Shopping CD players.

I am thinking about buying a new CD player for my M125 system, with SP14 pre-amp.  I've been looking at Crutchfield, and so far, I'm leaning towards the Yamaha CD-S700 and CD-S1000 players. I'm looking for reliability as well as good sound. I would think that at this point in time, there has been enough development in CD players that they would all sound very good within their price points. Build quality is important to me. I think the warranty is two years on these players. I'm wondering if anyone has either of these players, and what they think of them.  I'm not in a rush, and they are out of stock for now, but I'll be notified when they get their new stock in.

Frank111 wrote:I am thinking about buying a new CD player for my M125 system, with SP14 pre-amp.  I've been looking at Crutchfield, and so far, I'm leaning towards the Yamaha CD-S700 and CD-S1000 players. I'm looking for reliability as well as good sound. I would think that at this point in time, there has been enough development in CD players that they would all sound very good within their price points. Build quality is important to me. I think the warranty is two years on these players. I'm wondering if anyone has either of these players, and what they think of them.  I'm not in a rush, and they are out of stock for now, but I'll be notified when they get their new stock in.

I own, at present, six (6) operating CD players, one for each operating system.

a) Legacy Revox B225 purchased for $100 in 1990, working flawlessly since.
b) 5-disc Yamaha changer purchased in Saudi Arabia in 2002 for $150, new. Works well. Yamaha is a heavily discounted brand in Saudi, so why I got it.
c) 2 x 200-disc Sony Changers purchased at thrift shops for $25 each (including remotes). After cleaning, both work well.
d) 2 x 5-disc Sony changers - $12 each (also with remotes) from the same sources. As above.

I have had all of the Thrift-shop units for at least two years now. The big changers for eight and six years respectively. The Revox makes the least noise in use - which makes sense given it is a single-play device.
Of the 5-disc changers, they are all about the same, making a bit of noise when shifting discs. The 200-disc players make about the same noise as the 5-disc units, but it takes a bit longer to change discs.

As to sound - they pretty much all use pretty much the same DAC chips from pretty much the same very small universe of suppliers, and these chips all do the same job with the same data. Yamaha and Sony will not use garbage analog devices, and Revox, of course, dedicates an entire board to their analog side.

NOTE: I passed up two (2) Sony 5-disc changers at a thrift store on Saturday - $20 each, or $10 each without the remotes. Note also that Sony changers and remotes typically have three channels, so multiple devices in the same room may be accommodated.

At this point, I see no reason to purchase a CD player new, unless it is for re-sale, or for someone with no skills and as a pure plug-and-play. But, if new is necessary, you could do a bunch worse than Yamaha. Or, spend a bunch more and *maybe* do better.

I've been using a Tascam CD200 for about 2.5 years without issues. Often fantasized about buying something crazy like a PS Audio DirectStream Memory Player but then I wake up!

I would recommend an older/used Oppo universal disc player. They tend to have excellent dacs and will play just about any 5" disc.

Peter W. wrote:

Frank111 wrote:I am thinking about buying a new CD player for my M125 system, with SP14 pre-amp.  I've been looking at Crutchfield, and so far, I'm leaning towards the Yamaha CD-S700 and CD-S1000 players. I'm looking for reliability as well as good sound. I would think that at this point in time, there has been enough development in CD players that they would all sound very good within their price points. Build quality is important to me. I think the warranty is two years on these players. I'm wondering if anyone has either of these players, and what they think of them.  I'm not in a rush, and they are out of stock for now, but I'll be notified when they get their new stock in.

I own, at present, six (6) operating CD players, one for each operating system.

a) Legacy Revox B225 purchased for $100 in 1990, working flawlessly since.
b) 5-disc Yamaha changer purchased in Saudi Arabia in 2002 for $150, new. Works well. Yamaha is a heavily discounted brand in Saudi, so why I got it.
c) 2 x 200-disc Sony Changers purchased at thrift shops for $25 each (including remotes). After cleaning, both work well.
d) 2 x 5-disc Sony changers - $12 each (also with remotes) from the same sources. As above.

I have had all of the Thrift-shop units for at least two years now. The big changers for eight and six years respectively. The Revox makes the least noise in use - which  makes sense given it is a single-play device.
Of the 5-disc changers, they are all about the same, making a bit of noise when shifting discs. The 200-disc players make about the same noise as the 5-disc units, but it takes a bit longer to change discs.

