Tell me about your cd player.

For the past 7 years; OPPO DV-980H Universal Player. Really nice sound! Although, in the past, I did consider having it modded, I never did. But; for a few years, I ran it through a Yaquin Tube Buffer until I purchased my Jolida integrated tube amp. This deck has always performed flawlessly. The BDP-105D has my attention right now.

 

I'm transitioning from a modded Marantz CD6003 to a Cambridge Audio 351C mostly to get rid of 110v to 230v conversion issues. Overall, the stock 351C really holds it own so I'm enjoying the change.

 

You would realize how good they don't sound if you did upgrade.

 

I've given up trying to understand what is meant by "sound great". Everything seems to be great. If the Naim CD-555 plus power supply sounds great and any unit that will spin a disc and produce noise also sounds great, then what does it mean? Do all speakers sound great? All turntable rigs?

 

It's very similar to all foods are compared to Chicken, hey how does money taste, "tastes like chicken".

 

Yeah.

Well, I'm an advocate of convincing the forum's uber-audiophiles to hold demos for members in their area. If we could get 500 or so members on the same page then there would be far fewer misunderstandings.

 

Sounds good. Being able to describe things well, either what you hear or taste is not easy for most people. The best you get typically is to compare to something else, however it would be nice to hear about pace, bass, treble extension, harmonics, timbre, sound stage, warmth, accuracy etc. The bottom line is always ones ears are unique to the individual as is the room it is being played in and the other components that make up the entire system. So yes if people began to listen together and you knew what sounds "great" to one individual was then "sounds great" might have meaning.

Oh and it was a typo not "money" but "monkey", oh well hope it wasn't lost.

 

I've tried a whale and a bear, they taste like a cow.

 

Although that having been said, money does indeed taste like chicken. And sounds great...

D.D.

 

My first "serious" CD player bought new. The drive crapped out in record time. Still have the carcass. Replaced it with an even older, used Arcam Delta 270 which soldiers on to this day. Go figure.

D.D.

 

My first "serious" CD player bought new. The drive crapped out in record time. Still have the carcass. Replaced it with an even older, used Arcam Delta 270 which soldiers on to this day. Go figure.



D.D.

 

I have the Rega Apollo-R CD Player and Mark Levinson No. 37 CD Transport.

They both sound great, but I have been spending more time with the Auralic Aries Wireless Streaming Bridge, the Astell&Kern AK240, or the Bryston BDP-1 Digital Player for music listening.

The Astell&Kern AK240 and JH Audio Roxanne Custom Earphones combination sounds especially good. The Roxanne's sound almost as good as my Audeze LCD-X headphones. IMHO.

 

What you & the previous poster are alluding to sounds a lot like a wine tasting class club or class of sorts. I'll bet my ears like tastebuds can learn to make associations & be somewhat trained to associate what they hear to terms like timbre, pace, etc. - I know from learning about wines the potential for association can be pretty remarkable.

 

Describing something is an effort of language and the skill in wielding the right words at the right time.

There is also a requirement of objectivity required here and not an unwritten bias that appears to suggest that you need an "uber audiophile" to explain great sound. Presumably with an uber expensive hifi.

I would rather have a couple of hours with an audio club that meets regularly and looks at a variety of kit across all price points. Then you can see what there is out there and how different users implement systems to meet their needs.

I'd also be interested in such a club that looked outwith the traditional borders of hifi and brought in the occasional pro audio enthusiast, or a local recording studio engineer too.

 

Today I found a Pioneer PD-m50 at the thrift store and it looked almost new and came with several magazines (even the stickers for the magazines were included!). For nostalgia's sake I bought it (it was $15).
Unfortunately I tried it and it skips pretty bad.
Should I try to re-allign the laser myself, or is this thing shot? I have never tried to fix a cd player before, and have no idea how to.
Any suggestions? Or is this a waste of time?

 

I'd be interested in seeing a picture of the 6000 titles!

 

My first CD player was a Yamaha (can't remember)... after that I bought a Denon and Sony#

Sample pictures

Krell MD20 + converter + power supply. I had the most advanced converter at this time:
http://www.thevintageknob.org/krell-Reference_64.html



That's my CD player right now..... dCS SACD/CD playback. Below the player is the dCS clock.
The dCS Vivaldi system sounds slightly better... no need to upgrade!

 

My combination

 

This topic reminds me why I am not really convinced of the CD.
I had nearly a dozen CD Players, which have all one thing in common. They do not work anymore.
2 NAd Cd Players failed within a year each, then I bought a Yamaha CD-N 500 network + cd-player. Guess what ? The CD part ain't working no more. Not even a year of trouble free use did I get out of it.
In the bedroom I got a CDi1o by PRIMARE. A CD-Receiver with 75 Watts. Driving my Sonus Faber TOYS just nice. So all of my CD listening is happening there. This machine was built in 2006. I bought it in 2008 as a demo model from audio affair UK. Really a great product. One of the best CD-Receivers on the market at that time.

 

A humble Cambridge Audio Azur 340c....no fancy whistles and bells,but it plays well.

 

9-year-old Naim CD5i...like it because it has a unique look/feel (not like a "computer"). The whole "playback experience" is important to me (physical media, playback device, and of course sound).

 

I recently replaced my CD player with a transport.

As much as I wanted to look into the new McIntosh transport I could not justify, at least at this time, dropping 4 large on one. Decided to go with the Cambridge CXC and I am quite impressed with this unit. Running it through a McIntosh D100 and it sounds quite nice.

 

Arrived at CD pretty late in the 90s and have had a series of players Marantz CD50, then KI Sig. Teac CD1 transport with various DACs.

My last one lasted the longest about 8 years, a Naim CDX. Then a few years ago I found the EAR Acute 11 and for the first time I find myself actually wanting to listen to CD as much as my favorite format.
And it matches my amps.

 

At the price you paid it wouldn't hurt to have a look inside. Maybe blow a little air on the laser assembly and make sure the rails the assembly rides on allows for free movement. Nothing to lose there.

 

First let me state I never gave up on vinyl and still consider it the best audio reproduction method generally available. But I do like digital, especially high resolution (I'm an SACD convert from way back). But until I added a used Genesis Digital lens into my Parasound Zdac V.2 DAC my CD's had stopped sounding musical in comparison (I use a Pioneer DV-79AVi Universal player for High-Res listening and now as transport in the GDL). But the Genesis Digital Lens took my CD's and suddenly made them musically compelling. Just running the Pioneer into the Parasound, while better, still didn't push Redbook enough to make me WANT to listen. Now, I keep pulling CD's out I haven't played in years and enjoying them. No, they are not SACD good, nor even close to vinyl, but they come one heck of a lot closer.