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Hello all.
My 12+ YO Technics CD player appears to be on its last legs, with numerous brain farts over the past week. It has considerably outlasted two "higher end" Rotels before it, which lived less than 5 years each, with multiple service visits to the repair shop.
Decent dedicated CD players seem to be getting much scarcer at the "affordable" end of the market, are not available locally any more (no more Hi-fi shops left in town), and right now my funds are quite low. A decent Oppo multi-platform player is on the DISTANT horizon, but I need something soon and cheap that won't sound utterly hideous.
So I'm thinking just get a cheap DVD deck, that will play Red Book CDs without problems, and use the audio output only. Plenty of brands and models are available locally, so I need a steer in the direction of something listenable for under 100 clams. All reasonable suggestions appreciated.
(High-end snobs who think one can't POSSIBLY have acceptable sound for under several grand, please go look down your snooty noses at someone else. I'm already aware of your opinions, and they are not relevant to my situation).
Follow Ups:
I've always been impressed with the quality of CD Playback with this unit in my second system. The company stands behind their product and I bet you can get one used in your price range. And if you ever want to use it as a DVD player, it's video and flexibility are very good as well.
How about recent vintage? Pioneer DV-563A has a good DAC (TI/BurrBrown 179Xseries) and also plays DVD-A and SACD discs.It will play the SACDs in native DSD (not down-converted to PCM) if you set all speakers to full range.
There is one right now on ebay for$20
Maybe its cynical but I don't think any quantum leaps in RBCD playback have come along in the past several years, so a vintage player can honestly deliver state-of-the-art CD sound. If you really mean *DVD* player, you might want to look back about 5-7 years in the used market for a top-of-the-line player with excellent CD performance. Price seems to depend mainly on reputation plus degree of preservation but you can get there for maybe <$100.
I don't think $129.99 at Wallymart is going to get you something you'll love over the long haul. I took a couple weeks to surf Craigslist [try searchtempest.com] and I recently bought a Pioneer Elite DVD player for $50, see link. It had been lovingly cared-for and the CD performance is superb! I have settled on using the S/PDIF coax output, letting my Proceed AVP do the DAC.
I at least had some feeling for what I was getting into and had narrowed my choice down to Pioneer Elite and Denon DVD units. I also considered that there was little money on the line, if it was less than fully functional or we disliked the sound or features.
Caspian, "vintage" gear is not for every taste, but this worked out well-- hope you have as much luck!
Tascam (TEAC's professional products group) CD-200. No video playback, just music. Street price of about $240.
http://tascam.com/product/cd-200/
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Ken Newton
Look for a Toshiba HD-DVD player. Most of them had pretty good analog outs and you can find them in the $50-70 range. And you can watch HD DVD's to boot.
I've heard a cheap Toshiba DVD player do a very respectable job playing CDs in my son's system. Surprisingly good.He replaced it with a cheap Sony DVD player he got for $ 49.00 new at Best Buy. I haven't heard it yet but he says it's a better sounding unit than the Toshiba.
Best regards, Ralph
Edits: 06/28/12
The 7030 definitely looks like a great player based on the reviews and specs. It is the player I almost bought before giving up on "prehistoric plexiglass".
I was surprised how well the cheap Toshiba DVD player played "prehistoric plexiglass." Nowhere near as good as my CD transport / DAC combo but it was pleasing to my ears, I could just relax and enjoy the music.
Best regards, Ralph
THis Onkyo 7030 looks well built, and sports Wolfson 192/24 DACs...and under 200$
Edits: 06/28/12
I had one of these and it was a very good unit. I eventually sold it for an Oppo BDP-93, but the Yammy was a stone bargain at $180. Nice 24bit-192kHz DACs in it and it did a pretty good up-sampling job.
I'll bet you could find one for < $100 on the used market...
-RW-
The determining factor will be the DAC. Something like a $20 Apex is not likely to have a great DAC. I don't think even a used DVD player for under $100 will generate sound that could be called "musical" in any way. Maybe try and find another Technics CD player with lower miles.
The S370 sounded great for the money. Maybe this S390 does too.
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