CD Players with Audiophile Sound

[Squishman]

I am looking to upgrade my CD player from a Teac CD-P650 to something with audiophile sound, but under $500. I understand there may be some options. I will look in the used market as well as new. I am wondering if you guys have any recommendations. So far I have looked into Yamaha CD-S303, NAD C 538 and Cambridge Audio AXC35.

 

[Squishman]

The NAD does not play USB, so gotta skip that unit.

 

[Squishman]

Nor does the Cambridge. So it's the Yamaha so far.

 

[ryanosaur]

What is it you're are trying to find exactly by specifying "audiophile" sound?

If you want a player which includes built-in DAC, I would honestly look at a Blu-ray player that can do SACD as well. Otherwise, you are looking at Transports which are much more expensive, usually.

Thing is when dealing with digital format, there should be no SQ issues assuming the product is well designed and built. Myself, I use my Blu-ray and am very satisfied with it.

YMMV

 

[m. zillch]

I am looking to upgrade my CD player from a Teac CD-P650 to something with audiophile sound, but under $500. I understand there may be some options. I will look in the used market as well as new. I am wondering if you guys have any recommendations. So far I have looked into Yamaha CD-S303, NAD C 538 and Cambridge Audio AXC35.

They differ in features but all competent CD players sound the same playing music CDs.

 

[Squishman]

They differ in features but all competent CD players sound the same playing music.

Really? I asked the Google robots this. Is that all hogwash? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=is+there+an+audible+difference+between+Teac+CD_P650+and+Yamaha+CD-S303?&atb=v509-1&ia=web

 

[Squishman]

From the googles: "The Yamaha CD-S303 offers superior sound quality with features like a high-performance DAC and Pure Direct mode, which minimizes noise interference. In contrast, the Teac CD-P650 provides good sound quality but lacks some advanced features found in the Yamaha model, such as sophisticated circuitry and enhanced playback options".
Is the high performance DAC a huge upgrade over the Teac? Or probably not?

 

[Squishman]

Another issue is that the Teac only has an optical out (line too of course). My AVR has only one optical in and it is in use and I'm not changing that. So it is hooked up via line-level. The Yam has co-ax and optical. And I have an open co-ax in on my AVR. That must be something to consider. Is it not? Line has got to be inferior even to the human ear, correct?

 

[m. zillch]

Really? I asked the Google robots this. Is that all hogwash? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=is+there+an+audible+difference+between+Teac+CD_P650+and+Yamaha+CD-S303?&atb=v509-1&ia=web

Ai has no intelligence (nor human ear to conduct listening tests); it merely spits out what it's read online and the vast majority of consumers (and professional reviewers) have fallen for the marketing lie that competent CD players sound different.

Would I be correct in assuming your concern is how they sound to you,? or do you have some other interest in buying one, say, you aspire to get one that measures better than what you have when connected to your analyzer?

 

[TLS Guy]

Really? I asked the Google robots this. Is that all hogwash? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=is+there+an+audible+difference+between+Teac+CD_P650+and+Yamaha+CD-S303?&atb=v509-1&ia=web

Don't waste your money. If the digital disc player has a digital out, which they just about all do, and you make a digital connection to your AVR, then it will make NO difference to the sound quality which ever your pick. And in fact there is 'Perry's' maxim, that the ability of a disc player to play all discs is inversely proportional to its cost.

Mac know that, as when I had to to a service on my late friend's Mac disc player, the disc laser reader was the cheapest Sanyo on the market! The player cost thousands though!

So your endeavor is pointless, and a total waste of money. So don't go down that audiophool money pit. It is absolutely akin to high cost speaker cables. Same nonsense, different chapter.

 

[Squishman]

Ai has no intelligence, it mere spits out what it's read online and the vast majority of consumers have fallen for the marketing lie that competent CD players sound different.

Would I be correct in assuming your concern is how they sound to you, or do you have some other interest in buying one, say, you aspire to get one that measures better than what you have when connected to your analyzer?

Look at my post above concerning co-ax over line. That should be a consideration, correct?
And yeah, I just want the best posible sound without paying a ton.

 

[Squishman]

Don't waste your money. If the digital disc player has a digital out, which they just about all do, and you make a digital connection to your AVR, then it will make NO difference to the sound quality which ever your pick. And in fact there is 'Perry's' maxim, that the ability of a disc player to play all discs is inversely proportional to its cost.

Mac know that, as when I had to to a service on my late friend's Mac disc player, the disc laser reader was the cheapest Sanyo on the market! The player cost thousands though!

So your endeavor is pointless, and a total waste of money. So don't go down that audiophool money pit. It is absolutely akin to high cost speaker cables. Same nonsense, different chapter.

Well, I'm not connected digitally. Read above. Tell me if that is something to consider. I think it might be!

 

[Squishman]

Ai has no intelligence (nor human ear to conduct listening tests); it merely spits out what it's read online and the vast majority of consumers

Well duh! Anyone with a brain knows that AI searches what's been said on the interwebs.

