CD Player Needed - New or used, <$100 range

Hi!

I've been reading a lot on the net and on this site this weekend and I've finally decided on CDs to start collecting physical music media.

I have an Onkyo 5.1 receiver, Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones, and now I just need an entry level CD player to complete my nice little entry-level auido setup.

I would prefer a single-disc player over a multi-disc player.

Amazon doesn't have any real options for me in my price range.

I'm on eBay now looking at units but honestly I'm lost; there is just a ton of selection with no real information at all.

I know I'm not going to strike gold in my price range but I would like to get the most out of my limited budget as possible.

Quality is what matters most to me and I am ok with buying used or refurbished.

Any and all help would be great appreciated!

 

Welcome to the forum!

Maybe a used NAD player would be good... What part of the planet are you on?

 

Thanks! I'm trying to find out how to change my avatar but can't figure it out lol

I am in the Northeast USA

 

Couple of decent Sony cdps on Ebay right now. Years ago I had a XE500 that seemed extremely reliable, and it had a decent enough headphone output.

 

Try your local thrift stores or Goodwill. People seem to be dumping more and more of them. Just make sure you can test it first. Craigslist might also be an option.

 

Why not try one of Sony's inexpensive Blu-ray/DVD/SACD/CD players? You can pick one up for around $100.00.

 

Used CD player means no warranty and possibly a laser towards the end of its life. You can score a good deal for sure, but if something goes wrong, you're on your own without a warranty.

I'd say buy one of those TEAC players

CD-P 1260 : $94

PD-D 2610 : $104

CD-P 650: $ 127

or:

Sony CDP-CE 500: $114

The TEAC CD-P 650 may be the best deal: usual retail price is $349 but looks like Amazon is having a nice discount: $127 is OK.

 

I agree w/Soundboy. Get a Sony at Best Buy, BJs to start your CD experience if you can't spend more than $100.

 

I had a Teac CD-P 1260, and it blew away the AMC-CD8b, which was supposedly a "high end" unit. Deeper, tighter bass, better imaging, better everything. Unfortunately the display died after about 6 months. So I can recomend that withou fear sound-wise, just be sure to get one that comes with a warranty.

 

Forget used. Forget a dedicated CD player for that matter.

Buy a new, warranted DVD player for way less than $100. Make sure it has a digital output (coax or optical Toslink) that you can connect to the Onkyo receiver for digital-to-analog conversion.

Any of the Japan mainstream brands will do: Panasonic, Onkyo, Denon, Pioneer. And the Sony, as noted, often supports SACD (not sure of the price point).

If you already have a Bluray or DVD player in place, check it for digital outs. You may have saved yourself $100.

Sound quality won't be appreciably different. You'd have to spend up quite a bit for a dedicated CD player to hear a discernible improvement.

 

thanks for the tips guys!

probably a dumb question but i'm assuming a blu-ray/dvd player will function without being hooked up to a monitor?

 

Yes, but keep in mind that the Sony's don't have much of a display. The Sony BDP S5100 is a very nice BD/DVD/CD/SACD player for $80.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDP-S510...394067136&sr=1-1&keywords=sony+blu+ray+player

Manual:
https://docs.sony.com/release/BDP-BX510_S5100.pdf

 

thanks for that!

do you happen to know if this particular player shows the track # and time while playing CDs?

during my research it seems that most do not.

edit: reading reviews regarding the Sony S5100 and it seems that skipping CD audio tracks take 4-5 seconds, how does this compare to a dedicated CD player?

 

the more i research about using a dvd/blu-ray player as a cd player the more i think i won't be happy with it.

it definitely fits within my price range but i would really dislike lag during start-up, initial playing, and skipping tracks.

i might end up going with a used denon off of ebay...

or the teac 650 mentioned above

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that there are very few audio connections. It has HDMI and Coaxial Digital, and that's it. It does have Gracenote, so it will look up track names and even displays artwork.

 

The cheap Sony Blu-ray players are excellent options. I have the Sony BDP-S380. Probably about $80 at BB. Shows track and time on the front. Real good sound for a budget player. Don't worry about the startup times. It's literally like an extra four seconds -- so what.

 

If only redbook CD playback is needed, my preference goes to the earlier Marantz players that use the Philips TDA 1541 DAC chip.

You should be able to find a player using this DAC chip with the something like the CDM2 mech' for your budget secondhand, many players are listed here http://forum.fok.nl/topic/1292253
It's a good resource on what players use what DAC chips, and mech's.

Just make sure the laser is in good order and reads well.

 

I've read some Playstations are good. No experience here but an avenue for your research.

 

I bought the first playstation when my "good" cd player stopped working for the second time in four years. while you don't get
the frequency extremes, it's a very musical player. and the transport works flawlessly. pleasantly surprised!

 

Yes. we recently got a sub-$100 Panasonic Blu-Ray player, mainly for streaming features. Turns out a Roku is much better for streaming but the Blu-Ray player excels as a CD player, very detailed sound, very responsive to the remote, as good a CD player as regards functionality as any I've used.

 

I'd like to suggest the Oppo 970 HD. It functions as a fine standalone CD player, starts up quickly, has a display on the front, supports SACD and even has 5.1 analog outs on the back for multichannel SACD playback. There's a used one on eBay right noe for under $100.