 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 32

Stoin

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So, I'm considering a new CDP for my set up. I still use CDs for much of my listening and would like to get a good player that should give me many years of enjoyment. I've been making do with a Cambridge 640C V2 for a while now as I upgraded everything around it but now it is time for it to be replaced. I'm thinking £500-1000 with a little headroom if a CDP really catches my ear. Sound is a key concern but I also want a player that I enjoy using with a nice solid feel and one that will last me for years to come. These are the front runners at the moment (feel free to add more):
 
Yamaha: CD-S1000 - £800; CD-S2000 - £1150
Gorgeous looking. Reviews I’ve read say it has a silent transport. Forums I’ve read commented that early models of the S2000 suffered from bad transport noise. I’m hoping this was with early models and it’s now fixed. Does anyone know the difference between the two models? Is it just the balanced outputs?
 
Cambridge Audio: Azur 840C - £800
I know this player fairly well. While it is very good it isn’t top of my list, but there are some lower price b-stock ones on sale which could swing it. Must be due for a replacement soon.
 
Quad:  99CD-P2 - £1100; Elite CDP – soon to go on sale
This is my default choice unless something else tempts me or my girlfriend finds out how pricey it is. I know this one very well after having one in my system for about 6 months. The front buttons are it’s weakest aspect and feel spongy in use. I might also consider the 99CD-S.
 
Creek: Destiny - £800
Don’t know much about this one, but seems to fit the bill and I used to like Creek products. Big discount on RRP at the moment.
 
Roksan Kandy K2 - £900
Highly regarded. I’m looking for a local dealer in London
 
Arcam CD192 - £500 (discontinued some stock still around)
Well reviewed at £900 and Arcam used to make good, if very mellow, CDPs.
 
Linn: Majik CD - ~£1200 (discontinued some stock still around)
Brilliant sounding if the price drops a little further before they’re all gone this could be a possibility.
 
 
 
I'm looking for dealers near where I'm staying (London) to audition at least some of these. If any of the dealers carry Cyrus or Naim players I’ll give them a whirl, but in the past I’ve not really enjoyed their gear. I'm not in a huge rush to buy but will try and pick it up before the end of September.
 
Any CDP must have digital out (most Naim players don’t) as it will run to my Linn DS-I. The analogue output will be fed to a Sugden Headmaster headphone amp. It will be used to play all kinds of music from badly recorded hardcore punk through to brilliantly recorded classical. HDCD compatibility would be very welcome for playing the Greatful Dead remasters.
 
If anyone who has experience of these can comment that would be very much appreciated. I'm looking for comments on the sound but also on usability and living with the CD player. The Cyrus CDPs I’ve used really fall down on usability - snatching discs; not returning discs; occasional hard power off to make it eject... and that was the one on demo in a shop! - to the point where I didn’t care how good they sounded. I'm interested details like: transport noise when playing; durability of transport; remote control line of sight; if it takes a long time to load a CD...
 
Lastly, I'd prefer a CDP that doesn't use a grid for showing how many tracks there are on the CD. The Cambridge 640C has a 16 track grid but I've got a lot of CDs with more than 16 tracks. It's a minor niggle but ideally avoided.
 
Thanks for reading.
 
Aug 14, 2010 at 12:44 PM Post #2 of 32
Have you checked out the Oppo BDP-83SE?
 
That is what I am eying for my next purchase... rave reviews from just about every sector of the hi-fi/hometheater world... reads every format available and uses the best dacs currently available.
 
http://oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83SE/
 
 
The model sounded so good, Lexicon actually put the exact same design in a new chassis as their flagship player.
 
It also seems to meet all your requirements and also does DSD direct to a line out, instead of converting to PCM, which is near impossible to find as a feature. I am sure they ship to the UK.
 
Aug 14, 2010 at 1:17 PM Post #4 of 32
Quote:
Have you checked out the Oppo BDP-83SE?
 
That is what I am eying for my next purchase... rave reviews from just about every sector of the hi-fi/hometheater world... reads every format available and uses the best dacs currently available.
 
http://oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83SE/
 
 
The model sounded so good, Lexicon actually put the exact same design in a new chassis as their flagship player.
 
It also seems to meet all your requirements and also does DSD direct to a line out, instead of converting to PCM, which is near impossible to find as a feature. I am sure they ship to the UK.


