Bas V
pfm Member
15 mins of gabber can be done. 15 mins of Poing! now that’s a challenge
top ten iconic CD players
- Thread starter Joe P
- Start date
15 mins of gabber can be done. 15 mins of Poing! now that’s a challenge
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
Care to elaborate what you mean by curtailed? I still have the same LP12 now and CD sounds much better with Densen B-440XS. I'm not in the UK by the way, so I'm not familiar with the phenomenon to which you refer.
gingermrkettle
Deep vein trombonist
The Sony CDP-R1 and DAS-R1 have to be on the list.
Mike P
Trade: Pickwell Audio
Yes! And the Marantz DA12 and CD12 (or Philips LHH1001+LHH1002).
Mignun
pfm Member
In some markets it was only available under the Lo-D badge, and in others as a Denon (D-2000?). There was also a player from JVC (XL-V1), a Dual (can't recall the model) and a few others that I can now no longer recall that had a slightly differently laid out fascia but were the same Hitachi machine under the skin.
I remember being very excited to hear the new Compact Disc but it seemed an age before players were available to see and even hear. The first one I knew of was the Hitachi DA-1000 which was presented with great fanfare in the electronics department of Harrods - yours truly went expressly to see it and try to hear it.
I heard that most all of the early players broke down pretty quickly (the Hitachi DAC chips, IIRC) and were then replaced with with players that used Burr Brown chips in their place. My own DA-1000 was a replacement machine that was flown in directly from Japan as it still has all the British Airways labels all over the carton.
This kind of rapid on-the-fly development was quite common with the early 1st Gen players; just take a look at the very first Philips CD100s against the later ones, or the first Technics SL-P10, which I was told by their UK Sales manager was essentially a hasty lash-up at first and very different under the skin from one month to the next. For that reason alone, these early players are really fascinating.
Another CD player, which must be seen as truly iconic was the Cambridge CD1. It's still an amazing player, even today.
chartz
If it’s broke fix it!
The LP12s I listened to - I never did get to buying one - were very gentle on the ears, a little dull perhaps. Even with K18!
You really needed to boost up treble a bit, one way or another. That was the case for many vinyl setups too.
Can you try a Philips or Sony first generation player today? Not the last word in imagery or definition, but very musical and sweet.
Enfield boy
pfm Member
I first heard a CD player (early Philips) at a dealer that didn't sell Linn. They sold Meridian, Mission and Pink Triangle amongst others. I thought the CD player sounded shite compared to a PT as well. In fact my memory of the Thorens I had at the time into a Rotel amp was preferable. I suspect it's true that most amps in the early/mid 80s didn't show cd in it's best light but Philips etc must've known the sort of gear that most people would get to hear their products through.
I listened to a Rotel 965 and a Marantz 63 back to back for a week. The Ro tel was better. I also had a Denon 1015 that was indistinguishable from the Marantz. A local dealer was doing SOR for a week, I paid for all 3 and returned 2 for refund. We were all happy.
John Phillips
pfm Member
Iconic? Not sure. But certainly distinctive for the time. I put forward the Philips CD303 (an example of which I bought in late 1983 and still works):
An enthusiast wielding a modern Audio Precision tester shows that it's not competitive today on noise floor but otherwise technically not too shabby at all. The Philips and Sony engineers knew their stuff.
That may well be the model my pal bought. His dad owned a farm and employed him for the summer of 83 or 84. Mark worked his ears off and had the £600 he needed to buy a CD player. He was the first of us to get one, we were all insanely jealous. It didn't matter that there were only a dozen CD s or so available or that they cost about £13 a go when basic agric labour pay for a 16 yo was £1 an hour. It was the dog's and we all knew that this was the future.
chartz
If it’s broke fix it!
I have a different experience. What I heard at the dealer’s was extremely good. I think it was a full Quad system but I’m not sure. It was a long time ago!
My vintage CD machines from Philips especially (82-85, before true 16 bit machines were produced) sound fair really.
That said, I have a few CDs from 82-84 that sound really bad, either shouty or awfully dull, like the ubiquitous Brothers in Arms, whereas the LP (first pressing) has always sounded excellent.
Not so simple.
Joe P
Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
Nic Robinson
Moderator
That's almost a communicator from II/III (remember that time the Federation discovered Internet pron and all their communicators suddenly grew...)
Joe P
Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
@Nic Robinson,
Yeah, I like the look of original Trek tech. It’s futuristic yet so 1960s. It’s been mostly wrong since.
Joe
Yeah, I like the look of original Trek tech. It’s futuristic yet so 1960s. It’s been mostly wrong since.
Joe
AnilS
pfm Member
IMHO, these lists are very personal of course.
Iconic? Well I have to add:
Rotel 965BX. For me, it's iconic because it is a stealthy machine. Already mentioned by others.
Another is the Marantz CD52 Special Edition.
Plasticky yes but it showed the door to the Mission PCM7000 I had.
Finally, the Meridian 208. Just lovely.
Iconic? Well I have to add:
Rotel 965BX. For me, it's iconic because it is a stealthy machine. Already mentioned by others.
Another is the Marantz CD52 Special Edition.
Plasticky yes but it showed the door to the Mission PCM7000 I had.
Finally, the Meridian 208. Just lovely.
