Looking for a CD player under $600 used, warm and personal sounding...

[asindc]

Looking for the above noted. I am using a Pio Elite 74TXvi receiver as my preamp, which provides a very detailed sound (great for HT), but a bit too metalic for music. I don't want to miss out on details in the music, but I'm looking for a warmer sound from my source. I love the personal feel that really exceptional players provide. BTW, my current CD player is the Pio Elite 47Ai, which has the same characteristics as the 74TXvi.

I am considering a tube CD player, but I've never owned tubes before and I am concerned about maintenance.

Anthony

 

[Dreamer]

OPPO DV-981HD Universal DVD/CD player. $229 new from the manufacturer.

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/dv981hd_index.html

Maybe not as sweet as a Jolida, and perhaps not as precise as a Krell, but for $200, it knocks the socks of anything under $600, IMO. Way better sounding than Sony, Denon, Marantz units in the under-$600 price range. At least to my ears it does.

Plus this little player will play ANY format on a silver disc, CD, DVD, DVD-A, HDCD, SACD, heck it even displays pics from Kodak's proprietary image disks...

They aren't sold in stores that I know of, but if you know someone who has one, I'd highly recommend giving it a listen. And we OPPO owners are a growing group, and our enthusiasm for OPPO is almost as strong as our enthusiam for ML. These little wonders are simply "giant killers" when it comes to audio playback, and the video is pretty darn good too.

I see you're in teh DC area. Perhaps we could arrange a day for me to bring mine over to your house and we could listen to it in your system for an afternoon...

--Richard

 

[Cherian]

I have a CEC CD3300. I think this is a great CDP for the money. This CDP has a class A output and 24 bit burr brown DAC. Listed below is a review.

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/tech-review.php?rev=31

 

[twich54]

To tell you the truth, or shall I say, repeat what you already know, your Pioneer Elite is a lousy pre-amp to use on two channel music. By just replacing the CDP you have not solved your overall problem.

Personaly I would save for a decent two channel pre-amp first, using your Pioneer strictly for HT duties. Not trying to be a smart alick, but I too have a Elite reciever and I share your pain.

In the sub 1k market for CDP, I'm partial to Rotel and Rega.

 

[DTB300]

BTW, my current CD player is the Pio Elite 47Ai, which has the same characteristics as the 74TXvi.

Here is another idea for you...

If you are concerned about Redbook playback, then keep the player as a transport and purchase a DAC for it. Many offer 30 day trials to see what you think. I am partial to the Channel Islands DAC + PS, but othere here like (if I remember correctly) Benchmark, PS Audio to name a few.

With the money you save over a better player more expensive player, you can use that towards a decent Used Pre Amp from some great names.

Dan

 

[asindc]

Here is another idea for you...

If you are concerned about Redbook playback, then keep the player as a transport and purchase a DAC for it. Many offer 30 day trials to see what you think. I am partial to the Channel Islands DAC + PS, but othere here like (if I remember correctly) Benchmark, PS Audio to name a few.

With the money you save over a better player more expensive player, you can use that towards a decent Used Pre Amp from some great names.

Dan

The 47Ai is an outstanding universal player, but as I begin to focus more on 2-channel, I'm becoming more aware of its limitations in that respect. I plan on replacing it anyway with the advent of HDMI. Since I won't be keeping it, I rather do a relatively inexpensive CDP with very good DACs built in.

The names I'm considering so far are Cambridge, Jolida, Rotel, Marantz, and Rega. I guess what I'm really after is a SS CDP with a tube-like sound. The Jolida CDP I'm considering is a tube player, but as I've stated before, I'm a bit leery of going down that road...

Anthony

 

[kcl]

OPPO DV-981HD Universal DVD/CD player. $229 new from the manufacturer.

I agree, as its almost impossible to beat this unit at the price. I'm actually picking up the DV-970HD and considering having the Reference Audio Mods done on it. (I'd have gone with the 981, but I've already got a scaler that has 1080p out, and I've run out of HDMI inputs on that scaler. My interest is for the SACD/DVD-A audio support anyway.)

