Help me pick a 'New' CD player

[8mmag]

OK, here;s the deal, I need to replace my Nakamichi CD Player2. It bit the dust today. I had no idea how good it sounded until I brought up a Technics from the basement and put it in the system. YUCCH !!!

The NAK CDP2 was pretty old...18 years old and I got it for a song a year ago. The question is what can I find in the used market to meet or beat the sound of the now deceased CDP2 at a budget price.

Old is OK, crappy sound is not OK. Suggestions ????

[Des-Lab]

Might I suggest the one I use?

It's the Denon DN-C615.

It's a single well unit, built like a tank. It's meant for DJ'ing but also functions as a superb in-home unit. I absolutely LOVE it. Have no complaints and never found a disc that wouldn't play. Has all the standard features plus pitch ± 12% and the time display counts off hundreths of a second.

The single and only complaint I have about it is scanning/cuing through a track. Because it can be cued to a spot within 1/100th of a second, when you hold down the scan/cue, it doesn't initially 'skip' through a section 5 or so seconds at a time as most normal players do. Instead, it starts with fractions of a second for about 10 seconds before high speed cueing.

This makes finding a particular spot within a track somewhat tedious. But apart from that, I give this deck a hearty two thumbs up.

Here it is, from where *I* bought it from. But I'm sure that other e-tailers carry it too. Also attached is a picture of it in my system.

Denon DN-C615 for sale (http://www.pssl.com/Denon-DNC615-Single-Tray-CD-Player)

[8mmag]

I see a Denon DCM-460 locally. Anyone know anything about them?

I have to run analog RCA's into the preamp if that matters.

[gamve]

Depends on your budget, a Rega Planet second hand makes a very nice player.

[niklasthedolphin]

Funny thing about CD players, and digital players in general, is that you get very little difference in quality from doubling, tripling or even 10-doubling the price.

The other night, I, and six friends, were testing some CD players.
The equipment in use were Audio Research VT 130 and Audio Analogue Donizetti mono power amps, Mark Levinson No 38s preamp, ProAc Response D25 and Wilson Watt/Puppy speakers, NordOst/Exposure/MIT/multicabling.

Some of the equipment is mine in use as standard.

We tested a pro Tascam, an Audio Analogue Paganini, a very expensive Wadia 581i se (you can buy cars for the price of this) and last a very cheap Philips VHS/DVD combo able to play CD's as well.

The Tascam was the only one not to upsample in the DAC to 24/96.
The Tascam was the one with the sound we liked the less.
Less details and articulation, less precise room definition, less attack and readiness, more mud.

Apart from that, the rest were almost equals.
There were very minor advantages and disadvantages in the sound from each and one of them but nothing really telling any of them apart from the others as better.
Exept from the looks and handling.
The AA was a bit slow in reading the discs and sometimes we had to reload the CD to make it work.

Even without considering price, my choise would be the Audio Analogue or the cheap Philips VHS/DVD combo.

We also made recordings to compare, using my Lyrec PTR-1 Frida, my Tandberg TCD 910, my Revox B710 and the TCD 440A.

I have a lot of music and a few very good publications on both medias, CD and LP. These are LP and CD editions made from the same very good mastering.
We recorded a few songs from a few different CD/LP's like that.

We came to the conclusion that the LP's were better than the CD's.
Well, we all expected that.
The recordings were indistinguishable from the CD source and when recorded from LP they were better than the CD.

Well.................my advice is:
Don't go overboard when it comes to digital media players.

I am aware that upsampling is just like interpolation in the photo world.
Try out those with upsampling anyway..................they do it best in general.

The best sounding CD players I've ever heard was Pink Triangle Numeral; a belt driven CD player; and the TOTL Mark Levinson solution.

But again, the sound differences doesn't justify the price differences.

"dolph"

[close652]

I will also recommend what I use: Cambridge Audio 640C V2. (http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=99&Title=Azur+640C+(version+2)+) It is "just" a plain cd-player, will not make coffee and stuff. It has double DACs in dual differential configuration. I used only 3-4 CDPs in my system, so I do not have a solid knowledge. Definitely better than cheap Technics and Philips I used.

[Rex Everything]

What did your Nak do? Is it fixable?

I've heard a lower model Cambridge Audio and liked it. I would not mind having on of there 640 models.

[Socal Sam]

Funny thing about CD players, and digital players in general, is that you get very little difference in quality from doubling, tripling or even 10-doubling the price.

The other night, I, and six friends, were testing some CD players.
The equipment in use were Audio Research VT 130 and Audio Analogue Donizetti mono power amps, Mark Levinson No 38s preamp, ProAc Response D25 and Wilson Watt/Puppy speakers, NordOst/Exposure/MIT/multicabling.

Some of the equipment is mine in use as standard.

We tested a pro Tascam, an Audio Analogue Paganini, a very expensive Wadia 581i se (you can buy cars for the price of this) and last a very cheap Philips VHS/DVD combo able to play CD's as well.

The Tascam was the only one not to upsample in the DAC to 24/96.
The Tascam was the one with the sound we liked the less.
Less details and articulation, less precise room definition, less attack and readiness, more mud.

Apart from that, the rest were almost equals.
There were very minor advantages and disadvantages in the sound from each and one of them but nothing really telling any of them apart from the others as better.
Exept from the looks and handling.
The AA was a bit slow in reading the discs and sometimes we had to reload the CD to make it work.

