Best CD player under 400$

[jeanseb]

I recently listened to my friend's B&O CD player and I saw the difference right away. In your opinion, what's the best CD player to hook on a RX-V1600? (under 400$)?

 

[mtrycrafts]

I recently listened to my friend's B&O CD player and I saw the difference right away. In your opinion, what's the best CD player to hook on a RX-V1600? (under 400$)?

What do you have now? If you have one, is it capable of digital audio to the 1600? If so, just stick with that. It appears that the design and looks of that B&O may have biased your perceptions Well designed CD players should be transparent and most are.

 

[jeanseb]

I use my PS3 connected via HDMI to play my CDs... Should I stick with that?

 

[BMXTRIX]

I use my PS3 connected via HDMI to play my CDs... Should I stick with that?

The real question is...

Did your friend bring his B&O over to your home and play it on your speakers?

Did you take your PS3 to his house and try the same CDs through his speakers?

If he has a better all around audio setup, then your PS3 may not be the issue.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I use my PS3 connected via HDMI to play my CDs... Should I stick with that?

Bring that B&O over to your place as BMX.... suggested
But, you need to somehow match the volumes of the two players.

 

[jeanseb]

The difference I noticed was between his DVD player (Optical Out) and the B&O player... Maybe it was psychological

 

[mtrycrafts]

The difference I noticed was between his DVD player (Optical Out) and the B&O player... Maybe it was psychological

Most likely or setup differences. No reason for audible differences unless that B&O is intentionally designed euphonic which I doubt.

 

[jostenmeat]

I use my PS3 connected via HDMI to play my CDs... Should I stick with that?

I can't believe I remembered this, but I quickly found something. A guy I respect, if only because he seemed to be the most avid reviewer of new BD titles for a long while at the AVS New Tier thread, said that the optical output of 2.0 pcm at 1.5mps sucked. I have no idea if that affects cd playback. But.... stick with HDMI....?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=14000777&postcount=8

 

[Soundman]

I recently listened to my friend's B&O CD player and I saw the difference right away. In your opinion, what's the best CD player to hook on a RX-V1600? (under 400$)?

It hasn't been released yet, but hear that it should be out this month. This is what I've heard so far:

1. 24 bit processor with 384 x oversampling. (Most 'high end' players are 24 bit with 192 x oversampling)

2. Frequency response is 5hz to...absolute daylight. from 20hz to 20khz, it's flat as a board.

3. 4 independent power supplies, to drive each section of the unit separately. (1. CD carriage/2. digital portion/3. analogue portion/4. display) This prevents the different sections from interacting and causing noise.

4. The CD drive mechanism and the digital portion of the audio is encased in a steel substructure that shields it 100% from the audio stages. No noise from the mechanism or digital portion can get into the audio.

5. The audio board itself is fully isolated from the power supply and digital poritons and offers a fully discrete output stage, capable of producing 7 volts of output (no wimpy 2 volt output here!).

6. Sexy slot-load system with halo lighting.

7. Halo lighting brightens during functions like fast forward, next, previous, etc., them dims to low setting within a few seconds.

8. Remote control.

No official weight yet, but we think somewhere around 30 pounds...

Price: $399!

 

[Soundman]

I hope this post was not taken the wrong way. I didn't mean this was the best CD player on the planet, but looking at the specs, built quality, etc, it was about the best I could find for $400. Also, I just found out it won't be released until February. Maybe someone will chime in with some other options if you can't wait that long.

 

[allargon]

I can't believe I remembered this, but I quickly found something. A guy I respect, if only because he seemed to be the most avid reviewer of new BD titles for a long while at the AVS New Tier thread, said that the optical output of 2.0 pcm at 1.5mps sucked. I have no idea if that affects cd playback. But.... stick with HDMI....?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=14000777&postcount=8

Weird...all the audiohpiles that "tolerate" digital seem to hate HDMI. They seem to prefer coax and Toslink. I wonder if the PS3 has the same skipping issues with CD's that the early Toshiba players had before firmware updates fixed the issues. It doesn't read like he's talking about jitter, either.

 

[project86]

I can't believe I remembered this, but I quickly found something. A guy I respect, if only because he seemed to be the most avid reviewer of new BD titles for a long while at the AVS New Tier thread, said that the optical output of 2.0 pcm at 1.5mps sucked. I have no idea if that affects cd playback. But.... stick with HDMI....?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=14000777&postcount=8

That refers only to someone downmixing a PCM track to 2 channel and using the optical out. Example: watching "The Patriot" on Blu-ray, but only having a stereo speaker setup and no HDMI on your AVR, so you downmix the PCM 5.1 mix to 2 channels.

A very unlikely scenario, as the vast majority of titles with PCM tracks also have a standard DD or DTS track. And it certainly has nothing to do with standard CD playback.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I hope this post was not taken the wrong way. I didn't mean this was the best CD player on the planet, but looking at the specs, built quality, etc, it was about the best I could find for $400. Also, I just found out it won't be released until February. Maybe someone will chime in with some other options if you can't wait that long.

It certainly looks very nice

 

[Soundman]

It certainly looks very nice

Sure does. If there other products are anything to go by, I think it's a safe bet it will perform pretty well.