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What was/is your favourite CD player

Not had one for years but out all I owned including Naim, Moon, Densen, Meridian, Cyrus, Marantz, Nad the Rega Saturn was my best. It just gave so much detail without any brightness. It was closely followed by the Densen. Worst was the Naim CDX. The brightness made my ears bleed.
 
List of players:

Ferguson CDP1 [rebranded Sony].
Sony 3xx ES [bought in 1991 or 92].
Naim CD 3.5
Naim CDS 2 [with original XPS, bought in 2000].
Sony SACD/CD [model not known by now, but obtained for very little in 2004].

Looking back at them the Ferguson was a CD player of its time, and soon superseded in sonic terms. I liked that for classical music there was no wear on the CDs from the heavy tracking that often surrounds the ends of long classical pieces. The finale of Beethoven's Choral Symphony [for example] on LP presents some spectacularly demanding music at the twenty fifth minute when the LP is tracking only a quarter of an inch from the label. This never lasted long back in the day. A few playings [even though I used to change the needs at three monthly intervals] and the frail tracking was turning to groove wear.

The Sony 3xx ES that followed was a battleship. Heavy, well engineered, and good sonics to match. Eventually it suffered transport failure, and I suppose that I did not really consider servicing something that I bought well as new because it was the previous year's Sony model [New Old Stock in other words], and they used to make a revision annually more or less in those days.

The Naim CD 3.5 was a very pleasing machine, which served loyally till I was gifted the CDS 2. That was a strange one, because my dear Norwegian grandmother was in her last illness, and my mother had challenged her will so that legally I was written out. A peculiarity of the eldest child being left the half, so that the "farm" would not be divided. A Viking Era law still in force in Norway! But my grandmother sent me a personal cheque to buy something "that you otherwise would never have, given with a still warm hand." She had died by the time I bought the CDS 2.

However it was the first digital device I encountered that did not have that early CD player sound. On classical music it yielded nothing in my view to a mint LP on any turntable that I had heard. Times went a bit rough, and in the end I sold the player for not a seriously depreciated price. I bought it "ex-dem" and it was absolutely mint when the forced sale came, so no problem with the price as Naim had fully serviced it at Salisbury prior to sale in the days when their servicing was keenly priced. New transport, PIC upgrade and new door hinge. The door hinge thing gives a clue how much use I gave that player. But the new owner was utterly delighted with it.

Obviously the Sony SACD player was a stopgap till I went computer audio with iTunes.

So my favourite CD player was the CDS 2 with original XPS. A nicely balanced sonic quality that served classical music well, and no doubt other genres as well. But also a fantastic gift from my Norwegian grandmother ...

Halcyon days ...

Best wishes from George
 
List of players:

Ferguson CDP1 [rebranded Sony].
Sony 3xx ES [bought in 1991 or 92].
Naim CD 3.5
Naim CDS 2 [with original XPS, bought in 2000].
Sony SACD/CD [model not known by now, but obtained for very little in 2004].

Looking back at them the Ferguson was a CD player of its time, and soon superseded in sonic terms. I liked that for classical music there was no wear on the CDs from the heavy tracking that often surrounds the ends of long classical pieces. The finale of Beethoven's Choral Symphony [for example] on LP presents some spectacularly demanding music at the twenty fifth minute when the LP is tracking only a quarter of an inch from the label. This never lasted long back in the day. A few playings [even though I used to change the needs at three monthly intervals] and the frail tracking was turning to groove wear.

The Sony 3xx ES that followed was a battleship. Heavy, well engineered, and good sonics to match. Eventually it suffered transport failure, and I suppose that I did not really consider servicing something that I bought well as new because it was the previous year's Sony model [New Old Stock in other words], and they used to make a revision annually more or less in those days.

The Naim CD 3.5 was a very pleasing machine, which served loyally till I was gifted the CDS 2. That was a strange one, because my dear Norwegian grandmother was in her last illness, and my mother had challenged her will so that legally I was written out. A peculiarity of the eldest child being left the half, so that the "farm" would not be divided. A Viking Era law still in force in Norway! But my grandmother sent me a personal cheque to buy something "that you otherwise would never have, given with a still warm hand." She had died by the time I bought the CDS 2.

However it was the first digital device I encountered that did not have that early CD player sound. On classical music it yielded nothing in my view to a mint LP on any turntable that I had heard. Times went a bit rough, and in the end I sold the player for not a seriously depreciated price. I bought it "ex-dem" and it was absolutely mint when the forced sale came, so no problem with the price as Naim had fully serviced it at Salisbury prior to sale in the days when their servicing was keenly priced. New transport, PIC upgrade and new door hinge. The door hinge thing gives a clue how much use I gave that player. But the new owner was utterly delighted with it.

