This is a topic I've been thinking about just recently. While there are some dynamite universal players in the business (I have two and love them both), I still want to add a pure Red Book CD only player to my system. Looking now at various options. Universal players have to at least have two laser diodes, one to read Red Book CDs and the other for Blu-ray discs. Each read in a different color spectrum. This then requires more circuitry and signal paths than a single dedicated CD player has. So why not have one of each if you can swing it? Keeps the hobby interesting and you don't have to spend thousands for great audio.
Dedicated Red Book CD player vs. "Universal" type players....
I surmise this discussion has been debated a fair amount but here goes....I'm searching for the "final" cd player. Red Book playback is important to me as I have an extensive cd collection and am not into computer based sound (yet). So, I don't mind grabbing and popping those silver disks into a player. What are my fellow Audiogoner's thoughts on a dedicated cd player vs. the universal (see Oppo) type of player? Does a one-box solution sacrifice some cd playback performance trying to be a jack of all trades? If so, can you hear that difference? Input and comments most appreciated!