CDP suggestions for £500'ish

[Idlewithnodrive]

I hope this is the right place to post this and that I'm not treading old ground but I couldn't find a relevant thread. If I'm wrong @mods feel free to move to the right area.

Anyway, I'm really an analogue guy, so don't have an awful lot of experience with CD players. Any suggestions for a half decent CDP around the £500 or so mark is welcomed. Happy to buy second hand.

For context, I like both my Stage 2 Micromega and my Philips CD-471 but they come nowhere near my TT's so I am looking for the next step up.

I can be a bit flexible on budget if it will achieve a significant improvement

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[Macca]

Denon DCD-900E ?

https://www.richersounds.com/denon-dcd-900ne-black/

Has a gradually rolled off response so it might sound more 'analogue', I don't know - but should at least be a bit different to the players you have and well in budget. Build quality is good.

[Pieoftheday]

If you can find a Roksan K3 cd player, highly recommended

[Pigmy Pony]

Maybe an Audiolab 6000CDT for £400 or less, together with a modestly priced DAC. Well regarded, as long as you're happy with the loading slot. Plenty of used bargains around too.

[Gazjam]

If going down the CD Transport route (not sure if you have a Dac already?) strong recommend for the Shanling ET3 top loading transport.
Plays in a significantly higher league than its price might suggest, easily trounces the Audiolab (I had one and compared) and is inside your budget.

Assuming you already have a dac of course.

[Andy831]

Again CD transport rather than player, I have been using a Cambridge CXC for quite a few years which I enjoy, and just because I found one at the right price and thought it would be a good stand in for the CXC if it every went awry I snagged a one month old Audiolab 7000 CDT which is sounding very nice too, both transports would be less than or about your budget.

[Mikeandvan]

Surely you won't get much new for £500 that will beat your old Micromega, second hand may be. I found the Meridian G08 to be in a different league for me, they go for about 500-1000, but I think you can use the DVD player of the same range too.

[Macca]

Having bought maybe two dozen second hand CD and other optical players over the years, I wouldn't advise going second hand.

Maybe you get a couple of years out of it, or maybe just a couple of weeks - before it starts playing up in some way. It's too much of a lottery.

[Pigmy Pony]

Having bought maybe two dozen second hand CD and other optical players over the years, I wouldn't advise going second hand.

Maybe you get a couple of years out of it, or maybe just a couple of weeks - before it starts playing up in some way. It's too much of a lottery.

Not always - your Audiolab CDT will have been a great buy for somebody. Just have to buy something new-ish from someone you trust. Definitely not Ebay :doh:

[Barry]

I can't offer suggestions, since my experience is limited to: early Philips CDPs (which are outdated now); good quality, but not top-of-the-range Sony players, and more recently up-marked or professional players by the likes of Studer-Revox, Mark Levinson and Simaudio Moon, which lay outside of your budget.

However if I was to start anew, I would go for the previously mentioned Audiolab 6000 transport with very good modern DAC. There have been great advances in DAC technology.

Likewise the transport must be mechanically stable
The current use of plastic in their construction should be viewed with suspicion: especially with construction of DVD players.

[Lawrence001]

I hope this is the right place to post this and that I'm not treading old ground but I couldn't find a relevant thread. If I'm wrong @mods feel free to move to the right area.

Anyway, I'm really an analogue guy, so don't have an awful lot of experience with CD players. Any suggestions for a half decent CDP around the £500 or so mark is welcomed. Happy to buy second hand.

For context, I like both my Stage 2 Micromega and my Philips CD-471 but they come nowhere near my TT's so I am looking for the next step up.

I can be a bit flexible on budget if it will achieve a significant improvement

Thanks in advance.

MikeIf you are interested you could borrow my Meridian 508 to try out, I suspect your not too far from me if you are happy to drive over to pick it up and drop it back if you don't like it.

[Macca]

Not always - your Audiolab CDT will have been a great buy for somebody. Just have to buy something new-ish from someone you trust. Definitely not Ebay :doh:

But I sold that for £100

£500 on an old player is a lot to spend if it starts playing up after a few months. You can get those old TEAC flagship transports for around that money which was tempting to me but experience told me 'no'.

[Pigmy Pony]

But I sold that for £100

£500 on an old player is a lot to spend if it starts playing up after a few months. You can get those old TEAC flagship transports for around that money which was tempting to me but experience told me 'no'.

But in your case someone got an as new 400 quid player for £100. While it's unlikely that much of a bargain would come Mike's way, I have seen a couple come up for sale at around £200. The money saved would pay for a decent DAC or an awful lot of CD's, especially the used examples me and you tend to go for :)

[Alex_UK]

I am inclined to agree with Martin - I have bought three Marantz KI Signature CD/SACD players new, and none of them now work, I also have two or three Technics players which also gave up the ghost, plus one or two others I can't recall - but one common theme is they have all stopped working! Probably the main reason I just stream FLAC files these days.

[Macca]

All the brand new players I've bought I've either had tens of thousands of hours out of before they started failing, or I've sold them still working fine after thousands of hours.

For used players all have failed - the longest lived was a Technics SLP1200 BBC variant which I got a couple of years out of. We're talking over two dozen players here so I think a good sample.

[Mikeandvan]

I'd agree about reliability with old CDPs, and parts no longer being available. But my personal experience with the Meridian was excellent, perhaps because it's a British brand, perhaps cos there's that guy over on Meridian forum whose well known for fixing them!* (along with my Suggie). My G08 started 'giving up the ghost', it just needed a new transport, Steve sorted it all for a very reasonable price, and now it's as steady as a tractor. I don't know whether you can still get parts for the older Meridians like the 208 mentioned earlier but that might be a good budget option, they look nice too.
*Steve

[Idlewithnodrive]

Thanks for all the input chaps. I think I'll stick with the Micromega nad spend the money on trying to get somebody to fix my Doge 6 CDP.

[Pete The Cat]

When it comes to guarantees, servicing and parts, Marantz are still very much in the CD player market. The 6007's (£350) have been well-reviewed although I should say that I haven't heard one for myself.

[Pigmy Pony]

When it comes to guarantees, servicing and parts, Marantz are still very much in the CD player market. The 6007's (£350) have been well-reviewed although I should say that I haven't heard one for myself.

I have its predecessor (CD6006 UK Edition). Sounds perfectly fine to me - it replaced my old 1200 quid Densen player, and I don't feel I'm missing owt.