As to sound - they pretty much all use pretty much the same DAC chips from pretty much the same very small universe of suppliers, and these chips all do the same job with the same data. Yamaha and Sony will not use garbage analog devices, and Revox, of course, dedicates an entire board to their analog side.

NOTE:  I passed up two (2) Sony 5-disc changers at a thrift store on Saturday - $20 each, or $10 each without the remotes. Note also that Sony changers and remotes typically have three channels, so multiple devices in the same room may be accommodated.

At this point, I see no reason to purchase a CD player new, unless it is for re-sale, or for someone with no skills and as a pure plug-and-play. But, if new is necessary, you could do a bunch worse than Yamaha. Or, spend a bunch more and *maybe* do better.

I too am hoping to find a good deal on a nice Legacy Revox B225 some day     ....should you ever consider parting with it, please PM me first.

Like everything else, the more you spend, the more you get (usually). I have a friend who just spent $2500.00 on a player to replace a 10 year old $2000.00 player. He says he can hear a difference. Given the limits of the format, I have to wonder about how much one can expect to hear. The rate of return has to come into effect sooner than later.
Also remember that a system is only as good as its weakest link. I agree that an OPPO unit is a good investment because it plays all the formats, and has a great reputation. And they are shutting down their operations, so they will be no longer available soon. Their support will continue to be there.
I have an Oppo blue ray player and a Shanling T-100 cd player that is wonderfully musical. I also have a couple of JVC 7 disc changers, a Marantz player, a Pioneer Elite player, etc They all sound great. But I only listen to vinyl, which sounds better than all the above.

CD players are a pretty mature technology and you don't get much improvement beyond certain price points. It mostly comes down to what features you want from the player, the looks, and what brand you want for your system. Personally, I use a Marantz PM8005 as my main CD player and it does everything I need it to do.
-Quality headphone amp made of discrete components.
-Sounds good playing through the main system.
-Works as a DAC for the digital output from my TV.
-Plays SACD's.
-Looks good with the other system components.

Not really sure what additional benefit I'd receive from some kind of 'tier 1 audiophile cd player' worth $4000+. I'd say the CD player 'sweet spot' is somewhere in the $400-$1000 range. That gets you a good DAC, Headphone amp, and decent build quality.

I really have no need or want to upgrade to anything else. Would a $4000+ 'audiophile

I have a Marantz 6005 (I think). It's not the top of the line and it's ok. I have a Sony 5 disc changer I use to sleep by. And I also have a Cambridge Audio 651 (I think) that I think sounds better than the Marantz.

kevinmi wrote:Like everything else, the more you spend, the more you get (usually). I have a friend who just spent $2500.00 on a player to replace a 10 year old $2000.00 player. He says he can hear a difference. Given the limits of the format, I have to wonder about how much one can expect to hear. The rate of return has to come into effect sooner than later.
 Also remember that a system is only as good as its weakest link. I agree that an OPPO unit is a good investment because it plays all the formats, and has a great reputation. And they are shutting down their operations, so they will be no longer available soon. Their support will continue to be there.
 I have an Oppo blue ray player and a Shanling T-100 cd player that is wonderfully musical. I also have a couple of JVC 7 disc changers, a Marantz player, a Pioneer Elite player, etc They all sound great. But I only listen to vinyl, which sounds better than all the above.

Thanks for the heads up about Oppo. Prices on ebay are already getting crazy. I snagged a UDP-203 for under $600 on Amazon.

I think what I'm going to do is go with the Yamaha CD-S700. They are out of stock at Crutchfield, but will be coming in some time this month. I found out that I have credits built up from the purchase
of my Klipsch Cornwall-3 speakers, and that will bring the price down from what they are showing.

I don't have any SACD discs, and probably won't buy any, so I don't need that capability, and that keeps me out of the next price point level which is above a thousand dollars.

I have also been looking at what is inside the various players on the market by doing image searches. From what I can tell, this player seems to be built well, I think this is the same drive that is
used in their next higher level of players. It looks like there is a lot in there, and the layout is nice. So, I've left a message with Crutchfield to reserve one of these when they arrive.