Even without considering price, my choise would be the Audio Analogue or the cheap Philips VHS/DVD combo.

We also made recordings to compare, using my Lyrec PTR-1 Frida, my Tandberg TCD 910, my Revox B710 and the TCD 440A.

I have a lot of music and a few very good publications on both medias, CD and LP. These are LP and CD editions made from the same very good mastering.
We recorded a few songs from a few different CD/LP's like that.

We came to the conclusion that the LP's were better than the CD's.
Well, we all expected that.
The recordings were indistinguishable from the CD source and when recorded from LP they were better than the CD.

Well.................my advice is:
Don't go overboard when it comes to digital media players.

I am aware that upsampling is just like interpolation in the photo world.
Try out those with upsampling anyway..................they do it best in general.

The best sounding CD players I've ever heard was Pink Triangle Numeral; a belt driven CD player; and the TOTL Mark Levinson solution.

But again, the sound differences doesn't justify the price differences.

"dolph"

Good stuff dolph. Wadia and Philips DVD are more or less the same???? Did you guys do a blind test to remove the pre-conception of what it should sound like?

For amplifiers, if I know which amps are in the test and I've heard them before, I fairly good at naming the amp in a blind test. I wonder of the same could be done with the group you tested?

[Nakdoc]

Your CD player 2 uses the Sony KSS-210 pickup, which is pretty cheap to replace. Common problems are the two belts, one of which is a bear to change. HTH

[Rex Everything]

Your CD player 2 uses the Sony KSS-210 pickup, which is pretty cheap to replace. Common problems are the two belts, one of which is a bear to change. HTH

Do you have any knowledge of the OMS-2A players, Nakdoc?

[8mmag]

Temporary Solution...

Couldn't even live with the Technics a day. I picked up a $20 Denon DCM 340 with remote at the thrift to try.

At least its listenable. Bass is less pronounced than the Nak, but after an adjustment period, it sounds pretty natural. I'll see how I feel about it in a week or so.

In the meantime I appreciate all the input so I know what to be on the lookout for, thanks guys. Keep the input coming.

And I also appreciate the evidence on the diminishing returns on the dollar for CDP's.

[1979TDKAD-C90]

I love using my Mintek DVD player to play CDs, very nice sound, almost makes me want to like CDs over vinyl...

[Dimitar Georgiev]

If I were you I would be looking for a good old Denon CD player. For instance Denon DCD3000/DCD-S10 are very nice players with rich sound, very low SNR and very low distortion.

Dimitar

[390FE]

I like my Sony X229ES. A very nice player that sounds great & with a lot of very nice features like adjustable fader, tape length "calculator/programer?" & peak level search which make it great for making tape dubs/copys!!!*Hi5*
Display dimmer & the display can be turned off with the remote. Music calender, disk labler & customizable display readout (see pics below, that is what I programed in it when I bought it new back in '93 or so).

It has fixed & variable line outs as well as an optical output. I have had it hooked direct to my amp via the variable out & using the CD palyers remote to adjust the variable output thus eliminating a preamp (which I didn't own and couldn't afford when I bought the player back in the 90's. Infact the player isn't one of the upper level units in the ES line but still a great player.

3595
3596
3597

[speakerman1]

How much do you want to pay? I have a Shanling I would sell. It has tubes. Very good sounding. I also have a Grant Fidelity which is also tube.

[DaveInVA]

I'm one of those people that prefer vinyl to CD overall even though CDs if mastered properly can sound great.
If you can find yourself a Dynaco CDV Pro tube output CD player you'll never need another CD player (unless you have bigger bucks to spend anyways). These don't come up very often but they sound wonderful. John Atwood the guy that designed it for Dynaco has some aftermarket mods you can do to it that makes it sound even better. Its not the best CD player out there but one of the best you'll find for the cost of a used one...

Dave

[Scorpion8]

Here's a new Nak CD deck for you ...

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/ele/1023806640.html

[8mmag]

Here's a new Nak CD deck for you ...

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/ele/1023806640.html


I'd go for it too, but my 1st deal on the CDP2 was sooo much better, got it for $35. If I keep looking for something decent on the local CL, something will come up after not too long. I guess I just need to be patient. Given the Nak was the only CD I ever had hooked up, I never knew what i had until it bit the dust.

The Denon sounds OK, but is significantly lacking in the low end department. The R2R sounds 10x better than the Denon, but only 2X as good as the Nak.

[speakerman1]

I have one of these. They sound sweet. Little spendy. Last cdp you will buy.
http://www.needledoctor.com/Shanling-CD-T1000-SE-CD-Player?sc=7&category=4996

[8mmag]

I have one of these. They sound sweet. Little spendy. Last cdp you will buy.
http://www.needledoctor.com/Shanling-CD-T1000-SE-CD-Player?sc=7&category=4996

If I bought that one, it would the the last thing I would ever buy period, after the wife *fit* found out. I'd sure like to hear one though, but then again maybe I'm better off not hearing one.

[speakerman1]

How much do you want to spend? I'll look for one. If I have one !'ll give you20% off for being a member. Do you really want a new one or a used one?

[390FE]

Your CD player 2 uses the Sony KSS-210 pickup, which is pretty cheap to replace. Common problems are the two belts, one of which is a bear to change. HTH

MCM Electronics still sells some Sony pickups & assemblies. I don't know if they or Sony still have what you need.