[navin]

The speakers are Selah's RC4-Peridot (RC4) being built as we speak (see The Lab). The amplifier is a Yamaha S2000.

I was supposed to get an Exposure 2010s2 CD player to go with the amplifier and speaker but looks like that's not going to happen (the local price of the Exposure is now $1700 up from $1200 when I first asked for the price).

Options under $1000 are the NAD's 565bee, Arcam's CD 17, Simaudio moon's 230D (or was it the 260D?), Advance Acoustics's MCX 400, and maybe the base Musical Fidelity. The last option is to import the Oppo BDP 103.

Opinions anyone?

[jarcher]

Personally in this day & age I wouldn't buy an cd player that can not also serve as a standalone DAC - and preferably a streamer for either USB or network data.  For those reasons from your list I'd personally go for the NAD 565bee or an OPPO BDP-95 or 105 : not the 103 - as the 95 / 105 have the ESS Sabre DAC chip and more geared toward high quality audio.  Don't know why the 105 sells for $200 more (USD$1200) vs the 95 ($999) & if those extra features merit the extra cost.

Between the NAD & the Oppo, I'd be tempted to pay the extra $200 for the Oppo - particularly if you don't already have a good blu-ray player. 

[srb]

Personally in this day & age I wouldn't buy an cd player that can not also serve as a standalone DAC .....  For those reasons from your list I'd personally go for the NAD 565bee or an OPPO BDP-95 or 105

The BDP-95 does not have digital inputs to its DAC, only USB connection of thumb/hard drives.  The BDP-105 has three selectable digital inputs - asynchronous USB, coaxial and optical and the NAD C-565BEE has a single optical input.
 
Steve

[Ericus Rex]

I own the Marantz SA-8004 SACD player and I think it is fantastic!  It actually replaced an Oppo 83SE in my system (which I was only moderately happy with).  It does have a DAC input for computer streaming and a USB input so it would fit all your needs.  It is $995 and available from Audio Advisor if you don't have a local dealer.  I think one of the audio rags put it on their recommended products list...TAS maybe?

[jarcher]

On the BDP95 between the wifi, ethernet & DLNA support you seem to have a lot of options to get media data from elsewhere even w/out the optical / coax digital in. Maybe these inputs will some day be passe? And of course you also have the USB & SATA input options.  I think for features & connectivity, it's hard to beat (unless you go to a PC). 

The Marantz SA-8004 cdp was another one I had in mind.   

Wish I knew which one sounded better...

[JLM]

Stream instead (for $20) onto a cheap computer (anywhere in the world):

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=111099.0


Or just use a NuForce iTX and Air DAC ($179 for 300 foot range CD quality streaming with RCA outputs):

http://www.consumer.nuforce.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=11&Itemid=199

[medium jim]

I'll toss my hat into the ring and suggest the Rotel RCD-1072.  To me, the best under $1000.00 player out there.

Jim

[Elizabeth]

The Sony SCD-CE595 five dissc changer is the one to buy used $80. cannot beat that for a good deal.

[geowak]

These are good reccomendations for sure..
Here is another choice. This is what I would consider and probably do myself.
I like this CD player.
http://audio.teac.com/product/pd-h600/
I would use this as my transport and also get this outboard DAC.
http://schiit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=7

I would get the USB version of the Bifrost. This would run slightly over the budget. But you would get an excellent transport
for CD playback, a great outboard DAC that is upgradable in the future, and the flexibility to use the dac with computer audio interface. So you have another source and playback option! Schiit is a very good company on the scene.

Although the TEAC might just be what you like, I have the Bifrost and can tell you it's really smooth.

[navin]

Personally in this day & age I wouldn't buy an cd player that can not also serve as a standalone DAC - and preferably a streamer for either USB or network data.  For those reasons from your list I'd personally go for the NAD 565bee or an OPPO BDP-95 or 105 : not the 103

Thank you all for your response. Audiocircle's forums do not yet have a multi-quote feature or I'd have addressed all those who responded together.

Based on the response I figured you need some more information.

1. I live in India and would like to buy something local (exposure, NAD, simaudio, Arcam etc are all available locally and the Oppo 103 is available in the grey market). I don't have the time or inclination to do the importing myself. Besides there would be no support. With speakers it is easy as there are few parts but with electronics you need support.

