Your CD player history...
- Thread starter Michael L
- Start date
Bubblechild
pfm Member
A little Sony thing in the 80s
A Sony midi-system (c'mon, I was a kid)
A Kenwood thing recommended by Hi Fi Choice (!)
A Micromega Microdac (fun fun fun)
A DPA DAC (boring)
A Meridian 206b (OK but didn't thrill me)
A Meridian 206 delta sigma (I liked it more using it as a transport, with the Microdac. Surely that's saying something)
A Linn Genki (boring)
A Naim CDX (great - detailed but sooo involving and musical)
A Pioneer DVD player running into another Microdac (muddy but fun)
A Pioneer stable platter CD player (surprisingly good for the price...a tenner!)
A Meridian 506 (good but not thrilling)
Now thinking of returning to the Naim fold...as cheaply as possible...
A Sony midi-system (c'mon, I was a kid)
A Kenwood thing recommended by Hi Fi Choice (!)
A Micromega Microdac (fun fun fun)
A DPA DAC (boring)
A Meridian 206b (OK but didn't thrill me)
A Meridian 206 delta sigma (I liked it more using it as a transport, with the Microdac. Surely that's saying something)
A Linn Genki (boring)
A Naim CDX (great - detailed but sooo involving and musical)
A Pioneer DVD player running into another Microdac (muddy but fun)
A Pioneer stable platter CD player (surprisingly good for the price...a tenner!)
A Meridian 506 (good but not thrilling)
Now thinking of returning to the Naim fold...as cheaply as possible...
TheDecameron
Unicorns fart glitter.
This thread could be renamed "the hall of shame."
All those wasted years.....if only you had stuck with an lp12 ( and Im only half kidding).
All those wasted years.....if only you had stuck with an lp12 ( and Im only half kidding).
I was late starting Cd - 2000ish bought a Technics around £70 when I stated getting presents of Cd's for Xmas (some people were giving big hints).
Then a 2nd hand Mission Dad 7000 - best most analogue sounding I've heard so far
but it decided it wouldn't play WAV & a few CD copies so was sent to the living room system after the Technics went to the great gig in the sky.
Now use a 2nd hand Yamaha CDX 880 which isn't bad at all but I hanker after a CDX 993
Then a 2nd hand Mission Dad 7000 - best most analogue sounding I've heard so far
but it decided it wouldn't play WAV & a few CD copies so was sent to the living room system after the Technics went to the great gig in the sky.
Now use a 2nd hand Yamaha CDX 880 which isn't bad at all but I hanker after a CDX 993
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
Pioneer reference player with the transformer hanging off the back
Micromega Stage 3
Micromega Drive/Dac
Micromega Drive3/Dac
Rega Saturn
Had an original Meredian player with the whole component system too as a second system, the cd player really wasn't very good - trounced by a Rotel 865.
CD also a second source and for years I just had vinyl as it simply crapped all over any cd player I'd ever heard.
Micromega Stage 3
Micromega Drive/Dac
Micromega Drive3/Dac
Rega Saturn
Had an original Meredian player with the whole component system too as a second system, the cd player really wasn't very good - trounced by a Rotel 865.
CD also a second source and for years I just had vinyl as it simply crapped all over any cd player I'd ever heard.
per-Sony-fied
Me in another jacket
I don't think there's anything shameful about my current CD players. I enjoy them lots. Not up to the standard of a TEAC Esoteric X-03 ( I may just hunt one down one day) but then from what I have heard I don't think many are. Possibly DCS has the edge.
Werner
pfm Member
1989 - Sony CDP-690: boring. Over-spent on that one, but I *needed* a digital output for a self-designed DAC that would (of course) never materialise
1992 - Marantz CD52SE: better, but still not very good. Again, over-spent in order to get the 'SE' badge and those cool aluminium side cheeks
1994 - Marantz CD52SEx: replaced the opamps with OPA2604s and the output caps with huge film types I nicked from the lab
1997 (or when was it?) - Rega Planet: One of the first ones in the country. I was writing for a real-paper magazine then, doing a group review of CD-players. We had the Planet in, days after its launch. In the end we were the second one world-wide to publish the review, days after What Hi-Fi. Fell in love with the review sample, returned it (ti broke at the end of the review!), bought my own one. That one broke within days, got a new one. That one stayed.
2000 - Rega Planet + Hawk Audio MP-DAC: added a big and complex DAC to it. Very nice analogue output stage.
2004 - Rega Planet, Modified: ditched the Hawk for the sake of system simplicity, and modded the Planet. Rubycon ZA and ZL caps for the supplies, Evox film caps in the filters. Turned out verrry well. Kept the warm musicality of the original Planet, but added some of the detail of the Hawk.
2007 - Denon DVD2930: needed something that could play CD-RW, and 96kHz DVD-Vs as well (started recording vinyl to DVDs). Cottonballed the Planet and in came this famed Denon machine. Also wanted to go 50" plasma ASAP, but in the end never bothered with it. So here we are with a fat and really good movie machine that has never ever been connected to a TV...
2007 - Denon DVD2930 + Apogee MiniDAC: very good combination. The Apogee concentrates input from the Denon (CD and audio-DVD), a Panasonc DVD/HD recorder, a crappy Emtec multimedia box, and a Tascam master recorder.
