[geezer]

What about a Van Alstine Ultra DAC ($1599) and I use a Philips 3140 ($41) for a transport, works well for me. Smoking

 I know some of the dacs get great reviews and many of the folks use them here. I guess I just just can't get use to the idea of adding two pieces of equipment.

I second this idea. It's what I have and I'm very pleased. Since the transport is so inexpensive, it's more like adding only a single unit rather than two, financially at least.

[ecramer]

the only problem oi found with cheap dvd players as transports is i could hear the disk spinning from my listening spot at low volume 

What about a Van Alstine Ultra DAC ($1599) and I use a Philips 3140 ($41) for a transport, works well for me. Smoking

 I know some of the dacs get great reviews and many of the folks use them here. I guess I just just can't get use to the idea of adding two pieces of equipment.

I second this idea. It's what I have and I'm very pleased. Since the transport is so inexpensive, it's more like adding only a single unit rather than two, financially at least.

[Pirate]

You might want to check out a Parasound D3 Universal Player.  They're running special pricing to the dealers right now and you should be able to get a great deal on one.  We sell the Cambridge and Ayre players as well and we all bought D3's.  It's very smooth and detailed...reminding me somewhat of an Esoteric UX-1 I heard recently.  In addition, you get a SACD, DVD-A and DVD player thrown in for free.

One thing I like about it, and an indication that Parasound is striving to maximize Redbook playback, is that you can turn off the video and digital audio sections of the player, independantly of each other.  So, if you're like me and run analog out of the player, both can be turned off...or if you want to run to a dac, you can turn the video section of the unit off only.

 aa Can you give some more information here? Several chose the Parasound over the Cambridge 840 and the Ayre CX7?  My main use will be for redbook CD listening in a 2 channel only system. If you could elaborate on what you heard different between the 3 units this would help 

[Pirate]

It's been getting pretty confusing with all the actual hardware configurations. Up sampling, non over-sampling, chips used, how tubes are used.

I don't know what I'm going to purchase. I would also watch machines 3 years or older.

Den

Hi Den,

  Confusing is right!

What are you looking at or leaning towards?  What would be wrong with a three year old unit?  Are you referring to used ones?

[reflex]

You might want to check out a Parasound D3 Universal Player.  They're running special pricing to the dealers right now and you should be able to get a great deal on one.  We sell the Cambridge and Ayre players as well and we all bought D3's.  It's very smooth and detailed...reminding me somewhat of an Esoteric UX-1 I heard recently.  In addition, you get a SACD, DVD-A and DVD player thrown in for free.

One thing I like about it, and an indication that Parasound is striving to maximize Redbook playback, is that you can turn off the video and digital audio sections of the player, independantly of each other.  So, if you're like me and run analog out of the player, both can be turned off...or if you want to run to a dac, you can turn the video section of the unit off only.

 aa Can you give some more information here? Several chose the Parasound over the Cambridge 840 and the Ayre CX7?  My main use will be for redbook CD listening in a 2 channel only system. If you could elaborate on what you heard different between the 3 units this would help 

The Parasound is noticably smoother than the Cambridge 840C.  I didn't do a direct comparison with the Ayre, but one of the other guys at the store did and thought it was better.  I replaced a Musical Fidelity A3.5CD at home and there is no comparison between the two.  The D3 is smoother, more detailed and dimensional than the A3.5 and it not even fully broken in yet.  Can't be more specific at the moment, since I've not found it necessary to make a critical comparison of these players.  All I can say is I'm VERY pleased with the Parasound.  Mine is a 2 channel only system as well.

[James Romeyn]

Great suggestions

I came across this review at Absolute Sounds:

The Cambridge 840C CD player delivers the best CD playback I've heard from any player under $5k -- and it costs $1499. Not only is the 840C easily the greatest value in digital sources in my experience, it must be considered one of the greatest bargains in all of high-end audio. Even if your budget for a CD player is considerably more than $1499, I encourage you to audition the Cambridge 840C. In fact, I could easily live with the 840C at the front end of my $100k reference system -- it's that good.

Good reviews all over on the Cambridge unit.

With the given budget...Cambridge or Bryston (used).

Another for the Cambridge?  The Bryston has a great transferable warranty!

I recently tried a Cambridge Audio 640C and a Rega Apollo. I liked the Apollo over the 640C. It has a memory buffer, that acts like a computer HD, and it adjusts to each CD you put in. Plus it has Class A
ouput circuitry and a very nice top loading feature, that I prefer over drawer loading. It is a VERY nice unit if your preference is CD.