 

[asindc]

I agree, as its almost impossible to beat this unit at the price. I'm actually picking up the DV-970HD and considering having the Reference Audio Mods done on it. (I'd have gone with the 981, but I've already got a scaler that has 1080p out, and I've run out of HDMI inputs on that scaler. My interest is for the SACD/DVD-A audio support anyway.)

Funny thing is, I have the 970 in my system now. Just bought it last week for upconverting DVD thru component with the hack. The CD output is comparable to my Pio Elite 47Ai, but not quite there with it. I'll re-evaluate after some break in. Bottom line, though, is if the 970 is only comparable to the 47Ai, then I'll send it back. So far, I haven't noticed much difference in picture quality between the 2 machines, even after the hack. The only reason I didn't get the 981 is because it does not have component output and I don't have HDMI on my TV.

With that said, I'm back to considering something in the "next level up" in a dedicated CDP, unless the 970 shows me something more than the 47Ai already does.

 

[IWalker]

keep the oppo, get a dac. A good outboard dac will make a huge difference...and will be a lot more flexible with your choices of transports down the road.

A good one in your price range is the MHDT Paradisea (it's what I have) it's a tubed dac that sells for $535 shipped, and has gotten rave reviews. (it's an ebay only retailer, but reputable)

I bought a few extra tubes for it when I bought it, and can send you an extra one I have if you end up getting it. Fun to tube roll and hear the difference...it's the WE tube that'd recommended, though not a .

With tubes, the only maintenance you need to worry about comes along with tube AMPS. The rated life on tubes being used as output buffers is very very long (10s of thousands of hours, generally?)

 

[asindc]

keep the oppo, get a dac. A good outboard dac will make a huge difference...and will be a lot more flexible with your choices of transports down the road.

A good one in your price range is the MHDT Paradisea (it's what I have) it's a tubed dac that sells for $535 shipped, and has gotten rave reviews. (it's an ebay only retailer, but reputable)

I bought a few extra tubes for it when I bought it, and can send you an extra one I have if you end up getting it. Fun to tube roll and hear the difference...it's the WE tube that'd recommended, though not a .

With tubes, the only maintenance you need to worry about comes along with tube AMPS. The rated life on tubes being used as output buffers is very very long (10s of thousands of hours, generally?)

IWalker,

Thanks for your comments on the tube DAC. As you probably noticed from my previous posts, tube maintenance is a concern for me. With so many members suggesting that a good DAC will make a significant difference, I'll have to take a closer look.

Would your comments regarding lower maintenance for a tube DAC apply also to a tube CD player?

 

[DTB300]

Thanks for your comments on the tube DAC. As you probably noticed from my previous posts, tube maintenance is a concern for me. With so many members suggesting that a good DAC will make a significant difference, I'll have to take a closer look.

If concerns about using Tubes, then the Channel Islands DAC and Power Supply is a great choice - Together (VDA-2 and VAC-1) I think they cost $700-$800. But Dusty offers 30 day return if you do not like it. And I believe they are also running a special now throwing in either a CoAx or Fiber cable with the purchase.

I believe a couple of people here are using the DAC and love it - Jeff Z for one was using it with his Rotel CD Player and found SIGNIFICANT improvments over the stock CD player output. I used the VDA-1 on my player - great DAC - before having my player modded.

Dan

 

[lugano]

Asin, I think the maximum you can get for the $600 budget you decided to allocate is reached when you combine the Oppo recommended above with a Musical Fidelity X-DAC V3 - 3 of them are on eBay right now. Review here: http://stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/1204mf/ and eBay link to the three DACs here: http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...action=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search

 

[IWalker]

Yes, tube DAC, and tube CD player both are using tubes as output buffers.

My recommendation of a tube DAC over a tube CD player is that if your CD player ever breaks, or say you want to get one that has more advanced video technology...you can replace it, and still have your high quality 2ch DAC. Or, if you want to upgrade the DAC, again, you don't have to upgrade the player too. Just adds a lot of flexibility. The addition of tubes to a SS component is generally on the order of $3-500 (on the low end). Cary makes some great tubed CD players...but I would always go with an outboard dac for myself.

 

[asindc]

If concerns about using Tubes, then the Channel Islands DAC and Power Supply is a great choice - Together (VDA-2 and VAC-1) I think they cost $700-$800. But Dusty offers 30 day return if you do not like it. And I believe they are also running a special now throwing in either a CoAx or Fiber cable with the purchase.