I'm currently using a Nakamichi CDP-2A CD player that I bought new about 1989. It still works very well, but I'm sure the technology will really show with the new player.
I hope it lasts as long as the Nakamichi has.

Should find out in a few weeks.

Highly recommend OPPO. They may have some left since are going out of business. Love my 105 and excellent DVD too.

Brap wrote:Highly recommend OPPO. They may have some left since are going out of business.  Love my 105 and excellent DVD too.

Yes, I tried an old DVD on my 203 and I was very impressed by how well it looked.

Frank111 wrote:I am thinking about buying a new CD player for my M125 system, with SP14 pre-amp.  I've been looking at Crutchfield, and so far, I'm leaning towards the Yamaha CD-S700 and CD-S1000 players. I'm looking for reliability as well as good sound. I would think that at this point in time, there has been enough development in CD players that they would all sound very good within their price points. Build quality is important to me. I think the warranty is two years on these players. I'm wondering if anyone has either of these players, and what they think of them.  I'm not in a rush, and they are out of stock for now, but I'll be notified when they get their new stock in.

I don't know much about the players you mention but I own and can highly recommend Emotiva ERC-3. It costs $599 directly from Emotiva. It has both XLR and RCA outputs. The UI is very simple though. The warranty is 5 years. The sound can be described as full and analog-like. This player is hard to beat.

andyo wrote:

Frank111 wrote:I am thinking about buying a new CD player for my M125 system, with SP14 pre-amp.  I've been looking at Crutchfield, and so far, I'm leaning towards the Yamaha CD-S700 and CD-S1000 players. I'm looking for reliability as well as good sound. I would think that at this point in time, there has been enough development in CD players that they would all sound very good within their price points. Build quality is important to me. I think the warranty is two years on these players. I'm wondering if anyone has either of these players, and what they think of them.  I'm not in a rush, and they are out of stock for now, but I'll be notified when they get their new stock in.

I don't know much about the players you mention but I own and can highly recommend Emotiva ERC-3. It costs $599 directly from Emotiva. It has both XLR and RCA outputs. The UI is very simple though. The warranty is 5 years. The sound can be described as full and analog-like. This player is hard to beat.

I also like the Emotiva equipment. Even the lower price CD-100 at $299, is a decent deal if you only have CD's to play. Their support is superb, and they listen to their customers!

i picked up a used oppo for under $100 on eBay and am real happy with the purchase .

Gotta go with the Oppo guys.
Rega also makes an excellent top-loader for about a kilobuck new.
If you're using an external DAC, the transports are 6 of one, half-dozen of the other.
HBB (Panasonic) makes an interesting choice, if you can find one in good shape for around $300.

OPPO...Hands down IMO.
Second choice...Consider streaming in Hi-Fi with TIDAL. yes it is $19.99 per month, cheaper if you are a veteran but it includes millions of songs, CD quality, music videos, cataloging, storage and more.

bluemeanies wrote:OPPO...Hands down IMO.
Second choice...Consider streaming in Hi-Fi with TIDAL. yes it is $19.99 per month, cheaper if you are a veteran but it includes millions of songs, CD quality, music videos, cataloging, storage and more.

Only drawback with Tidal, who indeed has a grand playlist, is that you need an external DAC. Mac Airport Express marginally suffices and can output to an optical cable. Not the ultimate, but adequate.

Well, Crutchfield was supposed to get a supply of these yesterday, but today I checked their web site, and now it says that the shipping date is unknown. Well, a let down for sure. But I'm not in any hurry, and
this player is what I'm looking for at this price point. So, I'll let this ride for awhile and see where it goes.

I've got no intention of streaming, or doing anything else like that. I'm staying with CD's and vinyl and that's it. There is a guy here at work who is rebuilding his music files on his computer because something
happened and he lost it all. No thank you.

Well, time to enjoy the summer anyway.........

Oppo says it's releasing a new batch of BDP-105s sometime in June. There's a waiting list you can sign up for on their website.
Though I don't need a new Oppo, it might be nice to have a back-up in the closet.
I bought the original Oppo years ago and only replaced it because of more and better features in the later iterations. Never had a failure or maintenance issue with any of them. They just work. For the OCD, Modwright in Seattle can beef up the Oppo's DAC with tube buffering.