2. That said many if not most brands are available here however since volumes are thin and availability sketchy prices are all list+dealer margins. Discounts are very, very rare. The Rotel for example sels for over $1700 and the TEAC is just not available.

3. I do intend to add a hard disk based media player from Asus and/or Western digital. Most of my CDs have already been ripped to WavPack or/and FLAC (about 1TB of music) but I also like the whole process of spinning a disk (if I had room I'd have retained and even added to my LP collection but living in a small Mumbai apartment does not give me that option).

4. The Marantz 8004 is also not available although the 6004 and KI pearl are. The former sells for about $500 and the later for about $1500.

5. In my limited experience I have found wireless via bluetooth or wifi does not have the fidelity of a wired connection. So while AirPlay is convienient it would not be my primary listening.

6. On an unrelated note the Yamaha amplifier will be used by an Onkyo NR1010 AVR as a power amp. This is because the same system is being used for 2 channel and 7.1 and the front speaker (subwoofer less RC4) will do double duty. So in 7.1 the Onkyo will feed information from the set-top box and DVD player and other video devices to the power amp section of the Yamaha (which in turn is connected to the front speakers). In 2 channel mode the Onkyo and other video related devices are not in the picture. It will be a simple sginal path from CD player to Amplifier to Speakers

I understand that having a digital coax and USB inputs would be a bonus. Neither the Arcam 17 or Simaudio Moon 230 have this. From my original list the NAD has an optical input (is TOSlink still a poor option??) and I don't know about the advance Acoustics.

I believe the Oppo 105 is not shipping yet. The 103 has only just become available (in the grey market it sells for about $750). The Oppo 95 was available at about $1500 and I assume the 105 would retail for close to $2000 here when it starts shipping.

So far the Rotel 1072 and Marantz 8004 have become valid options if indeed I can find them for $1200 pr so. Either that or bite the bullet and get the Exposure 2010S2 for $1700 or NAD 565 bee for about $900. Any other options? Is the Exposure so much better than the NAD? Does it make sense to sacrifice USB or coax inputs and get the Arcam 17 or Simaudio moon 230D instead?

[opnly bafld]

The Onkyo C-7030 is a very nice player.
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=C-7030&class=Compact%20Disc&p=i

[navin]

The Onkyo C-7030 is a very nice player.
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=C-7030&class=Compact%20Disc&p=i

Wow! thanks. Would you put the Onkyo in the same league as say NAD's 565bee, Arcam's CD 17, Simaudio moon's 230D? or even the Oppo 103 or the Rotel 1520 (1072 is not even known here)?

[jarcher]

Honestly w/ that Onkyo TX-NR1010 you have, I would just find a solid cd player as a transport & use the internal DAC of the NR1010.  I'm sure that the Onkyo NR1010's Burr Brown is better than the mid-range Wolfson (WM8718) in that $200 Onkyo C7030.  That's not to say that C7030 wouldn't make a decent transport - just use the coax digital output to your Onkyo receiver.  Or if you've already got a good DVD player, use that as a transport to the Onkyo receiver.

Personally I think you're going to have to go to a +USD$500 stand alone DAC before you start surpassing what your Onkyo receiver can do w/ a digital audio signal. And as that Onkyo has a network port & USB, that makes it less important to have it in CD player.

In my opinion if you want to surpass your Onkyo receiver as DAC, uses a decent transport like that C7030, but focus more on a quality standalone DAC than higher end CD player.  You may get to a point where you prefer the convenience of a PC / media streamer / etc and no longer want to spin physical discs and all that money you will have invested in the cd player will largely have been wasted. Wheras spending it on a DAC will work w/ any source, whether a cd transport, the Onkyo receiver, etc.

If you do insist on a cd player, I think pretty much all the ones you have mentioned are going to top the C7030 : it might be a great $200 cd player, but it's a $200 cd player - not a $1K+ cd player. I think people sometimes over-expect / hype what modest price components can do. If found this to be true with the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic, for example.

[JLM]

BTW navin, the NuForce iTX and Air DAC does not use bluetooth or typical wireless connectivity modes.  You might want to check out their website.

I've burned through two spinners this year:  Onyx CD-3 ($1,000 USD MSRP, bought B-stock for half price, but only lasted 3 years, no U.S. service); and Oppo 170HD ($170 USD MSRP, 7 years old).  Both developed "computer like glitches" that couldn't be "unstuck".

