Best dedicated CD player under £1000?

crinkleshoes

crinkleshoes

crinkleshoes

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Hey,

I'm looking for a dedicated CD player unit.

Built in CD changer for 5-6+ disks might be nice, but is not a necessity... highest audio quality is the paramount.

I'm setting up a listening room with some Kef LS50 bookshelf speakers, my valve amp with Sophia Electric 2A3 tubes is going in there, along with a Geek Pulse X Infinity when it arrives in the next couple of months (along with the LPS4 that's already arrived - clean power unit).

I'd like to be able to get the best quality from CD and vinyl that I can... I already have a vinyl player sorted, but don't have a dedicated CD player and I'd like one.

Given that the X-inf will be doing the primary DAC work, part of me is wondering if it is even worth spending the extra for a "decent" standalone player as my thoughts are what you're really paying for is the DAC that's built into the CD player. I know most laser can read a disk without many errors, due to how mass produced they have been for a while.

As long as I can find one that offers a clear digital output and I let the X-inf do the hard work, do I even need a well-specced standalone player?

If so, what's worth my time taking a long hard look at?

I was originally looking at something like the Yamaha CD-S300.

Yamaha over other brands due to reliability and a good price/performance ratio of the electronics inside the unit.
 
Have you looked at Naim and Cyrus at that budget?

http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/naim-cd5si-cd-player?gclid=COuXgovDjMYCFSIcwwod-ScA4g

http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/cyrus-cdi-cd-player

I say that because the DAC chips are likely to outperform the Yamaha. Rega may also be an option provided you are ok with top loaders. (apollo is under budget and the next one up is £1600.)

Don't buy a multi-player as there is so much to go wrong and performance will be hampered by the high cost of the moving parts for your budget. Factor in £30-£40 for the lowest price interconnect the hifi shop sells as you just need a nice shielded cable nothing special or expensive.

Sell the GeekXpulseinfinity and then you can go even higher. Moon Audio mmmmmm :)
http://www.kronosav.com/digital/cd-players/neo-260d-cd-transport.html
 
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Would you consider 2nd hand ? Just have a look around atm to give a few suggestions .

I'm using my blu ray player for my main audio source . Arcam bdp300 . Picked it up for £600 and the music side of it is stunning . used to own the cd92 back in the day. the bdp300 is just as good . Still haven't tested the onboard dac as i'm feeding the player into my irdac .
 
I'd go with bemaniac's thought on the Naim Cd5si. I've had it's predecessor, the Cd5i for a few years now and it always does nothing but impress when you play it. There is in fact a Cd5si on a well known auction site for a buy it now price of £790. In my opinion an absolute bargain and it was only bought in April this year.
 
Assuming you're happy with s/h, hunt down a densen 400xs.
Easily the best cdp I've heard that can be found for your budget.

Btw, I've owned a cd5i, and think the densen is significantly better.
 
I'd echo the Densen suggestion. The XS is an older model now (still excellent though) and as such may be tricky to find.

The newer models are still extremely good though and would be my preferred choice over Naim.
 
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