Most reliable CD transport? New or vintage?

haha, i almost bought one, but too new for me.

 

I just had a deeeeeep thought moment that I never realized until now. When I compare CD players (and the 1 time I compared "transports"), I nearly always use the CD "Four" by Blues Traveller. Guess how many copies I own? (hint: not three )

 

damn, that's cool. also makes the price seem a little more reasonable. that said, i balked at 250 bucks for a used Planet. This is for a second system: Nakamichi integrated running as pre> Rotel power amp > Snell J's - and Emotiva DAC/Nak Cassette deck.

I've considered the matching Nakamichi CD player just to complete the set, but I don't know anything about them. I got the other two pieces locally for cheap on Craigslist.

 

Won't disagree with this choice, I'd put it in the Top of the Japanese transports, and one of the finest.

 

Quad's 67 CDP (1993), drawer loading, digital out. Mine still works beautifully, 26 years now, although feeds a high-end DAC now.

Apparently the 14 year old Quad 99 CDP-2 is quite good too.

 

Six?

 

I have the Marantz BD8002. CD/BluRay. Excellent. Discontinued so you could likely get a good deal on a used one.

 

The 83 definitely had a widespread issue of the tray not retracting back into the unit without giving it a push.

 

Start at 5:15.



Deeeeeep Thoughts by Jack Handey (#27) and that skit both came from SNL.

 

The Who make an appearance? I don't see that in the video...

 

Reputedly the Linn Karik played for 15 years non-stop on the QEII cruise ship.

 

I can't speak to the long-term reliability of the trays. But Oppo laser failures are just so uncommon that they almost seem like they want to run forever.

However, trays in many players can be fixed with a new belt. And even if you have to give the tray a small nudge to get it to close, that seems like a pretty trivial issue to live with when compared with the failure of a laser which can no longer be sourced.

 

This was happening to brand new players, mine included. Another very weird quirk is that if one happens to insert a blank cd-r, the whole machine has to be taken apart to get the disc back out. I hate my 83. I also have to leave a CD in it at all times because it will not eject without a CD inserted. I got a lemon and they refused to fix it even though I was part of the beta test.

 

The original Philips/Magnavox top loader I got in the early eighties was bulletproof. I eventually gave it to someone who actively used it into the 2000’s.
Personally, over the years I had some pioneer players that had really good transports.
My most disappointing was the Sony SCD1’s transport although I loved it for a long time.

 

Not at this point. That ship has sailed. You either roll the dice with older units on their way out, or with a new DVD or Blu-ray unit. I really don't see the point in a new CD player as a transport these days. The only reason that people buy new CD players is that the DAC rides along with it and it's all integrated. The DAC is really where the innovation is; the transports have become less and less reliable as years have gone by.
-Bill

 

I guess I'll add my $0.02 since my experience applies. I'm still using my Nakamichi CDPlayer4 (Not the higher-end "CD4", mind you) that I bought (new) in or around 1993 - never had any problem with it. Can be bought cheap. 3 years ago I bought an external DAC and it VASTLY improved my experience of the sound. I run coax out the back of the Nak to my DAC, and the Nak works great as a transport. It's been in constant use for 27 years now. (though I'm primarily listening to vinyl the last ten years, so it's "use" is much more infrequent than it once was)

Nakamichi CD Player 4 Stereo Compact Disc Player Manual | HiFi Engine

 

Earlier I mentioned my Quad 67CDP, probably the best CD Player, at any price, I have ever heard.

My very first CD player was a 1982/83 Marantz CD63, the Gold Top loader. It still works to this day, though it doesn't have a Digital Out.

I think these first machines were built to last as they were the flagships of the whole CD revolution. The only other 2 machines available were the Sony CDP101, and the Phillips CD100 (on which the Marantz was based).

 

awesome. Good to know, thanks. It would match my Receiver 3 and CassetteDeck 2. I’ll keep an eye out for one.

 

Trouble is, newer players haven't had the chance to establish any form with regard to reliability over long periods.

I couldn't find a bad word written about the Audiolab 6000CDT transport from a couple of years ago, so who knows how that will be regarded in 15 years. TEAC designed a completely new transport for it's CD200 series from a few years ago as well, so who knows ?

I guess one positive is that some companies feel it's still an area worth devoting some time to.

 

I have a California Audio Labs CD player from 1996 that is still going strong and sounds very tube like. Weighs a ton and it is a very solid piece of gear. Sometimes I use it as a transport, but it sounds great using the built-in DAC.

 

To be fair, I've only ever had any experience with the 93, 95, 103 and 105. These players have been bulletproof. And these have no problems playing CD-Rs.

So based on all of the positive comments I had read about the 83s, I had assumed that these were similarly well constructed. But perhaps I was mistaken about this...

 

To be clear, a blank cd-r causes this. No issues with ones with recorded music on them. Oppo’s response when I was reporting bugs during beta testing was to not put blank cd-rs in the player. I think the 83 was a sign of better things to come. I just don’t think I’ll get another player until this one dies, that’s why I’ve kept it. I almost exclusively play my digital files from my laptop

 

That is one test which never even occurred to me. But I think that I'll pass on giving it a try just in case...

 

I am rearranging my system (and adding a turntable) and did a transport comparison. Very glad I did bc the NAD 5300 that was in my system but not being used with a DAC, had the best sounding transport when compared to Tascam CD-201, Yamaha CDC-815(carousel changer, TOTL way back when), and Denon DCM-444 (magazine changer). All tested with coax into a Schiit Bifrost 4490. I had been running the Tascam CD-201 and clearly the NAD 5300 has a better sounding transport.

 

I got a Pro-ject Rs2 this weekend. Sound wise it is impressive but it is also the noisiest spinning machine I ever came across. I can listen it spinning 3 to 4 meters away. I don't think I will be able to live with it and never imagined a cd player could be this noisy.