Recommended CD players & 0dBFS

[tbewick]

I was thinking of buying a new CD player and I would appreciate any recommendations.

I was considering the Marantz 5400 because it's quite cheap. I've also heard that the Cambridge Audio Azur 640C is good (What Hi-Fi?), but it's almost double the price of the Marantz.

I'm also confused over the distortion ratings given for CD players. The Marantz has a THD rating while a £1000+ Naim player rates distortion from 20Hz-20kHz. What's the difference?

Oh, one more thing, I found the article on how CD's are poorly mastered these days rather hard to believe. There didn't seem to be any good evidence for this 'digital clipping' distortion, apart from a Cool Edit waveform from a pop CD. Artists may choose to distort the music for effect.

[zumbo]

I would choose a model from Yamaha or Denon. I have had the same Yamaha cd player for many years and I prefer it over my new Yamaha dvd-a player on 2-channel cd playback.

[nibhaz]

The offerings from Denon seem to be the hot ticket in these forums, and for good reason base on the reviews that I've read.

Though I haven't read any articles on poor cd mastering these days, my own experience has led me to believe that this is the case. I’ve found that many of today’s offerings have had the recording levels set to high, and poor sound stage presentation when listened to in stereo. I concede that that some artist might choose to distort their material. But for most I'm left with the question why make your material sound like crap? Unless you're trying to hide some deficiency in the material you are producing....