Tell me about your cd player.

First ..chunky Philips top loader
late eighties cold steel,
sterile sound.

 

Studer D730 purchased in 1994.

 

Just to remind people please talk about your current cd player (by all means talk about your previous players ) but leave out anything to do with cassette/vinyl/computer audio. Thanks.

 

In 1992 I went to buy some music of my favourite artist and found it was no longer available on vinyl, just CD, so I bought that CD but had nothing to play it on!

A short while later I bought a second hand Pioneer CD Player of some sort. I knew nothing of its technicalities, just that it would play my one CD. Eventually it was clear that vinyl was dying a death and I bought further CDs.

In 1996 I bought a Marantz CD-63 KI Signature costing around £600 (along with equivalent level amp and speakers) and started to become more conscious of hi-fi quality. This was a well thought of player and I liked it. I was still playing vinyl too but CD was starting to dominate.

It wasn't until around 2004 and my access to the internet that I started buying CDs of the albums I had on vinyl. I also came in to some money and heard the most stunning system to my ears which included a TEAC P/70 CD Transport and D/70 DAC. With more money than sense probably I bought a set (cost £8,000 as they were demo models - MRP £10,000). A couple of years later I bought a good amp and speakers, racks, conditioner cables...... And it still goes on!

I stopped playing records completely and in 2008 I got rid of all of them except a few for nostalgic reasons or unavailable on CD.

I'm still listening to just Red Book CDs (I do have a PC based headphone system too) and still extracting better sound by improving positioning, room acoustic treatment, and currently, isolation.

I don't see the need to change the medium I use or my CD Transport or DAC until something goes wrong.

http://www.stereotimes.com/cdp061704.shtml

 

First CD player was a Marantz CD52 Mk II. Very popular in its day (circa 1992/3) it was later superceded by the CD63 which went in turn to spawn a special edition model and then the now famous CD63-MK II KI-Signature, which represented the first of the Ken Ishiwata branded players and amps. The 52 was a fine player, great sound and for a good price (£250). Still stacks up pretty well now, as I found when I picked up an SE model last year for throwaway money.

Had several players over the years, but at the moment, I have an AVI Laboratory Series CD player that came out around ten years ago. £1500 on release, I found a mint model up in Aberdeen last summer and couldn't get up there quick enough to get it. The guy sold it for a great price and even with the petrol money, it came out cheaper than used hifi dealers sell similar models now by a good £200. Build is terrific, sound quality likewise. A few nice shots here and that unbranded handset is excellent - robust, good feel in the hand and works a treat - oh that they were all like that:-

 

My first was a very basic TEAC PD-135 in the late 80's which lasted a long time until I got myself a Linn Classik all in one system around 2003. Last year I changed to the lovely solid/slim size TEAC PD-H600 which I hope will be my last player (I'll just upgrade DAC in future).

 

My piece of junk needs replacing. It jams at track 2 for some reason.
My car player sometimes refuses to play CD-Rs.
Drives me nuts.

 

After a lengthy deliberation - as is wont with me - I purchased my first CD player in March 1987. It was rather a cheap and cheerful Kenwood, very basic all in all, but nevertheless seemingly capable of performing miracles as far as audio reproduction was concerned. However, my Kenwood developed all sorts of minor malfunctions after just a couple of years' use, so around 1989-90 I upgraded to a less cheap and even more cheerful Sony player (sadly, I have forgotten the model, but it had a rather nice programmable custom index function to boot). I was very happy with my Sony, so when it eventually needed replacing, it was with another Sony model (this time with SACD playback). When this player finally bowed out, I tried a NAD M5, which ended up being the only piece of audio equipment I've ever owned that I have had to take back to the dealer. Exasperated, I then shelled out for an Esoteric X-05; it cost me an arm and a leg, but was most certainly worth it. I wish it will outlive me and that I will never have to contemplate buying another CD player again.

Apart from my main system in the living room, I've had a secondary set-up in my 'study' for about 20 years now. Owing to circumstances, at times quite a considerable deal of my listening takes place here. At first I only had my portable CD player hooked up to an amplifier. The next step was to use players relegated from the living room, until I finally began purchasing equipment straight to the study. The first all-new item in this set-up was a Denon SACD player, but after a while that had to go, because I wanted to add a player with the DVD/Blu-ray audio capability into one of my systems and there was no way I could have even contemplated parting with the X-05. My current secondary player is Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD, another purchase I have been very happy with.

Like The Good Guy said, "I love CD, it's ease of use and absence of surface noise, scratch free sound. Nothing nicer than to just put on a disc, relax and float downstream...". My sentiments exactly! Yes, I already did quote this once, but every now and then one bumps into thoughts that bear repeating. I love CD, too.

 

Pioneer PD 75

Pioneer PD 91

Pioneer PDF 19
Here are examples of a few of the CD players I have (Pioneer Elites) There is also a PDM 77 I could not find an image for...
The PD 75 gets the most use in my main system which is all Pioneer Elite stuff. They are just not making units like these any longer all were MADE IN JAPAN
And this Pioneer Elite Dv 45A is a great unit for SACD / DVD-A list was $549.00 but can be picked up used for $25.00 - $50.00 (because it's not Blu-Ray.)

 

And with the Fisher 800c pictured to the left here I use this Marantz DV 6400 which has CD DVD-A and SACD capability.
And this SD 4050 cassette deck too, so this rig is Fisher/Empire/Marantz (and Klipsch)

 

Panasonic SL-241C. It's a portable that I still use today at my desk for CDs I have not (or cannot) rip to my computer. I have my original and two cheap backups I got used in case it dies. Will probably pick up a couple more. Only recently used the line out with a portable headphone amp. Sounds even better that way.

