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Searching for a new CD player

I would like to purchase either a new or used CD player.  Budget is about $600.  My biggest priority is finding one that will play CD's that contain some scuffs and scratches.  My current Yamaha 300 model that is a few years old does not do well in that respect.  I've read the Audiolab 6000cdt transport is good with CD's in bad condition but I will then need to add a DAC.  Not sure if any of the less expensive DAC's like the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 100 is worth the cost since it appears to be about ten years old now.  Wondering if buying a new Marantz CD6007 or Rotel CD11 Tribute might be better since the DAC's are newer?  I noted the new Music Hall C DAC 15.3 is pretty good at handling troublesome CD's.  

Or would there be some used CD players that might outshine the new models mentioned?
will62
brockwired's avatar
brockwired
53 posts
 
Will62
Sorry about derailing the thread with the DVD/Blu-ray player idea. I understand your need to keep things simple. I did it for a couple of reasons. The first one is for other people searching for a CD player so they can have a "more rounded" list of options. 

The other reason I suggested using a free or low cost DVD player was that you could spend more (or all) of your budget on a better DAC.

You said you have an older CD player with a toslink output. I would use that and look into a Schiit Bifrost2. It has one nice feature for CD playback: polarity inversion. Some CDs have the polarity reversed during playback. Unfortunately at $700 it is more than buget of $600 not knowing how flexible you are on that.

To sum it all up you will get the best quality of sound from your CDs using a transport and a DAC (for the least amount of money). A dedicated transport can cost around $500. DVD players can do the same thing for less. I am using an old DVD player in my main system without a display (tv). It doesn't even have HDMI, but it does have buttons. I just pop the disc in and press play. Did the same thing at my parents house when I set up a stereo system in their living room (no tv there either).
arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth
1,549 posts
 
The top tier Rotel cd player.    The cd14 no slouch either


grinnell
1,073 posts
 
I agree with many of the suggestions to use an existing cdp/dvd and add a nice dac.
I have a second system up in a cabin in the mountains and have an Oppo 981hd  sounded pretty good but I had a MyDac sitting around I had planned to sell but hooked it up to the Oppo.   Big improvement in sound.
will62 OP
177 posts
 
At this point I am leaning towards keeping the Onkyo CD player and adding a new DAC.  Seems to be the best move since it is working fine and handles the problem CD's better than the Yamaha.

Have looked at the Bitfrost 2 and Modius from Schiit.  Good reviews for both models for the most part.  

Will start researching some others now and if anyone has any other suggestions feel free to mention them.  I don't know much at all about external DAC's.  Will look at the MyDAC that Grinnell has mentioned.
tweak1
3,532 posts
 
Consider the Schiit BiFrost (has all the current inputs PLUS balanced outputs, and using a cheap player as a transport until you can get a better transport. Better transports do matter
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