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How does a former higher end CD player (Denon DCD-1520) stack up against a more modern one?

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Paradoxic

New Member
Hey guys,

My father owns a a Denon 1520 which came out in 1989 and was most definitely a pretty expensive thing back in the day (around 1800 German Marks) and is built like a tank (it weighs 21 pounds).

I am mostly into analog stuff (so cassettes and vinyl) when it comes to old Hifi but it kinda seems like a "waste" seeing this old player just sitting there collecting dust when he barley used it after he bought it (so laser shouldn't be an issue in terms of usage).

Thing is, I never owned a more modern high end CD player and since it is from the very early era of CDs I thought I'd ask how a CD player that old would stack up against CD players that came out during the late 90s. I would also go "vintage" (if you can call it that) there if I would invest in a new CD player, so nothing new from now and would like to know how the Denon/those old high end players in general stack up.

Maybe you guys have some knowledge on that part.

Thanks a lot!
 
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These older Denon-models were built on good component-quality; the best multibit-dac`s and low/minimal oversampling.

Those two generations (-20 & -60) of Denon were the best they`ve ever made. Wery good cd-drives, and Denon was still a class above the rest when it came to digital processing. Those big old Burr-Brown converters are still among the best, still preferred by high-end diy-dac-builders. The downside is the laser, the Sony KSS151A-laser is no longer awayable. Enjoy it while you can. Be prepared to change the door-belt btw;

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A heavily modified DCD-3560 still sits on the top of my "rack"; heavily upgraded trafos, LC-audio digital-clock, bypassed analog "filter" + some moore.

Germany? Are you into diy? The tv-coax Vivanco KX-710 (four pr. lenght) makes the only inaudible interconnects I`ve ever (not) heard. Extreme as a digital coax too.
 
I have had Denon DCD-1560 since purchased new in 1989. Indeed, it is built to very high standards and still works perfectly. I have had to replace the belts twice along with mechanism lubrication, the second time just a few month ago. I have seen no need to consider replacing it. Fortunately, my laser assembly is still going strongly.
 
You asked for a direct comparison. I have an old DCD-1560, and I've compared it directly to 4 or 5 newer players, all highly rated — and all offered to me at very attractive prices. They were hooked up at the same time, in the same system, playing the same CDs, of which I had two copies, of various genres (rock, classical, jazz, vocal). I synched them and could switch between players without missing a beat.

I didn't buy any of the newer ones, even though I love new toys.
 
Thanks a lot, that's awesome to here! I already switched out the belts and have it in use but hearing how good it stacks up to more modern stuff is most certainly helpful in "confirming" my decision!
 
Glad I could help. Also check the lubrication on moving parts, clean and renew if necessary. But keep in mind, other parts in the Denon, besides the belts, could fail due to age.

But don't lose sleep over it. It may be fine for years and years. And if parts do fail, they can probably be replaced, for minimal cost. Most of my gear is high quality "vintage" — I've had very few problems.
 
Thanks! Yeah, I checked the lubrication and it seems to be still fine.

"But keep in mind, other parts in the Denon, besides the belts, could fail due to age. But don't lose sleep over it."

I won't, thanks:) If it happens it simply happens and like you said, it's probably replacable.

It's probably not going to be like my hitachi HT-500 TT where the closed motor broke and I could basically trash the thing. But I mean, something that severe happens so rarely (never happened to anyone of my other higher end TT and tape decks) that I basically never have the "fear" that something like this might happen to old gear.
 
Since its been a few years concerning the DENON 1520/60 Series CDPs.. Just to let you know, after belts {3rd time} and service to the transport (including checking laser focus). I'm STILL more than a happy camper with this old CD player. I'm thinking about renewing the caps in spite of them not having any
issues (knock on wood). pc
 
I have a vintage Sony SCD-XA9000ES, at the time, the top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art CD/SACD player for the whole industry I've refreshed the laser and the belts.

I also have a new Yamaha CD-A3000, also CD/SACD, player in a separate system. It's probably overpriced but matches my integrated amp.

I can't tell them apart although the Yamaha has a balanced output while the Sony is RCA, single-ended only. The Sony has the better man-machine interface and responds more quickly to control inputs and loading.
 
