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Your CD player history...

Late '94 - Sony Discman Sport as travelling for a year.

1999 - Copland CDA 289 when I finally realised I probably wasn't returning to the UK and shipped the LP12 and stuff overseas.

err...nothing else

Keep thinking about clocking it and Trichord NC PSU but as the rugrat is now mobile and the standmounts are now shelf-mounts, probably not worth the expense. Still looks killer scandanavian cool. TT boxed...:(.

Keith
 
1) Kenwood DP-460 Late 80's

2) Kenwood DP-1000 Don't know the date. (Modified to give Coax SPDIF out) + Nakamichi DAC-101 in-car converter.

3) Pioneer PD-73 (Squarest SPDIF output i have ever 'scoped) + Nak DAC-101. This is still my current set-up, wouldn't swap it for anything! The Nak is just wonderfull, 16 bits 8X oversampling and two TDA1541 Crown Versions. Just the best sounding CD replay i have heard.

But, now also own and use occasionally:-

Philips CD-100
" " CD-202
" " CD-303
" " CD-104 (X3).
I really don't know what people were meaning when they said early CD sounded awfull. The CD-100 playing the very first CD produced through some valve amps and decent speakers sounds lovely?!?!

James.
 
Marantz think it might have been the 52 given to me by my son when he left home.
Teac T1 transport with tiny Audio Alchemy dac.
Marantz CD17 KI Sig.
Naim CDX that has started to jump so useing until I can get it fixed,
Audio Alchemy ACD-2 through a Musical Fidelity X10-D.

Roy
 
It took me a long time to get into CD. I'm still not sure if I like it.

1998 - Sony Discman something - looking back, it sounded terrible
1999 - Sony micro system - surprisingly not bad at all, still in use
2004 - Marantz CD52 (on loan from friend) - inoffensive but dull
2006 - Returned the Marantz and bought a secondhand Naim CD3.5 - a breath of fresh air; made CD listenable. Interestingly, I had only once heard one in about 1999 and it was just as I remembered. The "Naim sound"?
2007 - Naim CDX - has moments of brilliance, at other times sounds too "digital". Now of course I want an XPS...

Damian
 
Not one machine listed in this thread that makes me think 'wish I had one of those'. Not so for the cartridge thread, however.
 
DENON DCD500
TECHNICS SLPG550
ROTEL RCD951
REGA PLANET 2
ARCAM CD33
NAIM CD5
NAIM CD5X
NAIM CDX
NAIM CDS2/XPS AND NAIM CD5i-2

ATB

John
 
eisenach said:
Philips CD100 - 1984ish. Sounded fine to me, and got rid of the snap crackle and pop of classical LPs which was driving
me crazy at that time. Still works - just, and comes out to play from time to time.
Some other Philips job - 1989
Rotel 965BX - 1992. A really good machine, and still going in my son's bedroom.
Audiolab 8000CD - 1990. The Marantz 17KI was on the list at the time. The Audiolab won - it sounded more together.
Audiolab 8000CD + TAG DAC20 - better.
TAG CDT20R TL + TAG DAC20 - even better.
TAG CDT20R TL + TAG AV32R - 2004. It sounds very good to me.
Also have a Philips 963, but only use it for DVD and SACD.
Click to expand...

2008 TAG DVD32R - sounds even better! :)
 
Yamaha CD-X5 - sounded ok through the system I had at the time. Started making funny clicking noises so changed for...

Cambridge Audio CD4 - Darling of What Hi-Fi at the time. Clearly an improvement but a little Gray and Cold sounding, So added a...

Cambridge Audio DACmagic 1 - about a 20% improvement for a bargain £40 at a local 2nd hand shop. Soon changed for a...

Cambridge Audio DACmagic 2 - traded it in at Richers for more than I paid for the spanky new mk2 version. Not a LOT better but I convinced myself it was. Until in the same 2nd hand shop I saw...

Arcam Blackbox 50 DAC - HUGE improvement over the Cambridge DACs. Much more soundstage and imaging. So impressed I sold the CD4 and bought a....

Cambridge Audio Discmagic 1 Transport - Made very little difference really but I had been seduced by the hype surrounding transports. Plus Richers were selling them off for £99. Kept this combo for years until I got a good offer for the DAC. Used the transport direct into my Sony Minidisc player for a while but then had problems with the transport playing CD-r's so traded in for a....

Arcam Alpha 7se - Sounded quite nice most of the time but occasionally sounded way too bright. Tried to fix this by purchasing...

Moodlabs Concept NOS DAC - tamed the brightness and gave me back some bass. Still not entirely happy so added...

Yaqin Tube Buffer - A unity amplifier with a tube input stage. Sound was much more 'analogue' but eventually the bug bit again. Changed the Moodlabs DAC for a...

Meridian 203 - replaced the NOS DAC and the tube buffer in my system. Warm lush detailed sound now rules the roost in my cd setup. Sold the Arcam as I started using a Pioneer DV 565a multiplayer in my system and no longer needed the extra box. Finally convinced myself I needed a better transport last year and added...

