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CD player, audio out, discrete vs. op-amps..?

I am looking to buy a good used single cd player. Either redbook only or redbook and SACD.

I have not liked the sound of players using op-amps for the audio output stage. Am I wrong that discrete components in the output stage are better than op-amps, or are there exceptions to that thought?

Thanks
whatjd
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zd542
5,339 posts
 
"I recently read an article about the Pono player and that Charles Hansen did the electronic design.

The audio circuitry is fully discrete, meaning there are no integrated circuit chips of the sort used in every other portable music player. It's a bona fide high-end component.

And, of course, it has no feedback (global I assume). But, what if after all of this his circuit can't pass a hi-rez music signal? That's the goal of the Pono player and yet, it was never mentioned."

"The PonoMusic Store uses FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) audio format as its standard, for compatibility, although the PonoPlayer can play most popular high-resolution music formats from other sources. PonoMusic has a quality spectrum, ranging from really good to really great, depending on the quality of the available master recordings:

• CD lossless quality recordings: 1411 kbps (44.1 kHz/16 bit) FLAC files
• High-resolution recordings: 2304 kbps (48 kHz/24 bit) FLAC files
• Higher-resolution recordings: 4608 kbps (96 kHz/24 bit) FLAC files
• Ultra-high resolution recordings: 9216 kbps (192 kHz/24 bit) FLAC files "

I got that off the Pono website. It looks like it will play high rez music.
whatjd OP
1,139 posts
 
Thanks to all for your input. My thoughts came to mind in remembering former CD players that I have owned that did not use op-amps and sounded better than op-amp based players.
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