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I had a Rotel RCD-965BX in my system until I acquired an Teac ZD-5000. The Teac was about $1600 before tax Cdn new in around 1984, I have the original receipt. Not sure if I can tell much difference sonically between them with my aging ears, but the variable output on the Teac works awesome with an older receiver/amp that has no remote for volume, although responsiveness is a bit slower on start-up.
 
I purchased a Denon dcd 1520 brand new around 1988/1989. Sounded great and never needed any servicing with exception of the drawer belt. Kept it for many years, as the sound was hard to beat. If memory serves, I paid around $800.00 when new including the optional wood side panels. I would still have it planted firmly in one of my vintage systems.... However, I auditioned something which though costlier, sounded even better. A Meridian 507 cd player, which I still own.
 
I've been using a Denon DCD-1500 off and on for many years with the only problem being the Fixed and Variable output jack contacts breaking off the circuit board. Had to solder them back on years ago and the Fixed broke again so I'm using Variable until they break. I'm sure it's from moving it around from place to place.

My friend got a used Denon DCD-1520 that wasn't tracking well at all. I put new belts on and looked deeper to find the plastic parts for the laser suspension had disintegrated into pieces. Made some replacements out of things I had in drawers to get it to play regular CD's fine. It wouldn't play the CD's my friend had recorded himself very well though.

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I asked myself exactly the same question particularly now that CDs are making a comeback. I have a DCD-1500 that I found in thrift store a long time ago. At the time I was pleasantly surprised for what was 80's technology which is why I still have it. I recently picked-up a NAD C565bee, believe it or not, in a thrift store as well. Although not strictly speaking a modern CD player, the C565bee is 28 years younger, so I did a comparison.

First a bit of context, the DCD-1500 (&1520) was a high end audiophile CD player with a retail price of $800 in the late 80's. In today's dollars it would have cost well above $2000. At the time CD's weren't universally acclaimed. As I remember it, everyone acknowledged that it was a clearer and more convenient format than vinyl but the jury was out when it came to their sound. Negative descriptors I remember were; shrill, metallic, harsh, too bright, fatiguing, lacking in warmth, too compressed. I think a lot of that criticism was deserved because most of us were not in a position to drop $800+ (in late 1980's $$) on an audiophile grade CD player. Instead our intro CD players were more in the range of $250 - 350. I'm also pretty sure that the DACs in those consumer grade players weren't particularly good because I can't remember a time in the 80's or 90's where I sat down and was blown away by the sound coming from my CD player, I preferred my vinyl. At the same time, it didn't help that many of the early CDs were straight transcriptions from the same master used for the vinyl version. As we now know, mastering for vinyl is different than mastering for a CD release.

For the comparison, the amp (receiver) was my NAD 7020i, the RCA interconnects for both were identical Blue Jeans cables, the headphones were Sennheiser HD 560S. My source CDs were by Diana Krall and Patricia Barber where I picked a couple of songs for their detail. I then A - B'ed the two players and on the first go around I had a hard time telling the difference. But as I repeated the exercise several times and honed in on details in the recording, I could hear more of a difference and it was in favour of the the NAD. It seemed the NAD had more clarity and transparency, there was more depth, more of a three dimensional thing going on whereas the Denon was more like a wall of sound, like all the instruments and vocals had been put through a PA system. In audiophile terms the NAD imaged better. That said, one wasn't warmer or harsher than the other.

Conclusion; the 1500 (and likely the 1520) sounds just fine in situations where you're not listening critically. Even then, much will depend on how revealing your system is, the acoustics of your room and your own hearing. For example, a limitation of this comparison is that I'm an older guy, I can no longer hear anything above 11 kHz. As a result, it's entirely possible that if the 1500 was bright and shrill, I'd never hear it.

A suggestion, if I'm not mistaken the DCD-1520 has two digital outs. That means you can by-pass the internal DAC by connecting one of the digital outs to a modern stand alone DAC. You can then A - B which should be a lot of fun. I did that with my Oppo BDP-83 (about the same vintage as the C565) and a Schiit Modi 3. So far can't hear much of a difference but I need to spend more time listening.
 
I find that most new CD players available today in the $2500-$3000 range sound better to me than the price equivalent $800-$900 players from the late 80's, and a few that don't. It all depends on your ears and pocketbook, not someone else's'. If my main music source was CD's, I'd feel much more secure long term with one of the newer players.
 
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