Now I'm using a 12 year old Sony XA20ES CDP ($700 USD MSRP, still well respected).  When it dies I'm off to the ripping route (again).  Prior I'd tried a Squeeze Box 3, but spent half my time not able to listen due to software glitches.  That drove me crazy.   

[navin]

BTW navin, the NuForce iTX and Air DAC does not use bluetooth or typical wireless connectivity modes.  You might want to check out their website.

I did. The Air DAC does look sweet. I might get it to supplement the CD player and media player.

jarcher, my initial thoughts were to use the CD player for direct audio (with the Yamaha amp) without using the AVR. Your post has got me thinking...hmm....if I did what you recommend would not the processing in the Onkyo colour the sound? If the Onkyo NR1010  is equal to the Yamaha S2000 as an audio device then it would mose sense to sell the Yamaha S2000 and replace it with a power amp. What do you think?

I was under the impression that for 2 channel audio a good integrated like the S2000 would outperform any AVR costing twice as much including those like the Arcam AVR 400 leave alone lesser ones like the Yamaha Aventage A2020 or Onkyo NR1010. Granted the 1010 might have a great DAC. What about the rest of the processing in it?

[JLM]

OK, finally looked into what the Selah RC-4 and Yamaha S2000 are like.     Nice "budget" stereo! 

Spinning CDs is for dinosaurs (like me), so if you must spin, like other's suggested I'd go  with a cheap CDP/DVD to use as a transport and add a nice DAC that has USB and coaxial/optical inputs (since you mention wanting to go the server route eventually).  The BiFrost would be my choice as DACs are a very fast moving target (technology improving very quickly) and it is promised to be "future-proof".

[navin]

OK, finally looked into what the Selah RC-4 and Yamaha S2000 are like.     Nice "budget" stereo! 

Spinning CDs is for dinosaurs (like me), so if you must spin, like other's suggested I'd go  with a cheap CDP/DVD to use as a transport and add a nice DAC that has USB and coaxial/optical inputs (since you mention wanting to go the server route eventually).  The BiFrost would be my choice as DACs are a very fast moving target (technology improving very quickly) and it is promised to be "future-proof".

My RC4 do not have the subwoofers. Instead I have a 15" TC sounds subwoofer in the front and a small SEAS W26ROY subwoofer in the rear. I needed Sub HT EQ and Mult XT32 which is why I chose the Onlyo. The only other AVR that can do this (in the same price as the Onlyo) is the Yamaha Aventage A2020 which is not available here.

I said budget because my system is an embarrassment to some of my friends, in fact at least two of them have called it low-fi. Brands like Arcam and Advance Acoustics are considered poor and leave alone NAD, Marantz, Yamaha or Onkyo.

What kind of disc spinner would you recommend to go with the BiFrost? Would a multi region CD/ DVD like the Philips 5200 or Panasonic 220 (see links below) do?
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?slg=en&scy=ch&ctn=BDP5200/12
http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/DMP-BDT220?support

Or are you referring to something more substantial like a Marantz UD5007 or Onkyo 809 or 309 (see links)
http://www.marantz.co.uk/uk/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=HomeTheatre&SubCatId=BlurayPlayer&ProductId=UD5007
http://onkyoindia.com/products/av_components/blu-ray-Players/bd-sp809/index.html

[Ericus Rex]

Navin, if the brand Marantz is available in India you should be able to get the SA-8004.  Maybe by special order only, but it should be available to you.

[navin]

Navin, if the brand Marantz is available in India you should be able to get the SA-8004.  Maybe by special order only, but it should be available to you.

I have tried. I asked. No dice.

I asked Bobby Dylan
I asked The Beatles
I asked Timothy Leary
But he couldn't help me either
- the seeker, the who.

Marantz will only ship the SA KI Pearl Light to India. That retails for $1200. How does it compare against the 8004?

[Ericus Rex]

I have tried. I asked. No dice.

I asked Bobby Dylan
I asked The Beatles
I asked Timothy Leary
But he couldn't help me either
- the seeker, the who.

Marantz will only ship the SA KI Pearl Light to India. That retails for $1200. How does it compare against the 8004?

   Never heard it.  Marantz isn't even showing that model on their US site.  I'm sure it's pretty good.  Marantz has a much deserved stellar reputation for digital playback.