Another idea is to get a very budget CD player with an optical out, and invest in a high quality out board DAC, like Benchmark's DAC1USB. You could keep it under $1500, and have a USB connection on the DAC1USB for future digital processing via a Squeeze Box or computer music server as a source.

The Squeeze box is something I definitely want to get into, but not with the computer I have now.

I have a couple of Primare CD21's for my source in multiple systems and I am very impressed with what Primare has to offer.  I definitely recommend the Primare CD21.

I'll check into it. 

For that price you may be able to find a used Cary 303/300 depending on how desperate someone is to move it, it is a phenomenal player and the options for changing the upsampling (or turning it off) and running either tubes or SS output allow it to fit a multitude of styles and listening preferences.

And no, I am not selling any used ones...

  Desperate huh? Your not selling?  Let's get together and talk.

Get a used Sony DVP-NS900V for $100-$250 tops; send to www.TubeResearchLabs.com for an all-SS upgrade estimate $800 but don't quote me.  Your lust for Red Book upgrades will be over.  Not too handsome but sound is top notch.  Say hi to Brian &/or Paul.  Hope for your sake they still do the mod. 

Alternate is (if still available) Audience-modded universal Denon upgrade, estimated $4k, probably in league w/ above.

Esoteric seems very nice. 

Every Primare piece I've auditioned kicks butt including the CD's, but the CDP will be below the TRL & Audience by various degrees depending on your system quality. 

Personally, from my experience I would NOT get an outboard DAC under any circumstance.

My Sony's been bulletproof w/ moderate use.  A member here has maybe a million or more hours on his Krell transport w/ no problems last I knew a year ago or so.     

I went to the site. They can take a new Sony SCD-CE595 5 disk changer and mod it. According to a 6moons review. It trounced the AH!

Damn, you guys are good I have a lot of Homework!

Pirate
Tell Brian at TRL that Jim Romeyn said to ask: "How close does the current changer come to Jim Romeyn's 900 after the mod?"  If it comes close or is better, it will IMHO absolutely cream everything mentioned above.  Search here for a direct comparison w/ the $18k Meitner 2-box.  (By strange timing coincidence just when that comparison was made TRL was experimenting w/ a Marantz mod.  First results were it beat the Sony 900.  At that time my 900 was briefly put up for sale.  Subsequent Marantz mods proved it's chip to be highly variable; TRL then dropped the Marantz mods & returned to the Sony 900.)  Of course I kept my 900 & it's playing music right now.  Allegedly a Reimyo owner replaced it w/ a TRL/Sony 900. 

Is the Sony changer current?  Street price?  What is the current TRL modification price?  Do they offer the battery power supply upgrade (xport still runs on AC mains)?  If you can afford it just go ahead & get the battery supply at the same time.   

TRL experience & expertise almost certainly exceeds the sum total of every other manufacturer mentioned in this entire thread combined.  They did final troubleshooting on the Pentium IV chip for Intel before it went to market, MRI, automotive, record cleaning fluid, video projectors, Paul engineers recordings, they leased Sony digital streaming consoles, possess master tapes of a certain huge band (that will remain unamed) of earlier generation than the masters employed for the SACD release, made $100k+ tube amps, etc, etc.

Only talked w/ Paul a couple times, but can certify Brian is one of the nicest people with which you could do business.  Player arrived a little late but accompanied by several freebies: original CD's, fluid, etc.

Tell him I said hi & best wishes. 

Post here after you get it.

How I became sold: It was at CES a few years ago.  I specifically was there to decide on a hopefully last Red Book purchase.  Was prepared to spend big money.  Had previously heard & fell in love w/ an approximately $5k battery powered upgrade to the then-popular & quite already expensive top Marantz SACD player.  But I knew upgraded players don't maintain value. 

Then I heard the TRL-Sony 900 blow away the above modded Marantz in direct A-B.  I was considering DACs up to the $5k range.  The only logical choice was the TRL because of the performance & price.  (My personal reference was a friend's $7k Krell xport & $10k Wadia 27ix.) 

Some other listeners heard the same comparison & there was some buzz about it.  I made my mind up I had to have a used Sony 900 fast.  Had to pay $450 to get mine in an Ebay bidding war (then paid for the mod) but am very glad I did it.     