Obviously the Sony SACD player was a stopgap till I went computer audio with iTunes.

So my favourite CD player was the CDS 2 with original XPS. A nicely balanced sonic quality that served classical music well, and no doubt other genres as well. But also a fantastic gift from my Norwegian grandmother ...

Halcyon days ...

Best wishes from George

What a nice story George!
 
I collected a lot of vinyl when the "CD Revolution" arrived with jam and scratched discs promising perfect sound.....

Of course i had to try one!, a Marantz 63se then a couple from Linn - the Mimik and the best i've owned the Ikemi with it's silky smoooth drawer.

saw that streaming was the way to go and ditched the Ikemi :(.
 
Based on only an evenings listening, I think I might be a transport+DAC man after all. I don't really understand why the CXC should sound better or even different than a regular CDP when both are connected via digi coax to my DAC, but it does. Very pleased. I am looking forward to re-discovering hidden gems and atrocities in my cd cupboard, into which I have rarely ventured in recent times....
 
It's interesting how opinions vary on particular cd players.
I didn't get on with the Rega Apollo (1st version). Just underwhelmed.
A CXC lasted a week. Not as good as what I had.
The CDX2.2, described by many as harsh, I spent yesterday evening just enjoying Coltrane, Lee Morgan and the Peddlers.

Some peoples harsh might be anothers lively and energetic.
Or maybe its just the type of music.
 
What DAC did you use the CXC into? The thing about transports is, of course, they can't be compared to regular players unless you factor in the DAC used also.... and what did you have at the time?
 
I used my Streamagic 6 as the DAC.

Not trying to rubbish anything. Just saying how individual preferences differ.
 
The first two CD players I had couldn't deal with The Alban Berg Quartet's EMI recording of Schubert's String Quartets 13 & 14. There was one passage where the sound distorted. The offending players were a Philips machine of 1987 vintage, and the Denon DCD-1560, from about 1990. The first player that could cope with this "torture track" was a Meridian 506.
 
I can't be sure.Have you heard a CDP715?
I have couple of friends who have loved the Sony ES /ESD players and have owned just about all of them.They found the CDP 715 to be better in balance.Certainly more open and airy and those are the traits I favour most in a source component.The Sony ES/ESD players tend to sound warmer ,richer and have more bass weight but I do not think that means they sound better.The 715 sounds much more natural and clear and free of grain.Which was exactly the comments made about it when it was reviewed.
I have a KRELL KAV 300CD which sounds very powerful and weighty as well as being clear and clean but it still does not have quite the open and airy quality of the 715.
I also own an Accuphase DAC which probably is better than the 715.
Accuphase somehow manages to get digital just right.

I still have a CDP- 715E in the loft. I'll have to get it down for another listen.
 
CD players aren't as interesting as record players though, are they? I can't imagine there being much of a thing for old CD players in the same way that there is for vintage record players.
 
This’ll be the next thread: What CD player(s) have you got in the loft?
I’ve got a Denon DCD1015 which preceded the Alpha 9 which preceded the Ikemi. Must hook it up to see how it sounds.
You might be surprised, it won’t achieve the forensic level of detail and texture that the Ikemi can, but if it’s anything like the decent Sony machines I’ve heard, expect big, warm and engaging.
 
I dunno, the machined metal trays on upmarket Linn machines stir the nerd juices for me!
Yea.... Its a funny thing.Old transports, old chipsets..... The build, the aesthetic.... Old CD players are really doing it for me at present. Judging by the gently building second hand/vintage market I'm not alone.
 
Yea.... Its a funny thing.Old transports, old chipsets..... The build, the aesthetic.... Old CD players are really doing it for me at present. Judging by the gently building second hand/vintage market I'm not alone.
Yes, I have a bit of a thing for old high end Sony and Marantz machines.

I don’t think of the Linn machines as old because they really don’t look it, or feel it, but they are. I have a Karik/Numerik here, 25 years old but still looks new, and an Ikemi which is 20 years old and still looks outstanding... the transport mechanism is so nice in that machine that McIntosh bought them in from linn for their flagship transport/DAC combo of the time.
 
This’ll be the next thread: What CD player(s) have you got in the loft?
I’ve got a Denon DCD1015 which preceded the Alpha 9 which preceded the Ikemi. Must hook it up to see how it sounds.

In the loft/attic :

Linn Mimik : lovely and involving sound for the price I paid for my lightly used unit. Really seems to be built like a tank.

Musical Fidelity X Ray 24 bit : a bit more relax but very listenable. Tried it with an external DAC but never impressed me. I keep it as a spare whenever I have to send my main CD player to the repair shop as it can be used with or without external DAC. I love the retro look but my daughters don’t !
 


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