are high $ CD BD players worth it?.

[mtrycrafts]

... I too, don't like them and I actually think I begin looking for sounds that are or aren't there. ....

You mean in a sighted test you don't look for sounds not there in the other player?

 

[adwilk]

You mean in a sighted test you don't look for sounds not there in the other player?

Never said I didn't.... But DBT to try to find "differences" that just don't exist for me is a waste of time. For speakers- where I'm trying to find a "preference", it works just fine. Huge difference.

 

[cpp]

When you've spent nearly $1,000 plus on a CD player or more you're probably going to be predisposed to think it sounds better , I guess it's like cables, those $1000 a piece speaker cables sure sound great, ya right

I picked up a Rega Apollo years ago that was used by a dealer for years, got the unit for $350. Sure it's got a highly advanced servo controller, has great jog or vibration resistance, low noise, uses Wolfson WM8740 Sigma Delta 24bit DAC with differential outputs and it uses a Class A' output stage but does it sound any different than my Oppo 93, Nope nada and it doesn't sounds any different than my old Sony ES player, nope

 

[Irvrobinson]

There were some published in these:

Masters, Ian G 'Do All CD Players Sound the Same?' Stereo review, Jan 1986, pg 50-57.

Pohlmann, Ken C. '6 Top CD Players: Can You Hear the Difference?' Stereo Review, Dec 1988, pg 76-84.

Pohlmann, Ken C. 'The New CD Players: Can You Hear the Difference?' Stereo Review, Oct 1990, pg 60-67.


Sure they are old players but DBT detected the differences in a statistically significant degree. And one test not published in a magazine but in a club newsletter discovered a broken digit in a 14 bit player
Today's players are much more difficult to differentiate if not impossible.

I can't find the content of those articles online, but hilariously they are used in this thread on the AVS Forum to prove otherwise (which is what I thought the results were):

The "Official" All CD Players Sound the Same Thread - AVS Forum

And I remember reading them when they were first published, and I also remember the outcry they caused from some audiophiles.

Do you have reprints and can you provide quotes supporting your assertion? If so, I'll eat crow.

 

[Irvrobinson]

When you've spent nearly $1,000 plus on a CD player or more you're probably going to be predisposed to think it sounds better , I guess it's like cables, those $1000 a piece speaker cables sure sound great, ya right

Not for me, and I've spent a lot more than $1000 on a CD player. (Well, it is also a pre-amp, but I doubt that's a convincing argument for the price level. )

I've never noticed a difference in sound between cables of any sort, but for amps and CD players I have been convinced enough to spend a lot on the differences. Not that I thought I could tell by just switching back and forth. The differences were always much more subtle than that. Only in the case of a Samsung DVD player was it so obvious I could tell immediately, and I have suspected something is not right about that unit.

I still have an old Sony pre-amp from about 1990 that has a DAC built in, it's an ES product, so it's no wimp, and, in some way that's difficult to describe, it sounds more harsh than the expensive CD player. I'm willing to admit the difference might be imagined, but I'm not going to force myself to listen to something I feel is inferior just over a little money and theory.

Perhaps my most annoying experience in "differences that shouldn't be there" were with amps, not CD players. In the '80s I bought a PS Audio 200Cx. It was an awesome solid state 200w/ch amp, and I was happy with it. I was using ADS speakers at the time. I didn't think there were significant differences between well-designed solid state amplifiers, and I dismissed notions that there were. By chance I found a pair of mint Krell monoblocks (KMA100-MKII if that means anything to anyone) at an awesome price in an estate sale. I intended to resell them in the audiophile market for a profit. Just to make sure the Krells worked I hooked them up to the ADSs. Much to my surprise, and chagrin, I thought the Krells sounded better. There was no reason why they should, and I was convinced there couldn't really be a difference. After a few days I just gave up and put the PS Audio amp in a closet and kept the Krells in the system. I used them happily for years. Was there really an audible difference?

I've just come to the conclusion that if your mind wants to form preferences that make no sense it is sometimes easier just to indulge yourself than suffer over perceived impossibilities. I know people that think there are differences worth paying for in cigars, whiskey, and wine, and I can't appreciate any of them. I think those folks are wasting their money. Perhaps we both are, but we're having fun while we're wasting it.

 

[3db]

That is a valid reason to buy them after all, some paintings go for 7 and 8 figures

Gee looking at it that way, its a downright bargain. Should I aim for something higher in cost?

 

[mtrycrafts]

I can't find the content of those articles online, but hilariously they are used in this thread on the AVS Forum to prove otherwise (which is what I thought the results were):

The "Official" All CD Players Sound the Same Thread - AVS Forum

And I remember reading them when they were first published, and I also remember the outcry they caused from some audiophiles.

Do you have reprints and can you provide quotes supporting your assertion? If so, I'll eat crow.

Support the assertions that some sound different? Of course I have them in print. Not sure if I am interested in re-reading them and pulling out what I think might satisfy you. Inter library loans should have them. Your turn to do some research, no?
The 1990 paper didn't show a difference except a maybe between a Philips and a Technics with a fade to zero test tone, 700 out of 100 trials.

The 1988 paper showed that the Cambridge CD2 was statistically different against the Denon DCD 1520, against the Sony 707 ESD, and against the Yamaha CDX 110U.
In the same paper the Tanberg 3015A was different from the Denon and the Sony. So, you do have at least two players there that were identified as being audibly different.

The 1986 showed the Sony CDP 101 different with test signals but not with music as was a Carver CD player and an Emerson player.

 

[djreef]

Maybe from aesthetics department, high end players are better. They may sound marginally better but I think its well into the point of diminshing returms. If I had spare cash to burn, I would buy this one just on looks alone.

I wouldn't. That fricker looks like it's about to jump on my neck!

DJ

 

[Adam]

I wouldn't. That fricker looks like it's about to jump on my neck!

DJ

Eeeee...you're right. You just gave me the creeps!

I thought that it looked really cool before. You just saved me a ton of cash.

 

[djreef]

I know people that think there are differences worth paying for in cigars, whiskey, and wine, and I can't appreciate any of them. I think those folks are wasting their money. Perhaps we both are, but we're having fun while we're wasting it.

Thank you for not mentioning scotch. You'd be fighting right now if you had.

DJ

 

[adwilk]

Thank you for not mentioning scotch. You'd be fighting right now if you had.

DJ

All scotch is the same. It all gets you drunk. Try to keep the gloves up.

 

[Adam]

Try to keep the gloves up.

No mention of pants, I see...

 

[adwilk]

Hey, if he wants to fight sans pants, well... he's had too much scotch.

 

[Adam]

Hey, if he wants to fight sans pants, well... he's had too much scotch.

Or not enough. Enough to drop trou, but not enough to get over wanting to fight.

Wait, wasn't this thread about disc players? Oh, well...

 

[adwilk]

 

[Adam]

Awesome! Simply awesome. I'm still laughing so hard that I'm typing during pauses...

 

[djreef]

I'm laughing so hard I'd **** my pants if I were wearing any.

DJ

 

[Irvrobinson]

Thank you for not mentioning scotch. You'd be fighting right now if you had.

DJ

But there are dramatic differences between scotches. So why would I put scotch on a list with weeds and grape juice?

 

[adwilk]

So why would I put scotch on a list with weed and purple drink?

Does anybody else think this sounds offensively racist?

 

[Adam]

Come now - there are big differences in wine. Saying there aren't would be like saying that Coke and Sprite taste the same. Don't get me wrong...I can't comment on the subtle nuances of apricot in something. I just know that I like some and don't like others.