Better CD Sound: The Search


Went Big into Vinyl last 2 years, then re-discovered my many CD’s, mixing it up plenty now.

I continue to try and find a CD Player with better sound than my existing cheapo Sony Changer that surprisingly keeps on keeping on.

I am hoping recent upgrades to the system will more readily reveal differences:

99.9999 copper speaker wires and interconnects, locking rca connectors, mx110z tube tuner/preamp overhaul by Audio Classics; cayin a88t bias by VAS; 16 ohm L-Pads replacing 8 ohm pots; and finally a I bought a sound meter to balance/refine the speaker’s L-Pads (it ain’t easy) for the best sound ever.
.....................................

CD Quest So Far:

I want dual processors, go used to keep cost down, even consider older vintage.

1. my Onkyo Grand Integra (DX-7500 I think), fixed the damn drawer opening problem several times.

2. This cheapo Sony Changer given to me, eh, use if for parties, why not.
surprisingly sounded as good as the Onkyo to me and friends, gave the annoying Onkyo away.

3. tried used Oppo 83 Video Player for it’s audio

Laser was weak, ’no disc’, found it is a common problem with heavily used lasers. Back it went

4. lightly used Oppo 105. Everything worked, but didn’t sound better than the Sony. Oppo is big, single, expensive, not sellers fault, so I sold it myself rather than return it, lost $205. on that attempt.

5. ’new original stock’ KLH (made by?). played a few discs, then the discs started mis-tracking on discs I know are ok.

found small black bits clinging to the surface in the area of the problems (cds play from the inside out, just guess how far out). Turned out, the belt(s) were dried out, thus when put into motion after years of storage (where?), they shed bits of rubber. Back it went, full refund including return shipping. never compared it to the Sony’s sound

6. Resolved: if vintage, make sure belts are available, get a low price, open it up when it arrives, watch it move ... use, replace belts, return as last choice.

7. Just Bought Two, in transit, One Single; One 6 Disc Changer. (both with oem remotes and power cords, most for sale are missing).

a. Denon DVD-2910 Single Player (big dent on the top. $52. del’d, eBay) (crutchfield keeps old info on their site)
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-6TIPMQKBMUZ/p_033DV2910B/Denon-DVD-2910-Black.html

b. Onkyo Integra CDC-3.4 six disc changer (open box/demo) ($51. delivered) (bserplus.com)
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_164CDC34/Integra-CDC-3-4.html

c. a bag of belts. because I will be keeping something, and I have other old stuff with belts
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334135204014

d. spare rare OEM remote for Integra 3.4, eBay

Keeping My Ears Crossed!

elliottbnewcombjr
Yes to Denon. I’ve sold many over my audio sales days. And yes, definitely upper range for better, more natural sound. 
Currently auditioning an open-box Denon DCD-1600 - a pure CD/SACD player, no ins and outs, just a straight player with no frills. Retail of $1500. I found an open-box for $680, and it’s spotless. 
Anyone try out better SD Card Reader sound?

Over at 6moons, Srajan claims it's the best sound he's heard from any source. No more PCs and their noise, no spinning parts like a CD uses, and no added storage, streamers and what have you. 

The one he now uses is the S.M.S.L. SD-9 and he says it betters his previous Soundaware piece for less.

The only downside is the not so sexy UI that SD readers use but it's a great way to store entire groups, genres, etc. The collections made can be easily stored taking up little space. I may try this somewhere down the road after I get the Technics S-G700M2 instead of committing another $3K for a CDT.

All the best,
Nonoise
+1 on a good DAC and streamer

I've found equal to or superior sound quality without the need to invest in physical media and much more convenient to select songs from a playlist than getting up and loading CDs
Purchasing a used Luxman D-06u helped me to realize what I'd been missing with my Sony S9000ES, Audio Research CD-1, Pioneer Elite BDP-05, Cayin and even Oppo UDP-205 players.  A different class altogether.