The best CD player under $5000?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by antonkk, Sep 29, 2007.

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  1. Barry Wom

    Barry Wom New Member

    Location:
    Pepperland
    Naim CD players are great - but only great with Naim amps IMHO
     
  2. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    No offense taken. The issue for me is that since I am currently resident in Tokyo, the best deals I can get are on Japanese brand players. I have done some comparing, esp. with Meridian and Ayre, and while I can hear distinct differences, I am often left a bit flustered when asked which I prefer. Certain foreign brands have good distribution and are not horribly overpriced (Arcam, Primare, Meridian) and available used. Others (Cary, Naim, Cyrus, Rega) are not. The Rega Apollo runs about $1500. The Esoteric X-03SE, which I saw in London for 4500 GBP a year ago, can be purchased for 1/2 that price in Tokyo today if you are willing to take a demo model. So, it's a tough choice.
     
  3. Glen B

    Glen B New Member

    Location:
    USA
    Not assigning weight to anything. Just pointing out someone else's published differing point of view. :)
     
  4. Blencathra

    Blencathra New Member

    Location:
    UK
    A few years ago I'd never have considered used but I have found some amazing bargains and achieved great things that would have been out of my cost bracket had I bought new. So I'd always recommend people looking at the used market. Better, IMHO, to go to specialist hi-fi shops than something like e-bay, unless you have already had a home demo with said item.
     
  5. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
  6. JayB

    JayB Senior Member

    Location:
    CT
    I owned Bryston gear for years, they certainly make nice products!
     
  7. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    Damn right.
     
  8. edb15

    edb15 Senior Member

    Location:
    new york
    The reason I mention Stereophile is because critical consensus on Naim players is pretty fantastic, even among publications that aren't familiar with other Naim gear or on board with Naim's philosophy.
     
  9. visprashyana

    visprashyana New Member

    Location:
    Chicago
    Hands down the best sounding analog in the group.
     
  10. Tone

    Tone Senior Member

    At this price I'd consider an Alesis Masterlink (you also get a 24/96 hard drive) and add a most excellent D/A converter such as the Benchmark. You'd still be well below budget.
     
  11. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I spent some considerable time with the ARC Reference CD player today. It sounds great but sadly a bit over $5K.
     
  12. spock2

    spock2 New Member

    Location:
    New York
    i use a G08. very happy with it. wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. can be had used for $2500 - a good buy, imo. the BCD-1 looks like a nice player but it doesn't appear to be fully balanced. just has XLR outputs.
     
  13. grx8

    grx8 Senior Member

    Location:
    Santiago, Chile
    It looks like a modified Xbox.
     
  14. Tubeman

    Tubeman New Member In Memoriam

    Location:
    Texas
    Best suggestion I've heard yet. Great idea :wave:
     
  15. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    Well, ask James Tanner @ Bryston

    [email protected]
     
  16. mdconnelly

    mdconnelly New Member

    Location:
    Durham, NC USA
    I was pretty skeptical about the TAS review of the Cambridge Audio 840c but I've now been listening to one burn in for about 400 hours and find myself rereading and agreeing with Harley. Does it take on all under $5k players as RH said? Probably not and it certainly is subject to your tastes and system synergy but I definitely think it punches way above it's price tag. Great dynamics, wide and deep soundstage and a top end to die for. Plus, the digital inputs offer a lot if you've got another digital sources...
     
  17. spock2

    spock2 New Member

    Location:
    New York
    if i didn't get my G08, i probably would have gone with the 840C and that was way before the TAS review. glad to hear that it sounds good. if you want a balanced player (and who doesn't) then the 840C must be one of the best - if not the best - value for your money. what other player with that capability and sound can be purchased new under $1500!
     
  18. Toka

    Toka Active Member

    From the manual:

    "The BCD-1 is supplied with one pair of gold plated 3 pin male XLR jacks (pin 1 is ground, pin 2 is positive & pin 3 is negative) which are driven by fully discrete active amplifier circuitry providing a buffered balanced output signal."
     
  19. spock2

    spock2 New Member

    Location:
    New York
    what does that mean exactly. i looked at the product description and no where could find the words "fully balanced" or that the DACs were configured in a "dual differential" topology.
     
  20. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    Again, ask James Tanner of Bryston.
     
  21. blind_melon1

    blind_melon1 An erotic adventurer of the most deranged kind....

    Location:
    Australia
    :sigh: looks great to me! :)

    Each to their own i suppose....:sigh:
     
  22. ATSMUSIC

    ATSMUSIC Senior Member

    Location:
    MD, USA
    my cd player is a sacd player but it does normal cds incredibly well. I would recommend using it just for normal cds but then again you still have the option for sacd. You really should demo it just for normal cds alone. Marantz SA-11S1 SACD CD http://us.marantz.com/Products/623.asp Also you don't have to pay close to full retail fot it.
     
  23. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    What should one pay for the Naim CD 5X (not the 5i), and is the 2X that much better?
     
  24. spock2

    spock2 New Member

    Location:
    New York
    if i were seriously interested in one, i definitely would. as of now, just something i noticed when i looked at the player. wouldn't mind knowing the answer, but it's not at the top of my mind.
     
  25. spock2

    spock2 New Member

    Location:
    New York
    i was looking at this player but decided that i didn't have enough SACDs to make it worthwhile, so went with a proven red book. but i would like to hear this Marantz. it was recently recommended by TAS as one of the best players in the $3000-$5000 range (prices are based on retail/new).
     
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