1992 - Marantz CD52SE: better, but still not very good. Again, over-spent in order to get the 'SE' badge and those cool aluminium side cheeks
1994 - Marantz CD52SEx: replaced the opamps with OPA2604s and the output caps with huge film types I nicked from the lab
1997 (or when was it?) - Rega Planet: One of the first ones in the country. I was writing for a real-paper magazine then, doing a group review of CD-players. We had the Planet in, days after its launch. In the end we were the second one world-wide to publish the review, days after What Hi-Fi. Fell in love with the review sample, returned it (ti broke at the end of the review!), bought my own one. That one broke within days, got a new one. That one stayed.
2000 - Rega Planet + Hawk Audio MP-DAC: added a big and complex DAC to it. Very nice analogue output stage.
2004 - Rega Planet, Modified: ditched the Hawk for the sake of system simplicity, and modded the Planet. Rubycon ZA and ZL caps for the supplies, Evox film caps in the filters. Turned out verrry well. Kept the warm musicality of the original Planet, but added some of the detail of the Hawk.
2007 - Denon DVD2930: needed something that could play CD-RW, and 96kHz DVD-Vs as well (started recording vinyl to DVDs). Cottonballed the Planet and in came this famed Denon machine. Also wanted to go 50" plasma ASAP, but in the end never bothered with it. So here we are with a fat and really good movie machine that has never ever been connected to a TV...
2007 - Denon DVD2930 + Apogee MiniDAC: very good combination. The Apogee concentrates input from the Denon (CD and audio-DVD), a Panasonc DVD/HD recorder, a crappy Emtec multimedia box, and a Tascam master recorder.
This is actually hard to remember...
Unremembered brand (1986)
Marantz multi-cd player
Denon multi-cd player
Marantz single-CD player
Linn Mimik II (for 35 agonizing days)
Rega Planet (until it died)
Rega Planet 2000
Jolida
Naim CD5X w/Flatcap 2X
and if SWMBO has her way, that'll be it.
I should note here that the Linn might have actually been good, but it was a bad match for the rest of the system. Also an object lesson not to believe the salesperson who says "It will break in....just give it a few more days".
Unremembered brand (1986)
Marantz multi-cd player
Denon multi-cd player
Marantz single-CD player
Linn Mimik II (for 35 agonizing days)
Rega Planet (until it died)
Rega Planet 2000
Jolida
Naim CD5X w/Flatcap 2X
and if SWMBO has her way, that'll be it.
I should note here that the Linn might have actually been good, but it was a bad match for the rest of the system. Also an object lesson not to believe the salesperson who says "It will break in....just give it a few more days".
TOFFEEMAN1878
Chosen Not Manufactured
Rega Planet updated with mods from this forum! that's it!
irons1965
pfm Member
Wow this really got me thinking;-
Philips CD104
Philips CD850
Marantz CD62
Technics ?? (Cost about £350)
Denon DCD1520
Arcam Alpha (£420- Early 90's, still working fine even though the tray sounds really cranky)
Naim CD2 (Stolen in a break in but the numpties left behind the puck...T**ts!)
Naim CDX
Philips CD104
Philips CD850
Marantz CD62
Technics ?? (Cost about £350)
Denon DCD1520
Arcam Alpha (£420- Early 90's, still working fine even though the tray sounds really cranky)
Naim CD2 (Stolen in a break in but the numpties left behind the puck...T**ts!)
Naim CDX
NAD (can't remember model) circa 1988
Marantz CD40
Pioneer PD-T05 (bought it in 1990, moved with me to 3 different continents, currently still in daily use at my mate's place)
Naim CD3.5 (the one that started the upgradetitis... just to make it listenable on modern cds)
Naim CD3.5/Flat Cap
Denon 2930 - for my Stones and Jazz sacds
Consonance CD 120 Linear - still my favourite cheap cdp thus far.
Marantz CD40
Pioneer PD-T05 (bought it in 1990, moved with me to 3 different continents, currently still in daily use at my mate's place)
Naim CD3.5 (the one that started the upgradetitis... just to make it listenable on modern cds)
Naim CD3.5/Flat Cap
Denon 2930 - for my Stones and Jazz sacds
Consonance CD 120 Linear - still my favourite cheap cdp thus far.
Paul_Riordan
pfm Member
Hmmm mmy list looks pretty short compared to some:
Technics SLP111 (I think!?)
Technics SLP333 (I think!?)
Meridian 200/203
Micromega Duo 3.1/Meridian 203
Micromega Duo 3.1/Theta Gen Va (24/96)
Theta Compli (CD, SACD, DVDA)/Theta Gen Va (24/96)
....now using Linn Majik DS/Theta Gen Va (24/96)
Technics SLP111 (I think!?)
Technics SLP333 (I think!?)
Meridian 200/203
Micromega Duo 3.1/Meridian 203
Micromega Duo 3.1/Theta Gen Va (24/96)
Theta Compli (CD, SACD, DVDA)/Theta Gen Va (24/96)
....now using Linn Majik DS/Theta Gen Va (24/96)