I believe a couple of people here are using the DAC and love it - Jeff Z for one was using it with his Rotel CD Player and found SIGNIFICANT improvments over the stock CD player output. I used the VDA-1 on my player - great DAC - before having my player modded.

Dan

Dan,

Jeff mentioned that to me in a PM yesterday. Given the prices of some of the DACs listed on A'gon, these units must be making a big difference! $700-800 is more than I'm looking to spend on this setup. I'll continue to research and keep my eye out for some good used DACs, as well as CDPs. I won't dismiss the Channel Islands, though. Might be worth the extra coin for me!

Anthony

 

[asindc]

Asin, I think the maximum you can get for the $600 budget you decided to allocate is reached when you combine the Oppo recommended above with a Musical Fidelity X-DAC V3 - 3 of them are on eBay right now. Review here: http://stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/1204mf/ and eBay link to the three DACs here: http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...action=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search

Thanks for the links. I'll check those out. Funny thing is, I've always preferred fewer boxes in my setup. Now I'm beginning to realize that moving up in 2-channel can get more involved than moving up in HT!

Anthony

 

[asindc]

To tell you the truth, or shall I say, repeat what you already know, your Pioneer Elite is a lousy pre-amp to use on two channel music. By just replacing the CDP you have not solved your overall problem.

Personaly I would save for a decent two channel pre-amp first, using your Pioneer strictly for HT duties. Not trying to be a smart alick, but I too have a Elite reciever and I share your pain.

In the sub 1k market for CDP, I'm partial to Rotel and Rega.

Good to see another Pio Elite fan here. Ironically, with my 49TXi in the shop, it is the 74TXvi that opened my eyes to the possibilities of getting much more out of my stereo playback. The DACs in the latest generation Pio Elite receivers are so much better than before that it is immediately apparent. My thinking is, if changing same brand receivers makes this much difference, how much more would I get out of other upgrades. And so, here I am. I believe Joeyitis is the term?...

 

[DTB300]

Jeff mentioned that to me in a PM yesterday.

Some have found that adding a DAC, in the price ranges mentioned here, can result in better sound than from stock players costing more than the external DAC.

So while you look for another player, adding a DAC to your existing player and outputing the analog to your Pioneer running in Direct Mode may give you the sound improvements you are looking for. But then again maybe not. Only testing and listening will tell........unfortunately.

Dan

 

[kcl]

My recommendation of a tube DAC over a tube CD player is that if your CD player ever breaks, or say you want to get one that has more advanced video technology...you can replace it, and still have your high quality 2ch DAC. Or, if you want to upgrade the DAC, again, you don't have to upgrade the player too. Just adds a lot of flexibility.

This is a problem if you want to play SACD and/or DVD-A, both of which do not allow digital output when used (i.e., only analog is active). An external DAC for these therefore doesn't work. This was my primary requirement and is why I decided to get my Oppo DV970HD from Reference Audio Mods with their mods. These mods cost about the same as an external DAC ($600) but provide similar performance on all audio output, including the analog with SACD/DVD-A.

 

[asindc]

This is a problem if you want to play SACD and/or DVD-A, both of which do not allow digital output when used (i.e., only analog is active). An external DAC for these therefore doesn't work. This was my primary requirement and is why I decided to get my Oppo DV970HD from Reference Audio Mods with their mods. These mods cost about the same as an external DAC ($600) but provide similar performance on all audio output, including the analog with SACD/DVD-A.

You raise a good point. I only have 2 DVD-A, which I bought just to try the format. I have a few SACDs, and I don't want to abandon that format. Then again, I suppose the next-gen DVD player I get will likely support both of those formats, especially if it is another Pio Elite.

So, you have noticed a significant improvement with the mods to the 970?

Anthony

 

[aerius007]

In the sub 1k market for CDP, I'm partial to Rotel and Rega.

The Rotel has great reviews but I am nothing but problems with mine. I think due to bad software. I bought 3 cd's the other night (new) and it wont play any of them. When it does work it sounds great and is very quiet, but it the initial issues are giving me second thoughts. I should have the replacement next week.