Crazy to buy a 17 year old CD Player?


My ARC CD2 just died...I think the laser finally gave up the ghost.  Any how I've got thousands of red book CDs in my library and need a replacement player.  I'm thinking an ARC CD 3MKII or the Mark Levinson 390S.  Am I crazy to be thinking this?  Got a budget of around $2000.00.  My system, though dated, is made up of higher end stuff: ARC 25 pre amp, ARC VT 150 mono amps, VPI TNT IV, Wilson Witts, all running through Transparent Reference (Balanced).
cmcdaniel5
Ok, I'm not yet ready for computer based audio. My silver disks are now the new vinyl to me and I do enjoy popping them into a player. I would agree with many here that DAC technology has improved vastly in the last few years. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a newer player and forget the "vintage" cd players. You would be very surprised at how far digital has come....
Thanks! for sharing- George and nordicnorm.
I have never read a bad report on the DV-50s player.
I hope Esoteric continues support and parts for these older spinners.

Happy Listening!
I totally agree- beernut.
I do not mind exchanging discs in a cd/sacd player as well.
Happy Listening!
Last time I looked, you can get a real nice new transport plus a real nice new R2R DAC for the price of a high end old CDP like Levinson, etc. The combination that piqued my interest the most was a Cambridge Audio CXC paired with a Denafrips Ares. If I remember correctly the combo came under $1500.
The Rega Saturn-R is a find sounding current model CD player. It is also a very useful multi-input DAC, so you could use it, as-is, for years and also have the flexibility of adding other digital sources if you ever decide to transition to a music server, etc. The Rega is $3K MSRP and a bit over half of that on the used market. It is also built like a tank.