what's your CD player?

[Eddie]

I am considering the NAD c542, Onix X88cd, and Pioneer 578 (decreasing order of pricing), running 340s off of some vintage NAD separates.

Was also looking at the Harman Kardon FL8385 which goes for around $100 refurb from Harman Audio on eBay.

Oh and the other one I'm sort of curious about is the Denon 2900.

Am wondering if anybody has had any experience with any of those 5 players and how much of a difference they hear when moving up on the price scale.

My current CDP is a Sony ES carousel, it made a noticeable improvement over my cheapie Panasonic DVD player which was a bit harsh sounding.

I am reading a lot of great feedback on the Pioneer, some are claiming it to be something of a giant-killer (common enough cliche in audio these days, lol).

I definitely want to keep my budget under $500, the lower it is the more I'll have left to put into a decent sub, my current JBL e150 is atrocious.

[curtis]

I went from a Pioneer 563 to a Denon 2900.

While their is a difference in sound, it is not night and day.

I think you would benefit much more by getting the 563 and putting what you have left into a good sub.

[bikeman]

I definitely want to keep my budget under $500, the lower it is the more I'll have left to put into a decent sub, my current JBL e150 is atrocious.

One thing to keep in mind. DAC's are a muture technology. There are no miracles in mature technologies. The low end is very competitive with the highest end. I have read the debates on rec.audio.tech and auditioned different players. There are definite differences between players. How these differneces translate into actual acoustic differences is a matter of debate. Right now, I don't hear much difference between any of the players I've heard and that includes one that sell for $50.
We can continue this discussion if anyone is interested.

David

[JohnnyCasaba]

Eddie,

Don't you have a Sony 222ES? Is there something you don't like about it? I heard it is a good CDP, some say it can sound analytical. You might want to look at the Cambridge Azur line too. The 640c, 540c, and the 540d. The 540d is a dvd player, but some say it is better than the 540c and you get DVD-Audio too. For the record, I have not heard any of these myself and of the ones you mentioned, only the 2900 was in my home for a demo. I use a Toshiba 3950 DVD player hooked up digitally to my AVR, no 2 channel only setup.

[Eddie]

bikeman,

yes please continue. I'm curious about which models specifically you've heard across the price spectrum.

The only high end CD player I've ever heard was the Audio Reference that Quinn has, it DID sound better than his Sony 400 Cd changer, but not 500% better like it cost...more like maybe 30% better.

My local Marantz dealer has agreed to let me bring in my Sony ES changer to do an A/B comparison with his NAD and Marantz CDPs, I'm eager to take him up on that.

[devwild]

I own the Onix XCD-88 (which is a clone of similar shanling/music hall players aside from the op amps Onix chose). It is an excelent CD player for the price, and in addition is relatively easy to modify aftermarket to improve it further, allowing it to compete with many high end decks in sound/dac quality. Onix is considering offering some of those modifications too, meaning you could send it in and not void your warranty (or learn how to solder). For excelent price now, and future possibilities, it's hard to go wrong.

It should be noted that I use this player for my headphone rig (dedicated headphone amp and mid-high end headphones), not usually with my ascends, since for my ascends I use digital sources to my receiver, making the difference in sound miniscule at best. For digital use I can't hear a difference on my ascends between the Onix and my PS2. For analog (line out) use I can say the Onix was a huge step up from $100 cd players, the difference in detail and control actually shocked me, and the sound signature is more balanced than most. The difference going up to higher end decks I have heard is significantly less.

Edit: The Ascend 340s are much more forgiving than quality headphones, so you may not hear as much difference as I have, and that is part of why people's opinion differ on how much gear quality matters (such as the dac comments above - quality dacs are amazing on quality equipment). Keep all your gear in mind and avoid missing the weakest link and feeling like you wasted money.

[devwild]

One additional comment regarding DAC quality and its consideration in buying a cd player - assuming a quality chip is used (many walmart specials and most stock computer sound cards use crappy cheap dac chips), the biggest difference isn't the dac itself, but the quality of the circuit design and components around it, such as the caps, resistors, and op amps in the output stage. There's also some arguement about the clock signal generator for the dac the though I won't get into that debate here, and I don't know enough to argue that detail anyway. These are, however, audible circuit differences similar to differences in buying a better quality amp/receiver.

[Eddie Horton]

I have the Pio 578A. For the money, it's a great player. Add in the fact that it also plays DVD's, SACD's, and DVD-A's, and it's even better. You mentioned wanting to save on a CD player to get a better sub, and I think that's the right idea.

[Lou-the-dog]

I've got the Onix XCD88 also. IMHO it is a well built player and decodes HDCD.
I have A/B'd the dacs to my Denon 3803 reciever and I can't tell the difference. For $299 it is hard to beat for a CD only player.

Randy

[Kurt C.]

I'm going to back Dave/Bikeman on this one.

I used to think that I could hear differences between decent quality CD/DVD players and really expensive ones, but I don't think so anymore.

When you do an A/B comparison, take along a sound level meter and make sure that the volume levels are EXACTLY matched on the two players.

I went into such a test being sure that I'd have no trouble picking out the more expensive player. When poker faced friend did the switching between the two players (rather than a 'helpful' salesman), I was somewhat embarrassed to discover that there was no noticible difference.

The best way to spend your money is on good quality recordings and great speakers.