Old school CDP vs budget new CPD (Sub $150)

[Seb]

I've currently got Grado SR-225 with a Rockhopper Millet Hybrid amp running out of my iRiver H120, and I'm willing to pay a maximum of 150$ for a CD Player. I was wondering what would be the better choice, to go towards an older but with good reputation CDP (such as the Rotel RCD-855) or buy one of the newer budget CDP (such as the Sony CE595). I'll be playing redbook and SACD doesn't really interest me right now.

 

[pawlowski6132]

New cd players for sure.

 

[memepool]

Older players are tempting because the prices are usually low. But they seem to be going a bit crazy recently especially for that Rotel model you mentioned.

Also they don't travel well so avoid posting wherever possible and look locally. 80's players have amazing build quality but they are not all great because of this alone and remember some of the parts are scarce if still available at all.

Generally Marantz, Philips, Technics, NAD and Rotel are all good bets but don't pay over the odds and a player from 5 -10 years ago is usually just as worthy. If it was any good then it's still going to be good now.

 

[fewtch]

Tough question IMO, because of the variables that memepool pointed out. I would add that the older player (in the $150 range) is probably going to have a better power supply, and possibly a better analog section... but its DAC will be old-fashioned sounding (if you've heard older DACs, you know what I mean). Otherwise, either way would be a good bet in my opinion, as long as you take the factors into consideration that Memepool mentioned.

 

[micaela]

Have you thought about adding a Mico DAC to your source? Yes its $300 - but if you added that 1st before a cd player you could run your IRiver through it & then when you add a cd player w/an optical out you'd have a variety of sources to choose from. You can also use it w/whatever computer source you have. Just a thought - its a nice addition to lower end sources to beef them up a bit.