 

[m. zillch]

Usually I prefer, at least conceptually in an ideal world, to keep signals digital for as long as possible and convert to analog only at the last possible moment, so yes, transmitting from the CD player to the AVR digitally potentially has some minor (possible) advantages.

If you have only one form of S/PDIF digital out on a device but need the other because you've run out of that type on your AVR, they can be converted between easily with a small device such as this. [It's likely more affordable elsewhere, but I haven't looked into it.]

 

[Squishman]

Usually I prefer to keep signals digital for as long as possible and convert to analog only at the last possible moment, so yes, transmitting from the CD player to the AVR digitally potentially has minor advantages.

If you have only one form of digital out but need the other because you've run out of that type on the AVR they can be converted easily with a device such as this.

That's great. Cheaper way to go! If I get that converter, would it be as good of an upgrade (as far as to my almost 66 year-old ears) as getting the Yamaha player?

 

[m. zillch]

If you aren't hearing any faint hiss in playback pause mode from using the analog outs of the existing TEAC CD player in the first place, as I'd expect, then I highly doubt there will be any audible consequences in buying anything new at all, for your existing setup.

 

[Eppie]

Think about how long CD players have been in production. It's not new technology. DAC chips have been produced for decades. The line out from most players will be identical because it is mature technology. As TLS Guy mentioned, there are only a few suppliers of laser pickups. I have watched a lot of CD repair videos by Spare Time Repair and the expensive CD players use the same Sony or Phillips, etc. pickups that the cheaper players use. As long as it tracks without skipping, it's fine.

If you are using line out, the only comparison to make is between DAC chips, but finding out which DAC chip a player uses can be a chore. And then you have to research which DAC chips were poor performers and which are rated highly. There are a lot of different chips out there! If you can use the COAX connection then the point is mute as the AVR DAC takes over. And if you use any digital processing at all (which is pretty much any mode that is not Stereo Direct or Pure) then it gets converted to digital, processed and then converted back to analogue by the AVR DAC.

Blue-ray players are a good choice because they support all formats and the tolerance on reading blue-ray is much tighter than CDs, so any blue-ray will play CDs perfectly. And if you stick to one of the popular models recommended on the forums, like the Sony, they come with decent DAC chips any way.

Personally, I think it's much ado about nothing. The crappy DAC chips are few and far between and few would ever notice the difference between those and say the top ESS Saber DACs. And if you use any digital processing in the AVR, the AVR's internal DAC has the final say in the matter regardless.

 

[Squishman]

Think about how long CD players have been in production. It's not new technology. DAC chips have been produced for decades. The line out from most players will be identical because it is mature technology. As TLS Guy mentioned, there are only a few suppliers of laser pickups. I have watched a lot of CD repair videos by Spare Time Repair and the expensive CD players use the same Sony or Phillips, etc. pickups that the cheaper players use. As long as it tracks without skipping, it's fine.

If you are using line out, the only comparison to make is between DAC chips, but finding out which DAC chip a player uses can be a chore. And then you have to research which DAC chips were poor performers and which are rated highly. There are a lot of different chips out there! If you can use the COAX connection then the point is mute as the AVR DAC takes over. And if you use any digital processing at all (which is pretty much any mode that is not Stereo Direct or Pure) then it gets converted to digital, processed and then converted back to analogue by the AVR DAC.

Blue-ray players are a good choice because they support all formats and the tolerance on reading blue-ray is much tighter than CDs, so any blue-ray will play CDs perfectly. And if you stick to one of the popular models recommended on the forums, like the Sony, they come with decent DAC chips any way.

Personally, I think it's much ado about nothing. The crappy DAC chips are few and far between and few would ever notice the difference between those and say the top ESS Saber DACs. And if you use any digital processing in the AVR, the AVR's internal DAC has the final say in the matter regardless.

Thx Eppie. The one optical input on my AVR is TV sound for broadcast TV from my outdoor antenna, which is local news and Vikings games and that is about all I ever need it for. So that is the optical output from the TV. I just talked to TLS Guy on the phone and he suggested I free up that optical input by using eARC, which I haven't been using. My brain is having trouble reconciling how do I watch local channels and get the audio with eArc? Streaming TV is from my Firestick that is connected to an HDMI input on the AVR so that won't change. What am I missing or not understanding here? Sorry, it sounds so lame that I can't get this reconciled!

 

[Squishman]

....... what I cannot reconcile is how is the TV sound getting to my AVR with eArc. Obviously through that hdmi cable. But what input do I select for antenna TV? I cannot find what to change in settings on the AVR.

 

[j_garcia]

The TV can be set to send a fixed signal via eArc (dts, Dolby or PCM usually), so no matter what the input signal is, it will feed back a signal the AVR can handle. And it should work even for antenna I believe. You are basically using the TV to process the audio signal.