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Best CD Player for ?999 and under?

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    Best CD Player for ?999 and under?

    gwan, you know you wanna

    I'm not looking, but I'm interested as to what you'd choose

    I'd go for the QUAD CDP-2, as I own it, it kicks arse, and its got 6 digital inputs for your devices to use the 24bit DAC, and fixed/variable output so you can link it directly to a power amp. I guess the cambridge audio azur is alright, but it looks tacky , probably sounds alright, I hate the LCD displays they choose though, and it has no digital preamp functionality.

    so... you?

    I'd thought about the NAIM CD5i but its a neutered 5X, and the densen beat or something, but nothing offers the same functionality in a small package, for such little cost ..

    #2
    Can't you get a separate transport and DAC for that sort of money? I don't really know.

    If you really want best quality these days and are spending that amount of money, you be mad not to be doing an EAC of the CD to FLAC and streaming it to a standalone DAC via a squeezebox, since the EAC will be bit perfect hopefully whereas a transport will introduce random errors.

    I said that like I know what I'm talking about. But I really don't

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      #3
      I use an airport express into my cd players DAC via optical and pump lossless AAC through it, its a little 'locked in to itunes' but I can use it as a secondary sound card in linux and play anything , if I so could be arsed to setup, flac etc.

      a decent transport and dac would cost you a hella lot more

      denons top end model is £7,000 each
      Last edited by kernow; 28-06-2007, 13:39.

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        #4
        ooookkkkk.

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          #5
          Your best bet is to pick up the current issue of What Hi-fi or Hi-Fi Choice as they're always running best CD player for under a grand, under £1500 etc. and have a comprehensive library of reviews at the back of the mag.

          Once you've shortlised a few players, try to get your local hi-fi dealer to let you take each home for a bit to discover if you like the sound and to see how they gel with the rest of your system as hi-fi synergy is something of an art and just because a CD player, amp and pair of speakers are all critically hailed, doesn't necessarily mean they'll sound good partnered togther.

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            #6
            yeah, well I'm not planning on buying and obviously did a lot of reading and testing etc.

            I just wanted to know you guys thoughts

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              #7
              Something by Roksan, probably.

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                #8
                the kandy isn't bad for the price, if you buy it with the amplifier you can get it for 1k instead of 1200

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                  #9
                  Isn't there a more reasonably priced TAG CD/DVD player these days? Always fancied that kit, but have always found other more important things when it came down to it.

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                    #10
                    TAG are now back to audiolab, and despite their stuff looking nice as it always did , its not that great a performer. not the £650 one anyway

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                      #11
                      All this talk of DAC and lossless audio, etc, should you only really worry about these sort of things if listening to house/electronic music?

                      Surely rough and ready guitar based music sounds good, even if it's badly reproduced?

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                        #12
                        I read a review of my specific system once and if it had the matching speakers it would be as if 'the rockers were wearing tuxedos'

                        whatever that means

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                          #13
                          Nick, sound quality affects all music, obviously.
                          The thing is, most people are used to a lower quality sound but good sound is good sound - when you hear it you can tell. People will place convenience over quality in most cases but decent sound will help rock music too. Rounded bass and clear spacing can really make some songs sound really amazing. It can also change what you thought was good!
                          I have personally never looked at this price range - too poor. Would the best setup these days not use a separate DAC (or that in an amplifier) and then use a buffer from the CD to give a clear signal that could not be affected by vibration etc?

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                            #14
                            definitely pace and timing make a difference, a good player will keep it in track no matter what, and have a minimal amount of jitter. Most CD players used the philips industry standard optical transport, but they've just recently folded their transport division, some companies decided to make their own from scratch, others sourced another manufacturer. The transport in my cd player uses 3 lasers and QUAD hired an ex member of the philips team to create a transport from scratch.

                            A separate DAC can be good, but isn't needed at this price range I feel. maybe a little more.

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