[weirdo]

Strange, but I am atracted to a new DECWARE product. They have a redbook player with a DECWARE modified 12AX7 tube output stage. Its a Tascam player I think. It goes modified for 799.00. Very interesting indeed. Its a decidedly low tech solution to making Redbook CD's sound good ( it doesn't have the DACS of middle end units) but the proof is sound and not DAC's.  If the Audio engineers of the 80's had stayed with what ultimately sounds good instead of rushing tape to disc, we would all be surffering less now. 

[JLM]

The two previous Decware players have always been quite popular with the Dechards and the new ZCD looks much better.

[bacobits1]

I always liked Cal Audio. Specifically the CAL IKON MKII. I had 2 of them in a 5 year period. I liked CAL products, too bad they got bought out and got left by the side of the road. Although I never had a problem with the used CAL transports I'm still reading about transport problems on the newer machines. So that is why I was reluctant  on buying anything in the used 3 year area. I have had a Denon 1650A in between the CAL period and that was a nice solid machine too. I was after a good Red Book player that is all.


What I just purchased new was a Consonance T120 Linear (non tube) which got some very good reviews on line and from users. I could have spent double the price of this machine. It has no Dig filters and is a non oversampling player. It has been out for a few years now and they do make an up-sampling version.
I spent a good part of 4 days researching all this on line. THIS MACHINE WAS SENT BACK AS DOA OUT OF THE BOX. Wouldn't open, load, a cd or even spin the thing to hear it. I didn't  like the cheap build quality either.
Still searching.

It should be here in a few days so I will leave some comments here. I just shrunk my whole system down by buying a tube EL34 based integrated too. Also on its way.

Den

[saisunil]

For anyone who can spend $1000 or more and wants to "get there" through red book CD, it would be silly to pass up on Tube Research Labs modded Sony 900. They are hard to find and there is long lag time - but it is rewarding.

One of the previous poster has elaborated on TRL so I won't say more ...

Paul is one of those rare gems in audio industry and many time I wonder who he makes a living. He refuses to charge more. He gives the best he can for a fixed price.

Good Luck

[Hogg]

Hi Pirate,

    Consider a used Naim CD5 or 5X.  You may be able to by a olive green power supply to upgarde it as well.  Naim works wonderfully with rock, jazz and most instrumentals.

                                                                                                     Jim

[James Romeyn]

It's great to see so much enthusiasm & great suggestions at the forum for ol' fashion silver-disc Red Book players.  Prior to reading this thread I was thinking most members had traded (or aspired to trade) premium sound quality for the "blessed" convenience of hard-drive based wireless digital.

From user & pro reviews & past experience w/ Naim I bet their players are some of the best.  The Parasound also seems attractive based on the dealer's comparisons. 

[jcpix]

I'll add another vote for the TRL modded Sony changer.  I've had one for a year and have not looked for anything else. Paul knows how to get the most out of the Sony, it's the real deal.

[Les Lammers]

I'll add another vote for the TRL modded Sony changer.  I've had one for a year and have not looked for anything else. Paul knows how to get the most out of the Sony, it's the real deal.

What model is it?

[jcpix]

My TRL modded Sony is the SCD-CE595.

[JLM]

ro7939,

I'm one of few who will confess, that I had a computer based music server and went back.

It was a modded Squeeze Box 3 with battery power/AC option.  Loved the concept of small/simple.  Currently the rest of my system consists of single driver speakers and chip based (not digital) monoblocks.

Problems with power abberations vary widely with location.  In my new rural house with underground feed, private transformer, all new applicances, all 12 gauge/20amp service, dedicated audio circuits using combined/separate ground, and cryo'd hospital grade receptacles I noticed no difference between battery and AC.  This has also been reported by others with far less ideal AC.

I'm a computer dummy, so I was stretching to get on the high tech train.  It took weeks to figure out the set up and then it would crash for various reasons every few weeks, leaving me without tunes for days/weeks at a time.  Lost patience quickly, especially when "everyone" tells how easy it all is, but real help is nearly impossible to find.  Ripping/accessing the music was easy and convenient, but it was pretty much not portable.  And, unless you pick Olive or keep a CDP, you can't just spin a disk once without going through the ripping process.  So those CDs you only want to listen to occasional, or when friends come over with their music, require ripping and HD space.  I never got so far as backing up or buying additional HD space.  Honestly, getting off my butt every hour isn't so tough as I usually listen to a disk all the way through.

