Great Giant Killer Wolfsen DAC Dedicated CD player-Onkyo C-7030

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by The Beave, Jul 5, 2014.

  1. The Beave

    The Beave My Wife Is My Life! And don’t I forget it! Thread Starter

  2. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    Intriguing. Would love to hear any additional comments. Thanks Beav!
     
  3. T'mershi Duween

    T'mershi Duween Forum Resident

    Location:
    Y'allywood
    This unit is well known around here. I've got one. I didn't like the sound of the stock converters that much. Kinda "meh". I'm using it as a transport only into a Schiit Gungnir. For that, it is excellent. This Onkyo/Gungnir combo is one of the best digital front ends I have ever heard. Very, very analog sounding.

    This Onkyo C-7030 is well built, quiet and smooth operational-wise. Nice remote also.

    At this price, I might pick up another. Or two!
     
  4. The Beave

    The Beave My Wife Is My Life! And don’t I forget it! Thread Starter

    Well the long and short is this: It started with the 7030.
    Then it went to an Onkyo C-7070 ($699 list).
    Then it went to a Marantz CD5001.
    then a CD 5004
    then a CD 6004
    then a NAD C565BEE ($799 list)
    Then it went Back To the C-7030.
    And out of all those other players, with different DAC's and so on......The C-7030 sounded just as good as them.
    NO LIE.
    So I'm back to a $139 over engineered statement player with Wolfson DAC's that kick Ass.
    A fun trip and i'm very Blessed to have been able to do all of those. But the proof is in the pudding.
    Onkyo, for some reason, decided to put out a player for a list of $250 that has the sound of a $1000+ deck.
    Go Figure.
    the beave
     
  5. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    just bought one for $139 free shipping for my garage system. Should be interesting to compare to the many older "higher end" players I have as well as my Pioneer Elite multi player.
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  6. bhazen

    bhazen I Am The Walrus

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    Onkyo makes good stuff. I'm using a C-S5VL (that I got for $180) to supply 1's and 0's to a Rega DAC. When not so employed, it plays SACDs for my entertainment.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2014
  7. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Odd thing, I've seen a few pics of it with gold plated outputs, but most are tin.
     
  8. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I've not had any Onkyo for years, used to have their top of the line TA 2090 cassette deck which was one hell of a deck, outstanding! As well as a gigantic monster power amp with huge meters and a top of the line preamp, but those model numbers escape me for the moment.

    A good, yet cheap CD player, I'm pumped, can't wait until it arrives!
     
  9. Jvalvano

    Jvalvano Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
  10. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I have one of these and it is great. At $139.00 this is truly a bargain. I am thinking this model is going to be discontinued if they are letting them go for this price.
     
  11. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
  12. ls35a

    ls35a Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, Idaho
  13. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I'm sure this unit does as you say, but $400.?? The reason people buy players like the 7030 is because they don't want to spend that much for a cd player. That price doesn't meet their needs.
     
    inperson, Rockos and mikeyt like this.
  14. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Good to know
     
  15. ls35a

    ls35a Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, Idaho
    Or people already have a really good dac and just want a disc spinner. But they want the best sound possible from it.

    I'd say this deck, a re-clocker, a good but not expensive dac ($400-600) and you'd have a setup that would be better than most $1500+ spinners.
     
    bhazen likes this.
  16. gates69

    gates69 Music Junkie

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I already have one but at that price it might not be a bad idea to grab a second one. I think it's a good CD player for what I originally paid and this price is even a better deal.
     
  17. The Beave

    The Beave My Wife Is My Life! And don’t I forget it! Thread Starter

    Guild, you have to post here your findings as I personally am VERY interested in comparing the 7030 to some older (pre 2005) players. Just to see if my hunch is right about the massive upgrade in DAC's after 2005. Thanks in advance!
    the beave
     
  18. The Beave

    The Beave My Wife Is My Life! And don’t I forget it! Thread Starter

    And again, for $139 it's laughably cheap. But I've opened all mine up and the construction is right up there with the more expensive Marantz's. Hell, they (Onkyo) even 'float' the circuit
    boards!
    And now to Tullman's experience with the Onkyo 7000. I never had the $ for that player so I've never heard it. All the other players I've played with I got by getting them either on Demo or Open Box deals. The 7070 didn't sound significantly better, or even different than the 7030, and even though it had an all aluminum transport/tray, the thing made noise and it didn't have that feel of solidity. So my lesson was be careful what I wish for and sometimes even the same manufacture can cram higher priced guts into a machine (the 7070) in the end I was more impressed with the 7030 because at it's price point, it's just too good hearing the sounds of that Wolfson DAC coming out of a sub $200 deck.
    Here are some pics I pilfered off of Amazon's customer review. Thanks in advance to SSD. A man who knows his electronics.
    61gDi7roehL.jpg
    [​IMG]
     
  19. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I would say that if someone had the budget of $1000-$1500 to spend on a stand alone cd player, the Onkyo 7000R should be on a short list. I love the 7030, but the 7000R is a step above.
     
  20. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I've been looking at this player for awhile now. Plenty of good things said. I have the classic Philips CDB-650 with the TDA-1641 DAC's. It's from 1990 or so and was TOTL back then. Still sounds pretty nice in my bedroom system. Aside from the great price on the Onkyo, do you think it will best the CDB-650?

    Thanks- Ron
     
  21. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Besting is probably not the question. Just to name a few I have some now considered classic CD players, Sansui CDX711, JVC XL-Z1010, Pioneer Elite PD91 & PD65, all had MSRP of over $1,000. They all still work and each one sounds great in their own right, but different. I couldn't say if any one of those bested another.
     
  22. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Ron, I've never heard the Philips CDB-650, but I used to have Denon 1520 cd player and I think the 7030 sounds better. I know the cd transports were made much better in those TOTL cd players from back then, but the DACs are much better right now.
     
    RonW likes this.
  23. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I was wondering if it would sound better being a newer DAC set. In general. I guess it's a poor question.
     
  24. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    That's what I was thinking. I bought the Marantz SA-8003 for that very reason. I know it's a league higher but still...

    I'm thinking the same with the Onkyo time wise it has to sound better. Don't know.
     
  25. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    IMO, it should sound better. I paid $800 for the Denon in 1988 which is built beautifully and lasted for years and years, but the 7030 sounds better.
     
    RonW likes this.

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