It's a good suggestion and I have thought about something like that but I decided to stick to a dedicated CD player. I don't need support for much more than CD. HDCD would be nice but I haven't got any SACDs or DVD-Audio albums. I've got an old Sony BDP-S300 for when I want to listen to Blu-ray discs but it has a couple of problems as a general player. Firstly it is an early generation BDP and takes an age to load. Secondly it has a very noisy transport and its fan comes on after an hour or so of playback. I sit close to my set-up when listening to music and use open backed Grados so I'm very aware of any noise (one of the problems with the 640C is it makes a noise when starting/stopping playback so the first and last seconds of a disc get interrupted). There are some good universal players out there but I'd like to stick to CD.
 
 
Quote:
If you have a Linn DS-I why don't you just get a transport ?

The Linn is driving some speakers in the next room and I'd like to keep the two separate at the moment. It won't stay this way forever but at the moment it's an issue.
 
 
EDIT - I've just noticed I used "but" in almost every sentence. It's time for that creative writing course.
 
Aug 16, 2010 at 1:41 PM Post #5 of 32
Does anybody have experience with the players I've listed above and is willing to give advice?
 
I'm also adding these to the list. Hopefully I can track down a Primare dealer in London:
Arcam FMJ CD17 (£460) and the Primare CD21 (£1000). 
 
I'm open to suggestions of any other players I should have a look out for.
 
Aug 16, 2010 at 8:05 PM Post #6 of 32
I agree with the bloke who suggested the Oppo.
 
It's the best product in it's class in the world right now and it only costs $500. Strike quickly before the Chinese suss out how capitalism really works.
 
You seem to pretty much know what you want mate - so in the interests of broadening the outlook a little I'd like to suggest taking a look at something like this from the Pioneer range.
 
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/ProDJ/MediaPlayers/CDJ-400?tab=B
 
Hear me out 1st ok? It's durable like you asked for. Industry standard 1,000 of clubs around the world crash test them everyday. If it does break down it's easy to find service & spares. Sound great? You bet. Why wouldn't it. Again Industry standard. Easy to live with Well that depends You may think it has features you don't use but you might be surprised.
 
Think about it. Pioneer CD players are destined to be the Technics turntables of the future.  No one bought Technics 1210 as an audiophile deck when they first came out but it turns out they would have made a very economical purchase and even if doesn't work out in the end you get great resale.
 
Aug 16, 2010 at 9:14 PM Post #7 of 32
I disagree with the Oppo suggestion. Unless modded, it is nothing special and many of the units on your list sound better IMO. I'd stay away from the Yamaha as well, unless you have a large sacd collection. Other than that, you can't really go wrong with any of the units on your list. 
 
Aug 17, 2010 at 12:47 AM Post #8 of 32


Quote:
I disagree with the Oppo suggestion. Unless modded, it is nothing special and many of the units on your list sound better IMO. I'd stay away from the Yamaha as well, unless you have a large sacd collection. Other than that, you can't really go wrong with any of the units on your list. 


looks like I got a stalker! :O
 
 
Oppo has been getting nothing but rave reviews, and has been pitted up against better players than the ones in that list, and beaten or sounded similar (in their HO)... so it really is not a bad suggestion. Not to mention it is the only one that plays the new bluray audio discs, which albeit are rare. It is also state of the art, and not recycled circuitry.
 
I have yet to hear it myself, though.
 
@ 117 SNR, it already eclipses that of a CD, so for redbook playback, you are more than set.
 
However, Oppos "no nonses" approach to creating audiophile products might not appeal to some. If they don't have audiophile capacitors, or 20kg of metal in them, they can't be any good, now can they?
 
I'd take an oppo over a brand that relies on its name, and deaf peoples reccomendations any day. :wink:
 
The BDP-83SE is 899.99 though, or maybe he meant 500 pounds.
 
Sure would be nice to hear them all, though
 
Aug 17, 2010 at 6:29 AM Post #9 of 32
 
Quote:
Sure would be nice to hear them all, though

 
If you cannot find an actual  Oppo try to listen to an AYRE DX-5 or a LEXICON DB-30. They are both Oppo 83s in a different box.
 
To be fair Charles Ayre himself has come clean on the reasons behind this. The Oppo contains the best quality parts currently available but the boutique audiophile companies cannot afford the licensing so it's cheaper for them to buy complete Oppos and stuff them into boxes which match the style of the rest of their expensive ranges.
 