In the early 1990's, I bought a CD player that had two tubes in the final stage of it. It was made by a company called California Audio Labs. It might have been an 'Aria' model, which was the middle one price wise. It was expensive, but a very impressive CD player for the time. They also made one called the Tempest, which was a two chassis set up, and I forget how many tubes, but there were a lot in there. I almost bought that one, but thank God I came to my senses. I had the Aria for quite a few years until it started to act up. I sent it to some place in Connecticut that would service it, but the bottom line was that it needed parts that were not available.
So I replaced that with a Creek CD player that I have in my Threshold system. It sounds much better than the Cal Labs did. It was fun to have something like the Cal Labs, but that kind of stuff can be a pain if it acts up.
There was an interesting story on the web about the founder of Cal Labs, and how that all came to be.

I don't really need to replace the Nakamichi CDP-2A, but like said above, I want to get something that's very good quality while its still available. Who knows with all of the other ways people get their music, how long CD players like the Yamaha will be out there. Not to say that will happen, but I've got no interest in any of the streaming, or adding a monthly payment for music content.

https://www.pcliquidations.com/p65960-oppo-blu-ray-disc?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=65960&r160164167166161&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh86VyPSb2wIVySuHCh2a8gQ4EAEYASABEgKnWPD_BwE

Seeing as Oppo might be a go-to brand, here is a possible source.

Manual here:

http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP83/BDP-83_English_Manual.pdf

Thanks for that info. I'll read up on it. One thing to note, all I want to use the player for will be for the M125/SP14 system. I'll never use it for video. Not sure if it makes sense to pay for video when I'm not going to use it. It does handle SACD, which would be nice to have.

Updating the Crutchfield experience; they sent me an email asking if I wanted to keep the order open, and I replied that I did want to keep it open. A day or so later, I get another email that the order was cancelled because I did not reply to their prior email asking what I wanted to do. I had a copy of the email chain, and sent it to them to look at. By this time I was sufficiently irritated by the way this was starting to go, and told them to leave the order closed. Good thing I'm not in a hurry, so I'm going to just let this go for awhile, and look around at all options again. Makes me wonder how a company like Crutchfield first of all, can let their inventory go to the point that they are out of quite a few CD brands and models, and then not have a relationship good enough with the manufacturer to be able to restock in a reasonable amount of time. I don't have an Amazon account, but if I did, that would be my next move. My experience with Crutchfield was totally different when I bought the speakers. Seems like a different company now.

Frank111 wrote:Thanks for that info. I'll read up on it. One thing to note, all I want to use the player for will be for the M125/SP14 system. I'll never use it for video. Not sure if it makes sense to pay for video when I'm not going to use it. It does handle SACD, which would be nice to have.

Updating the Crutchfield experience; they sent me an email asking if I wanted to keep the order open, and I replied that I did want to keep it open. A day or so later, I get another email that the order was cancelled because I did not reply to their prior email asking what I wanted to do. I had a copy of the email chain, and sent it to them to look at. By this time I was sufficiently irritated by the way this was starting to go, and told them to leave the order closed. Good thing I'm not in a hurry, so I'm going to just let this go for awhile, and look around at all options again. Makes me wonder how a company like Crutchfield first of all, can let their inventory go to the point that they are out of quite a few CD brands and models, and then not have a relationship good enough with the manufacturer to be able to restock in a reasonable amount of time. I don't have an Amazon account, but if I did, that would be my next move. My experience with Crutchfield was totally different when I bought the speakers. Seems like a different company now.

Bummer about Crutchfield. They were great 10 years ago, which was the last time I did business with them. Sounds like the inmates have taken over.
Again, I'd just go to Oppo's website and get in line for the June production. I have always bought directly from Oppo with great results, and their tech support speaks English.
If you want to go CD-only, the Rega Apollo top-loader
http://hifiheaven.net/shop/Rega-Apollo-R-CD-Player-in-Silver?language=en¤cy=USD&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwNuIkLKc2wIVST0MCh3nHwq4EAQYBCABEgIez_D_BwE
Is an excellent option, but it doesn't really sound better than the better Oppo gear. The Rega does have a nice DAC, but it is dedicated to the player. You can't port anything in or out.

Note that Oppo's production is from a third-party fabricator in China as is the way of many of these things. I expect that if the demand for these products continues past Oppo, another outfit will purchase the patents and/or license the products and we will see them soon under another name - and likely at a lower cost.