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Best single box CD player for £4K

T

tiggers

pfm Member
As part of my potential project to downsize my number of boxes I was wondering what the pfm Massive would recommend as the best single box CD player for less than £4K (new or pre-owned). I currently have a Naim CDS3/XPS DR, but obviously this is 2 boxes.... and yes I love the sound of it so let's not get into the usual anti-Naim thing if that's OK :D
 
Hmmmm... the Isis I have heard and thought it sounded very good, but its looks just don't do it for me and while I realise many will say that Naim aren't exactly beautiful and that it shouldn't matter anyway as the owner of a Gyrodec I can say that aesthetics do rate as one of my selection criteria.

The Densen is not a player I am familiar with, nor Accuphase so will have a look at them. Any model number for the Accuphase?
 
tiggers said:
As part of my potential project to downsize my number of boxes I was wondering what the pfm Massive would recommend as the best single box CD player for less than £4K (new or pre-owned). I currently have a Naim CDS3/XPS DR, but obviously this is 2 boxes.... and yes I love the sound of it so let's not get into the usual anti-Naim thing if that's OK :D
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Can you place one box on top of the other, then it will appear be just one larger box, seriously why change when there will be little if any difference in SQ.
Keith
 
Purité Audio said:
Can you place one box on top of the other, then it will appear be just one larger box, seriously why change when there will be little if any difference in SQ.
Keith
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Yep, it does seem an obvious solution, but I think it sounds better on its own shelf and there's the huge Burndy cable behind it too. That said it's not a definite decision, just exploring possibilities. Twenty years ago having masses of boxes and cables seemed kind of cool, but by my mid-50s I have this idea of a CD player, a pre-amp, the Gyro and some active ATCs or the likes as a much less cluttered Utopia I guess.
 
Personally, I wouldn't spend £4k on a CDP of any stripe. I'd spend most on a decent server, or server-DAC combo, rip the CDs and put them out of the way. This also opens up internet radio and assorted streaming possibilities.

Once I got honest with myself, I realised that my £300 2003 vintage Rotel RCD 965 BX was NOT significantly bettered by a TEAC P-30/Benchmark DAC1 combo despite the approx £4k price tag. I'd add that I have heard many of the pricey CDPs, including a Linn CD12, the top NAIMS, Meridians etc., and some very pricey DACs from assorted makers. I'm pretty sure that differences exist. Whether they constitute significant improvements is of course a matter of taste.

Now that might be my ageing ears.. but they are all I have to go on and therefore all that matters.
 
I recently went from a 2 box Opus 21 to a Rega Isis SS. Worthwhile upgrade and no regrets.

An alternative might be the various Luxman players (though I didn’t get the chance to try any). The advantages of something like the Luxman D05u versus the Rega are that it can play SACDs (if that’s relevant to you) and I believe it’s USB Input will accept higher resolution streams. The people at Quad who seem to deal with distribution (or something similar) told me, when I was trying to track one down, that the range is being replaced soon. If so, you may be able to find some ex demo units at decent prices.
 
tiggers said:
Yep, it does seem an obvious solution, but I think it sounds better on its own shelf and there's the huge Burndy cable behind it too. That said it's not a definite decision, just exploring possibilities. Twenty years ago having masses of boxes and cables seemed kind of cool, but by my mid-50s I have this idea of a CD player, a pre-amp, the Gyro and some active ATCs or the likes as a much less cluttered Utopia I guess.
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I am all for reducing boxes, but if it works and you like it.. far larger improvements are found at the speaker end.
Keith
 
Mullardman said:
Personally, I wouldn't spend £4k on a CDP of any stripe. I'd spend most on a decent server, or server-DAC combo, rip the CDs and put them out of the way. This also opens up internet radio and assorted streaming possibilities.

Once I got honest with myself, I realised that my £300 2003 vintage Rotel RCD 965 BX was NOT significantly bettered by a TEAC P-30/Benchmark DAC1 combo despite the approx £4k price tag. I'd add that I have heard many of the pricey CDPs, including a Linn CD12, the top NAIMS, Meridians etc., and some very pricey DACs from assorted makers. I'm pretty sure that differences exist. Whether they constitute significant improvements is of course a matter of taste.

Now that might be my ageing ears.. but they are all I have to go on and therefore all that matters.
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Fair comment, but we're all different I guess. I recently put my CD5X up against my CDS3 in my main system and massively preferred the CDS3 so the difference is there for me. I also have around 15,000 CDs and have a small portion of them ripped, but I can't be fagged to rip the remainder. I know I'm a luddite, but I still like just leafing through the CD collection and pulling something out as do my friends... and these days their kids. I think it's something you do less with streaming or rips... but maybe that is just me. As I am heavily invested in CD I don't mind spending plenty on a player especially as selling the CDS3/XPS2 would liberate the majority of the funds anyway.
 
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