The Lexicon is apparently completely  unchanged apart from several thousand dollars added to the price but Ayre have at least made some minor amendments to the technology in which they still have some expertise. i.e. replacing the original wiring with bullion and some teaks to the power supply.
 
Aug 17, 2010 at 4:16 PM Post #10 of 32


Quote:
 
 
If you cannot find an actual  Oppo try to listen to an AYRE DX-5 or a LEXICON DB-30. They are both Oppo 83s in a different box.
 
To be fair Charles Ayre himself has come clean on the reasons behind this. The Oppo contains the best quality parts currently available but the boutique audiophile companies cannot afford the licensing so it's cheaper for them to buy complete Oppos and stuff them into boxes which match the style of the rest of their expensive ranges.
 
The Lexicon is apparently completely  unchanged apart from several thousand dollars added to the price but Ayre have at least made some minor amendments to the technology in which they still have some expertise. i.e. replacing the original wiring with bullion and some teaks to the power supply.


Thanks for the tip.
 
I had read about that actually. To me, this speaks leaps and bounds of the quality found in the oppo (and to the extent a company is willing to rely on its brand name legacy alone)
 
Aug 17, 2010 at 6:27 PM Post #11 of 32


Quote:
looks like I got a stalker! :O
 
 
Oppo has been getting nothing but rave reviews, and has been pitted up against better players than the ones in that list, and beaten or sounded similar (in their HO)... so it really is not a bad suggestion. Not to mention it is the only one that plays the new bluray audio discs, which albeit are rare. It is also state of the art, and not recycled circuitry.
 
I have yet to hear it myself, though.
 
@ 117 SNR, it already eclipses that of a CD, so for redbook playback, you are more than set.
 
However, Oppos "no nonses" approach to creating audiophile products might not appeal to some. If they don't have audiophile capacitors, or 20kg of metal in them, they can't be any good, now can they?
 
I'd take an oppo over a brand that relies on its name, and deaf peoples reccomendations any day. :wink:
 
The BDP-83SE is 899.99 though, or maybe he meant 500 pounds.
 
Sure would be nice to hear them all, though


What does SNR have anything to do with how a unit sounds?? I'm going to give you some advice. Don't rely on specs. I made the same mistake when I was your age. You should reserve comment until you have heard it for yourself. I have heard many units that had rave reviews which IMO didn't sound as great as they were hyped to be.

 
Quote:
 
 
If you cannot find an actual  Oppo try to listen to an AYRE DX-5 or a LEXICON DB-30. They are both Oppo 83s in a different box.
 
To be fair Charles Ayre himself has come clean on the reasons behind this. The Oppo contains the best quality parts currently available but the boutique audiophile companies cannot afford the licensing so it's cheaper for them to buy complete Oppos and stuff them into boxes which match the style of the rest of their expensive ranges.
 
The Lexicon is apparently completely  unchanged apart from several thousand dollars added to the price but Ayre have at least made some minor amendments to the technology in which they still have some expertise. i.e. replacing the original wiring with bullion and some teaks to the power supply.


Who is Charles Ayre and where did you come up with this?? Perhaps you meant Charles Hansen? According to this link,  the only parts Ayre used from the Oppo are the mpeg drive and video processor. Also as far as I know, Mr. Hansen never said such a thing about licensing or any other BS you have there. So please, stop spreading false info.
 
Also see here for more detailed info on the Ayre
 
Aug 17, 2010 at 8:34 PM Post #13 of 32
And that link means what exactly? That Steve guy has made the same post on several other forums including here. He is nothing more than a troll IMO. Also, hydrogenaudio is a complete joke in itself. Have you even seen the insides of an oppo? Doesn't look much like the Ayre. You can see the transport and video section. The similarities end there.
 
Aug 17, 2010 at 9:25 PM Post #14 of 32


Quote:
And that link means what exactly? That Steve guy has made the same post on several other forums including here. He is nothing more than a troll IMO. Also, hydrogenaudio is a complete joke in itself. Have you even seen the insides of an oppo? Doesn't look much like the Ayre. You can see the transport and video section. The similarities end there.


aren't those internals the new BDP-80? which is quite a few levels lower than the 83SE
 

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