Stand alone CD player or CD/DVD??

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Sanco

41 posts

Geek
Inactive user

#128584 15-Aug-2013 13:43

I searched the fora and could not find a thread discussing this subject - if there are already then my apologies.

My Denon DVD/CD player is struggling to reproduce quality audio in the last few weeks and I think it is the laser failing. Time to upgrade.

I am tossing whether to buy another DVD/CD player, thus risking poor quality audio reproduction or go for separate units (DVD players are cheap these days) and get a dedicated CD player.

I understand a dedicated CD player would give better audio output and this is important to me.

My questions are:

* Buy a separate CD player or are there combos that would guarantee me very good sound output for my cds?

* Which players/brands are recommended in either case? (do not want to spend thousands, so leave the variuos plinius' out please).

In essence any recommendation, including the best way to set a cd player up (cabling also) would be majorly appreciated.

Regards

Roberto

ilovemusic

1439 posts

Uber Geek

#879047 15-Aug-2013 18:52

What's the rest of your system ?

Do you want just music playback or are you wanting a one box music + movies solution ?

Budget ?

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#879189 15-Aug-2013 23:24

I think the jump between an 'okay' performing BluRay / multidisc player and a brilliant one is a BIG financial step up. The $250 BluRay players sound good enough, whereas the $400 - $600 units on the market typically cause grief, are noisy and just don't seem to last!
Some people absolutely swear by Oppo's, but I've heard some that sound like jet liners taking off when they spin up a disc.

Personally, I will never buy a CD player, but if I did, the Marantz CD6004 would be on my shortlist for players 'get-able' under $1000. The Audiolab 8200CD is VERY well reviewed, but it's harder to find and will run you around $1400.
If I was to buy a BluRay player for dual disc spinning duties, I'd probably consider one of the nicer Marantz units, but despite the negatives I've seen with the Oppo's, I think their reputation would certainly deem them worth looking into.

Sanco

41 posts

Geek
Inactive user

#879222 16-Aug-2013 07:08

Thank you for your replies.

I have an existing denon avr 590 and the speakers are wharfedale. Budget would be under 1k.

Like I said, sound is important to me, but I am far from an audiophile wanting only the best, so a decent sound reproduction deck would be sufficient to me - run of the mill won't however.

Do blu-ray players really reproduce good audio? Which ones are better at this?

Thaks again for your input.

cyril7

9058 posts

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#879235 16-Aug-2013 07:59

Much to my surprise I have been quite happy with the audio performance of my Sony BD player, does SADC also.

Cyril

ilovemusic

1439 posts

Uber Geek

#879427 16-Aug-2013 11:53

Sanco:
Thank you for your replies.

I have an existing denon avr 590 and the speakers are wharfedale. Budget would be under 1k.

Like I said, sound is important to me, but I am far from an audiophile wanting only the best, so a decent sound reproduction deck would be sufficient to me - run of the mill won't however.

Do blu-ray players really reproduce good audio? Which ones are better at this?

Thanks again for your input.

Oki,

Your Denon is fairly modern with HDMI etc so it's no impediment to good sound.

In stereo/music only players good value under $1k can be found in NAD, Denon, Rotel.

If you want BD/DVD playback things get trickier.

As Dunners said there's is not much in the middle ground.

My pick would be the new OPPO BDP103.
It plays almost every format under the sun - BD/DVD/CD, digital files, streamed media - with the same advanced video circuitry of the flagship $2k BDP105 but is cheaper because it uses less sophisticated audio DACs, not essential if you run HDMI into your AVR.

It's only $849, brand new, official NZ supplied with warranty etc.

Video performance is about as good as you can get in a domestic BDP.

Audio performance is very good even with the simpler DACs.

LookingUp

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#879476 16-Aug-2013 12:55

One word, OPPO!

I've had a BDP85 for a couple of years now, and have never had a problem with it. It sounds better than the dedicated NAD CD player it replaced. More recently I borrowed a BDP105 and it's another step up again, but at $1,900 is at the higher end of the price scale, so if I was looking to replace the BDP85 I'd go for the BDP103 at $850 without a second thought.

As an aside, while I had the BDP105 on loan I had a few technical questions, so sent an email to their helpdesk. This was during a weekend, but I had a response within a couple of hours. I then had a back/forward email conversation with the same person over the rest of the weekend, concluding at the point where they were going to take my suggestion around a feature to their development team for possible implementation in a future firmware release. That was not a hollow promise, as although "my" feature hasn't been implemented yet they do release new firmware with extended or improved functionality every couple of months.

Things are LookingUp.... A photo from my back yard :-)

Sanco

41 posts

Geek
Inactive user

#879667 16-Aug-2013 17:03

Extremely helpful replies, thanks fellas.

Yep, will look into Oppo within my budget means, as after reading your replies I had a squeeze for the various reviews on the net and they came up tops in most.

Cheers again and keep up the great work guys.

Thanks
Roberto

Equinox IT

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mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#879672 16-Aug-2013 17:20

My parents had this flash European CD player that started playing up, and when I opened it up, it just had a philips CD rom inside it, connected to the electronics and display, similar to what you get in a PC. So you maybe able to switch yours out with something else if yours is similar and you can get the code off it. Google is your friend on this sort of thing.