by "warmest", i mean somewhat rolled-off, smooth and forgiving highs, weight and richness in the midband, with lots of full bass...a relaxed, full-bodied, somewhat veiled, pleasant listen compared to most cd players...the opposite of detailed, transparent, and bright. my vote goes to the marantz sa-11s2. i had a heart CD6000SE at one point that was very warm and full sounding. i sold it. years later i bought another one and it didn't sound this way. not sure why. you?
EAR Yoshino Acute Classic. Tube cd players seem to help provide a smoother, more relaxed and inviting sound in my experience.
The Original Rega Planet California Audio Labs was another but I forget the model name. Shanling made a CD player that sounded warm as well but can't remember the model number. The warmest one I have personally owned would be the Line Magnetic CD 215 which I still own. My Cambdridge Audio CD6 (that I purchased over the Rega Planet 2000) is warmer leaning as well. It'll be 25 years old this year. Not bad for a dealer demonstration model that was on all day for a year - has had long stints turned off and then on again for a few years with heavy use then off for a year. Hard on the caps etc. Still going. Last year the LCD screen sparked and died. But hey it still works. Just can't see the info. The side panels are DIY add ons from whoever posted the photo - the original did not have the wood siding.
1. Pioneer PD 91 (imho the best CDP ever built) 2. The original Rega Planet - a keeper because of the analogue sound 3. Quad CD67, not as “warm” as described but as musical and harmonic 4. Heavily modded Philips TDA 1541 players without oversampling sound like that Tube CDP are not a good comparison here, as you can tweak them by rolling tubes, so with some experience it lands where you want it to be. 5. Musical Fidelity CDT or Pan with Telefunken NOS 6. AMR 77 CDP (switched to no oversampling), stock tubes are good
The Resolution Audio CD50. It convinced me CD could sound better than vinyl. Look at those Burr-Brown dac chips:
I purchased a few months ago an Esoteric K-05Xs and this by far the best sounding CD/SACD player I've heard,
Triode TRV-CD4SE. Beautiful machine. Kind of wish I had kept it. Gorgeous gloss red finish on the top and sides. One 6922 tube inside.
Warm sounding? I guess if I had to choose from those I used to have the Sony SCD 1 that I had for quite a while was sort of a Jekyll &Hyde deal that could sound warm at times. Then there was a Pioneer Elite that sounded pretty good and comparatively on the warm side. I guess the Cambridge CXU was on the warm side but sort of “lightweight” lacking some “fullness and depth “. I guess the “warmest” I can recall was a Rega player feeding Lowther speakers producing an unbelievably organic midrange and killer on human voice. I’ve invested a fair amount in digital discs over the years but now I only stream and find that in all respects betters any digital disc based system that I have had in the past. This is my experience anyway.
I'm perhaps mistaken in assuming that out Host's statement was a joke / tongue-in-cheek. Anyway, I dig in a sense -- my CD player(s) (i.e., the Nad, the Rotel, the Musical Fidelity) were all anything but neutral in that they made music sound like sh1t. So I 'sold quick', gave all of my CDs to Goodwill, and got a record player again. Sh1tty, non-neutral-sounding music now exchanged for the warm analogue music I started out with in 1978. It's the only way. Dig?
Arcam FMJ23 (ring dac's) Arcam FMJ CD 23 CD Players user reviews : 5 out of 5 - 49 reviews - audioreview.com They were close to $2500 new. I see them for around $500 10+ years old.
He's right actually. The source should be neutral and detailed. You get your system "tone" from the preamp/amp/speakers. Not the source. Although ive not always followed this, especially if you have a system already.
The source is “what it is” and the job of the rest of the system is to reproduce the source as faithfully as possible. The amplification stages should add as little distortion as possible when doing their job and today’s equipment can achieve a very high standard in this respect. I believe most distortion originates with the transducers. It doesn’t matter how distorted the source signal is cause it’s the job of the “system” to reproduce the originating signal distortions of that source faithfully, not to correct them.
My Denon is more neutral than my Triode was, but I'm not sure I'd say that it's more enjoyable. Oh, it's very good and it's been my primary source for something like 7 years now, and it plays SACD's, which the Triode couldn't, but I think the Triode was simply more fun to listen to if I am being honest about it. But the Denon is warm, but not always warm (depending on the recording), it's clear, open, and detailed. So I think it's pretty honest, whereas the Triode did color the sound to a degree. But it was fun to hear that. Maybe I'm wrong, but it all starts at the source, and your amp and speakers are just going to reproduce that signal (of course adding certain distortions), but that is the signal they get to work with, so it should be the best signal possible. If you get the best source signal you can, and if you get a source that sounds how you want music to sound, I'm thinking you stand a better chance at getting the sound you want coming out of your speakers vs. starting with a source that doesn't sound appealing to you and then trying to fix it. But I'm guessing Steve is talking about using a high quality neutral source that sounds really good in it's own right, and then adding extra warmth if you want that via the amp and/or speakers. Can't really argue with that approach. The end result is what matters.
The only problem left ... what is neutral? How do you know it’s neutral? Every CD Player sounds different, sometimes grossly different But the frequency response is always completely flat So there must be more behind ...
+1 for the original Rega Planet. A device that met Rega's design brief in spades (they weren't going to make a CD deck until they could design one that equalled the musical performance of their turntables.) A truly addictive sound. I've owned two, sadly the transports failed in both (they were used). How I wish they'd "reissue" it -- but maybe the parts are no longer available(?)
I believe "neutral" lacks any colorization. I find "neutral" usually rather dull and not engaging. I dont believe frequency response is anything to look at for differences. Basically everything exceeds what's necessary. I believe its in the out-put circuits mostly. How its handled and what type it is. I think first the Speakers dictate the overall presentation. I think secondly the Preamp is going to determine the texture, soundstage and presence of the material. I think thirdly the amplifier will determine dynamics, speed and weight. I think the source is best to be as neutral as one can accept, without being lifeless. I think using the Source to make these changes is the wrong approach overall but usually easiest and most cost effective. But if the wanted differences is beyond a subtle change or shift in presentation then you need to consider changing components downstream.