 

Despite a big vinyl collection I chose in 1985 allready for the cd player. I knew I'm a big collector of music and too much vinyl would push me - one day - away out of my own appartment. Cds are more easy to collect, isn't it?

After some mid-fi cd players of Kenwood, I chose two years ago for real hi-fi:

I purchased a Bow Technologies ZZ-8 (see avatar), an amazing great and elegant toploader from someone close to the designer Lars Moltke and travelled even for that by car from Holland to Copenhagen, Denmark. It was completely new and it had even the internals of the ZZ-9 which never came up. It was never commercialized while it was been put on hold by the company which bought Bow Technologies some years ago. Of my blueprint model there are just three of them around, so I read later.

For my SACD's I purchased - almost at the same time - a fine McIntosh MCD301. I use this also sometimes for playing cds while my Bow... can't read cds with pre-emphasis. Real odd, but I have forgiven my Bow ZZ-8 for that because of his great sonics and beauty.

 

I started with a Technics CD player in 1985. I got it as soon as the price got down near $200. It started to skip occasionally, so in 1989 I got the DBX DC-5 CD player. It was notable for having an 'over easy' compressor, ambience control and some peak unlimiting--sounded amazing, but it would not reliably play CDRs (I don't think the laser was designed for the lower reflectivity of a CDR).

From 1992-96 I used a portable Magnavox (Phillips) CD player in the car with a cassette adapter. Yeah--ugh. But it sounded amazingly good and I wasn't able to cut or drill the leased "company car" I drove then, so I made do with it. I drove over 105,000 miles in 3 years listening to that portable. Some of my oldest CDs took a beating at this time, between young kids and the car treatment.

By 1996, I used a PC connected to my stereo for a few years in the '90s, then got a Panasonic DVD burner around 2000 and my CD listening was on that Panny in a 2.0 setup.

By 2003, I had been into miniDiscs using a portable player and purchased a Sony MDP-400, a dual deck with miniDisc and CD. I still use that on one system, via the optical out to a DAC.

This spring, I got an Oppo 103D. It is a wonderful piece of engineering and a joy to hear and own. I only have a couple of SACDs and Blu Ray audio discs and I am being cautious about buying them because of the cost and the possibility that they will go extinct in the marketplace. The Oppo has brought enjoyment back into listening to my old Redbook CDs and CDR burns, though, and would be worth having just for the excellent sound quality. The DVD and Blu Ray performance on the 103D are unreal too.

 

That's one nice looking machine!!!

 

Current player is a Rega Apollo R. Prior players include mostly lower to middle models from: Marantz, Pioneer, NAD, Sony, Yamaha and Onkyo.

 

Well, it's hard to ignore your OP where you imply that vinyl is filled with surface noise and scratches. I guess I could start a thread where in the first post I say that all CDs are harsh, ear-splitting wastes of time but please don't talk about CDs...just talk about the merits of vinyl.

I have an Oppo BDP-83 that has had issues from the beta version I bought. Oppo would never replace it so I'm stuck with a machine that I must leave a disc in at all times or the tray refuses to open. It also refuses to open if a blank CDr happens to be placed in it. I have to take the entire player apart when that happens. I also hate that modern players don't have what was considered basic features way back when...randomize, program tracks, etc. It also doesn't allow for switching between stereo and multi-channel without restarting the disc. Sounds good though.

 

What attracted me to it is the wonderfully smooth and clear upper frequencies. For some odd reason I sometimes miss that edge. I'll say this, though - I stop noticing how the player sounds after a few minutes. It sounds totally right, after I stop dwelling on it.

 

Some of the models I have owned over the years:

 

The first cd player in the house was from my son in the late 80's, made by Kenwood.
When my son moved out i came out with +- 150 cd ' s without a cd player.
It was a difficult matter to find a cd player with the sound i like, after months of listining i decide to the
MARANTZ CD 80, it was not a cheap player +- 1000 euro.
After more than 20 years (whithout any problems on it) i decide to replace it.(I sold it on Ebay for 200 euro)
Now i have a NORTH STAR DESIGN CD 192 TRANSPORT AND NORTH STAR DESIGN EXTREMO DAC,
and i'm very happy with it.(sounds+- analog ?)
I dont have that many cd's(+-400 )mostly "audiofiele cd's" that are not on vinyl, and i love them and will play them in a very good sound quality.

Vinyl is my first and only love.

 

Thanks for the reminder I have that little Sony portable, or maybe my son does now. I used it in my 92 Accord for years. Great little player.

 

I use a Shanling CD-T1500 SACD in my main system. It has both solid state and tube out puts, along with a tube headphone amp. I used the digital out to a Music Fidelity M1DAC.



In my vintage system, I use a Krell CD-DSP. This unit is from the early 90's but still holds its own with modern day units.

 

Its actually a Panasonic. Had great sound.

 

I've had quite a few since I started collecting CDs (1991). I can't recall all the models, but they all served me well. My last two, are a Denon DVD2930CI (for DVD-V/A purposes only as it's showing problems reading SACDs) and the Sony SCD-XA 5400ES, an excellent CD/SACD player, I couldn't be happier.

 

1. Rega Planet - After Sony, Magnavox, Phillips, Rotel, this was the first CD player I could listen to
2. AH! Tjoeb '99 CDP with Russian "Rocket" tube - technicolor
3. Don Allen modified Magnavox CDC-745 changer - balanced
4. Modified Sony Playstation 1 - least mechanical/digital