Pioneer PD 703 Stable Platter - into the Meridian this combo is the best digital sound I have yet heard from my system and with my music.


So this is where I am at the moment and have reached a place where i have no more digital itches to scratch. Wish i could stop buying turntables and speakers though!
 
1) Technics SLPG580 (Bought 1997 - used to play CD-R occasionally till today)

2) Marantz CD10 (Bought 1995 - My primary music powerhouse, used daily and still going strong till today)

Currently playing mostly MP3s and Apple Lossless songs via the Mac & Nuforce Icon's DAC.
I don't know I should upgrade to what now. Really like the sound of mBL and Primare, but those are waaay beyond my limited fund.
 
Phillips CD104 (I think) which broke out of warranty
Went mad and bought a Marantz CD94 in late 80's which at the time seemed a lot of money.
Lasted for years, updated it with a Little Bit DAC
Linn Genki
Then in the last 3 years I've changed my system loads of times and been really dissapointed until now. This has been the run:
Arcam DV79
Naim CDX2 then upgraded after a few months with XPS
AVI CD player with Benchmark DAC
Linn Unidisk 1.1 - probably as far as I'm going on the upgrade path.

I gave my son the Marantz, which finally gave up 3 years ago after almost 17 years of use with no problems. So this has probably been the best in terms of value for money. Used AVI with Benchmark was also pretty good for the cash.
 
Uhhhh, it has been:

1992 A Sony machine - it played CDs but didn't have a great sound quality.

1996 A Philips machine - it played CDs and looked ugly.

2001 Linn Classik - it looked great and sounded cool.

2007 Naim CD3.5 - Out came the Naim sound.

2007 Naim CD5 - I quickly upgraded to this and still have it.

2007 Naim CD5/Flatcap 2x - The Flatcap has improved the presentation etc. I plan to try a Hi-Cap with it though.

If the Hi-Cap doesn't upgrade the sound, I could continue to go up the Naim ladder.

I will, however, also try to get to listen to an Avondale ACD3 and a Densen 400XS.

I'm also using a Mac Pro, Airport Xpress, and Beresford DAC to play Apple Lossless files.

The digital file side will definitely be upgraded. It already sounds pretty good even at this level.

Jack
 
1986-2003 -> Adcom GCD-575
1994 -> Sony Discman
2003-2008 -> Linn Genki
2008 -> Linn Akurate DS (no more CD players!!!)
 
Yamaha CDX4 - developed an intermittent fault after about 5 years

Micromega Optic - once it broke down (after about three years, Micromega never managed to repair it)

At the same time as I moved to Naim amplification (Nait 3):-
Linn KARIK s/n110xx initial hiccoughs cured effectively. Lasted me about 9 years of heavy use before laser conked out - no spare mechs available from Linn.

Now, Arcam CD36. A lovely little machine with a very pleasant sound. When I am feeling lazy I use this quite happliy even for "serious" listening (whatever that is)! But at the moment I am buying and listening to much more vinyl than CD - about four to one.

For the future? Two possible directions - a good universal player (a first class oxymoron, if ever there was one:) or a CEC transport with an Audionote DAC. With my current Naim amps!!!

Oh! And a host of portable players for in train/plane/hotel use - I am careful with them but they rarely seem to last me more than three years of light use; I only travel for leisure.
 
One of the first Sony CDPs - 1984
Various Denons
* long break *
Rega Apollo
Densen 400XS

...really fascinated with the number of people on this forum playing digital files via PC...
I've never heard this format even approach a modest mid-price CD player in terms of sonics. I hope I'm proved wrong one day - got about a terabyte's worth of FLAC files!
(Which I burn onto CDR with a Plextor drive via Roxio disc creator)
 
Pioneer PD 6500
Pioneer PD 801
Pioneer PD 75
Sony CDPX 339ES
Sony CDPX 559ES
Sony CDP XA 50 ES
Pioneer PD 8700
Pioneer PD 9700 ( all round quality very natural sound still have one)
ROTEL RCD 990
 
Sansui Midi system
Some cheap Pioneer PD206 player for a few months
1998 Marantz CD 67SE for a few years ( later as a CD transport)
Added Bel Canto Dac 2 DAC in 2001 ( DPA T1 transport)

Current- Lavry DA10 Dac + CEC TL51XR as transport - smooth and musical combination.
 
Relatively late adopter. Could (should?) have bought a Cambridge CD2 or CD3, but first purchase was the original Meridian 203 DAC in 1990, brought back from the UK and matched up with a Kenwood DPX-9010.

Then:

DPX-9010/ MF Digilog
DPX-9010/ Audiolab 8000DAC
Micromega Stage 3
Marantz CD17 Mk2 KISig
Arcam Alpha 5
Creek CD60

The latter two are much modified and still in rotation.

Short-term visitors:

Audiolab 8000CDM
Arcam Black Boxes 1 and 2
Deltec Bigger Bit
DPA Enlightenment Drive
DPA DX32
Rotel RCD 955AX
Rotel RCD 965BX
Meridian 203 DAC7
Sony CDP-XE900E
Arcam Alpha One
Arcam D70.2
 
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