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Best CD Player up to 1k...???

MWalt

MWalt

Super Member
I have at least a thousand dollars to spend on a new CDP. What is the common opinion as to what is best at the 1k or less budget plan. I currently have two that I switch off between. Both are modern. One is an Onkyo DX-C390 changer and the other is a Yamaha DV-S5860. I have two DAC's; a Grant Fidelity DAC-09 and a Gigalab/Moon. They both sound good. Will a thousand better what I have?

Opinions are welcome.
 
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Maybe not a common opinion but if it was my $1000 I'd be all over the Oppo BDP-95 when it's finally released. They are taking pre-orders right now, so release should be soon.

- Sabre 32 bit DAC
- XLR balanced outputs
- Rotel designed and built toroidal transformers
- Supports SACD, DVD-Audio, WAV, FLAC, etc...

With everyone having raved about the previous BDP-83/SE's audio performance, I believe this new player is going to be a monster and most likely the new player to beat in the $1000 category.

Aside from all that, you get what will be a world class Blu-Ray player with dual HDMI outputs.
 
trhee said:
Maybe not a common opinion but if it was my $1000 I'd be all over the Oppo BDP-95 when it's finally released. They are taking pre-orders right now, so release should be soon.

- Sabre 32 bit DAC
- XLR balanced outputs
- Rotel designed and built toroidal transformers
- Supports SACD, DVD-Audio, WAV, FLAC, etc...

With everyone having raved about the previous BDP-83/SE's audio performance, I believe this new player is going to be a monster and most likely the new player to beat in the $1000 category.

Aside from all that, you get what will be a world class Blu-Ray player with dual HDMI outputs.
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I totally agree with trhee here. Look seriously into the fabulous multi-functional player!
 
The Marantz SA8004 has been very well received, and is of a higher build quality than the Oppo's I've seen. IMHO
Regards,
Jim
 
MWalt said:
What do youu think of the Rega Apollo?
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I used to own both the Apollo and Saturn, and they were pretty good: warmish and musical, but ultimately not to my taste. After living with them for a while, I came to the conclusion that their “warmth” was masking too much information. After extensively modifying my Oppo BDP-83SE for a lot less than the Saturn cost new, I was proved right. The Oppo blew it out of the water. I agree with the suggestions of the BDP-95. It looks like a winner. I’m sure Oppo cut a number of corners to bring it in under a grand, but it looks really nice from the specs.
 
I tried several including the Oppo 83SE. While the Oppo did wonders with SACD and DVD-A, a NAD C565BEE won the day with Redbook discs and it's built-in Wolfson DAC.
 
drknstrmyknight said:
all that spinning and lasers and stuff if old-school.
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True, but some of us have huge CD collections and no plans to rip them to a hard drive.

guiller said:
I would go for a used Cambridge Audio 840 C or Naim CDP.
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As the owner of a Naim CD5i-2, it's the one I'd recommend, but with a $1k budget he'll have to buy used, like I did. Around $850 or so, with new retail at $1600. Fantastic CD player, high quality transport mechanism, over-kill power supply, and an organic, life-like sonic presentation.

I love my Musical Fidelity A3.5 too, which can be had for around $600 used despite a retail price that's the same as the Naim. But I hesitate to give it the same strong endorsement because it has a darker, softer, airier, and more liquid sound that might not suit fans of rock, or that sort of thing. Note that I said "might not." The Naim, on the other hand, would probably please a much wider audience of hi-fi fans, IMO.
 
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I would be willing to bump that budget up a bit if need be. I will also be willing to buy new/used. No old or vintage CDP's for me, thank you.
 
MWalt said:
No old or vintage CDP's for me, thank you.
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That's the approach I took. Not to offend fans of vintage CD players, but all CD players eventually die, so I've only purchased models from within the last decade or so.

As with many things in hi-fi, buying used you'll be able to get something that performs way above what you could anticipate with a budget if you only bought a brand new CDP.
 
drknstrmyknight said:
I'd think something like a Squeezebox Transporter - all that spinning and lasers and stuff if old-school.
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I am now starting to think along those lines. Maybe you are right. I would hate to spend a substantial amount of scratch on something that may become obsolete soon. Does the squeezebox require a separate DAC?
 
MWalt said:
I am now starting to think along those lines. Maybe you are right. I would hate to spend a substantial amount of scratch on something that may become obsolete soon. Does the squeezebox require a separate DAC?
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It supposedly have some nice DAC's in it. (AKM AK4396 multibit sigma-delta D/A).

I have not really been able to find any good information on how easy it is to control. Some of the other higher end units have smartphone apps (Naim, Linn, Sonos, and there was another I was looking at... :scratch2: )

You need to look at what formats you will have your files in (mp3, WAV, AIFF< FLAC, ALAC, AAC... ), what bit rates you will use (16-, 24-, 32- bit), and what sample rates you will have (44.1, 48, 96, 192kHz). These are all very important, especially when you are talking about units in the $1000+ range. You do not want to be pigeon holed into something you are not comfortable with.

I have been doing some research on an AppleTV replacement since AppleTV downsamples all tracks to 16/44.1kHz. :(
 
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