For someone like me, the Olive is an obvious choice, but I'm not convinced the sound quality is there or that there is a real convenience advantage.  Going with separate CDP based transport and DAC makes much more sense to me (thats what I went from to try the modded SB3   ).  More flexibility/upgrade options, fewer eggs in one basket, and you gain the possibility of adding DEQ in the digital realm.  That's my next move.

[Double Ugly]

Prior to reading this thread I was thinking most members had traded (or aspired to trade) premium sound quality for the "blessed" convenience of hard-drive based wireless digital.

The implication it's an "either/or" proposition ("premium sound quality" or "'blessed' convenience") is inaccurate at best.

Both are relatively easily attained, as a rapidly growing number of music lovers will attest.  See Srajan's recent review of Dan Wright's excellent Transporter for the most recent - and most public - switch to computer-based audio.

The wrapless wrap
In situ, this review was deliberately refocused, from sonics to context. I have personally reviewed the Zanden separates, the Ancient Audio Lektor Prime and the Abbingdon Music Research AM-77. Their assessments are readily accessed in our archives to make repeating what I said there redundant. The ModWright Transporter performs on that level, against machines $10,000 and up which can only spin, not stream. The upshot is that investing today into a traditional CD player seems quite foolish and pointless - if you have the $5,000 to spend on the ModWright Transporter/Music Vault combo.
...

My job concludes today with joining the ranks of those who've said the same much earlier already: computer audio done right is progress all around, not just compromised convenience for the unwashed masses. The ModWright Transporter is a superlative performer with the kind of tone and dynamics you expect from dedicated CDPs twice or more its price - and features which relegate those same CDPs to a stone age that began to give itself away as such a few years ago.
...

While self-styled defenders of yesteryear's digital music technologies might wish otherwise, this ex owner of Zanden and reviewer of AMR, Ancient Audio, APL Hifi, Audio Aero, Esoteric & Co. would be lying if he didn't call today's silver machine with its weirdly coexisting twin WiFi antennae and three valves their full and unequivocal equal - at ½ to 1/6th their price. That makes it award material and what my kind of dreams are made of...

Srajan Ebaen

 

The OP wants a CD player, and considering his stated budget, it may be the best choice.  Nevertheless, existing computer-based options would satisfy his desire for high-quality CD playback, and for less than the $5k mentioned in the 6moons review.

[TheChairGuy]

The Rega's seem very neat in concept....I'm a fan of top-loaders (less to go wrong, at the very least).

The Decware modded TEAC is dang smart idea, too....modding an inexpensive, time-tested, virtually bulletproof deck is a good
concept.

If I was in the market for a new player with that budget, I'd get a Pioneer DV-58av and have Ric Shultz (www.tweakaudio.com...or Electronic Visionary Systems) update it.  You'd be $$$hundreds shy of your budget...and get to taste the hi-life of excellent DVD-A reproduction (not so fond of SACD, however, but consider than function a bonus)

John

[rydenfan]

Have you looked at the McCormack UDP-1 Deluxe Edition? There are a few really good deals on Agon right now.

I LOVE my Modwright Transporter 

[James Romeyn]

In the confines of the price established by the original poster, I stand 100% by my statement that one MUST choose between convenience OR sound quality.  The statement was made in that particular context. 

Now, on the larger scale: I'd like to hear Wright's Squeezebox in my residence.  Regarding the silver disc players Srajan lists: The APL wasn't so hot in a direct A-B.  The people at Audio Aero are so stuck up I wouldn't own their stuff for any reason.  The Esoteric gear is nice.  The TRL was preferred by the person who brought over the $18k two-box Meitner.  Per TRL, an obviously biased source even though there's every reason to believe them, the owner of the $18k-ish Reimyo traded for the TRL.  I may be able to get the guy's name if that would help. 

Beyond that, there's the issue of wireless environments.  I'm an electrical dummy, admitted.  But I'm wondering how someone would come to the following conclusion regarding WiFi: an ultra-high-end WiFi digital source is no more likely to suffer performance changes by nearby wireless & hard-wired activity than any single-box silver disc system. 

In other words, someone living on the Greek island of Corsica or wherever, w/ what one might safely assume to have slightly more wireless & hard-wired activity than Antarctica, will always have the same exact absolute high-end digital WiFi audio performance compared to the same system setup in the middle of Manhattan.

Some might conclude such an assumption is innacurate at best.   

I'm not saying a hard-wired system is completely immune from nearby electrical activity, but am certainly saying a wireless system is more prone to variability in absolute performance in a high-end system.

I would personally discount a rave reveiw of WiFi that ignored this potential performance degrading subject.  YMMV.