which second hand CD Player up to £300

My unit came from a chap called Derek Shrek who's based in Hong Kong. From emails with him, seems like a genuine enthusiast as against a business man. The units are usually found on Ebay.
His present version is black opaque.

A few thoughts come to mind though:
- If you buy one, look at adding a dedicated PSU, which I found made a big difference.
- Whilst I love what it does for the money, you might not. It's VERY natural sounding, which in some system may come across as a bit paid back. That's where system synergy comes in. My present system prefers to work better with more relaxed source units. In addition, it certainly doesn't have the drive or "boogie" factor of something like a Naim unit.
- There are better units out there. I believe that a Committed has tried a DAC like mine against a unit called a Monica2 and prefered the Monica2. Might be worth tracking one of those down.
- The DAC I have appears to have a fairly limited range of upgradeability. I have a dedicated Merdian 500 transport on the front of mine, which certainly does help the sound. However, the cost of the 500 pushes the combination into the price bracket of a s/h Quad 99CDP. I've compared my combo with the Quad and prefered the Quad.

As it happens, I'm listening to a new DAC this weekend, so mine may well be up for grabs in the near future.
 
Great info Mr_Sukebe! Thanks for that! :)

I'll keep my eye's open for some of that on Ebay and look out for any mention of yours being sold! :D

Thanks again!

Anyway, back to the thread... Seen anything you like yet Cruiser? You erring towards anything in particular?
 
I'm not sure about the DAC's cost now, around £130 is my guess. The PSU was built for me by someone I know, and cost another £60.

Having said that, remember that I have compared it to CD players costing £1000, £1600 £2000 and £2500. Some of which it was better than, some of which it certainly wasn't, but that is IN MY OPINION.
System synergy really is so important when choosing kit, and I'm not going to claim that this is the right solution for everyone. There simply isn't a "best for everyone" product, regardless of what the magazines say. What you need to do is have a listen and see if it does it for you.
 
i still like the look of the Arcams. the CD93t looks nice, but i can see that going for about £500 maybe

i considered modding my marantz CD67. i see the CM1? transports on ebay now and again. are these easy to fit
 
gt_junkie said:
Arcam have made great players! Take the one's i've listed - no one could easily argue that they were poor! The CD 92, modded Alpha 9 and any fmj are all very highly acclaimed!!! A friend of mine has a CD62 that he got for next to nothing and it performs admirably!

The lower end Linn kit you'd be looking at tends to sound more mellifluous and warm. They concentrate more on home install so that type of inoffensive sound works very well. They do have ultra high end kit but that's way over your budget. 10's of k's of pounds! :eek:

:cool:
Click to expand...


Sorry but I think your talking out of your Sub woofer m8 ;)
Linn "sound more mellifluous and warm" errr Arcam are Kings of warm and soft laid backness !!! With the tradition of rolling off the top end.
Linn have a Dry/lean tight bass sound with priority given to timing and rhythm. Normal quite detailed but never aggressive. Sound stage has often not been high on there list of importance

Well I know a mate at work has nearly new Arcam 192 (oh look upsampling :rolleyes: ) about £900 worth I think, he borrowed my 14 year old Linn Karik, he came back and said the Karik, was more detailed open and tunefull/musical, and "together"..... Was even tempted to sell it and buy a used Karik, but I advised of the risk, that new lasers can't be bought anymore, so it's luck how long it will last. Other wise I'd say for around £400-500 used it's near unbeatable !!! (I still have mine and it's going strong in the spare room)

Sorry don't understand the Home install comment..... :confused:


I have a Monica 2 DAC on order to try out.... I ordered the Switch Mode Power supply as well, all in with Fedex shipping came and Paypal surcharge came to £119 ....just have to see if C&E charge for import.

When it arrives I'll post pictures and a report, once it's run in !!!
 
Hi 9designs2.

I could be mistaken then! :( I'm simply going from the fairly limited (1 hour long session) experience i've had from the kit i've heard. I demo'd linn's klassic system and was impressed by what it could do as a stand alone but thought that it sacrificed some pace for a warmer sound. If it's as rythmical as you say then perhaps the hifi dealer i visited had not set it up correctly. Again, as Mr_Sukebe says, it's just personal preference, but the Arcam (CD92 i think) i heard along side it just seemed to tip it in performance terms. Either still didn't compare in my opinion to the Cyrus i still have but they were both great players and would definately be great for the right person. Again, it just comes down to taste.

Incidentally, my subwoofer tends to do all my talking for me anyway... or so my neighbours say!!! ;) :cool:

gt_junkie
 
Which version of the Classik did you hear ?...... the £900 ish Music version, which is a CD player, Tuner, Amp and multi room unit all in one box !!!!!!! It's good, but it's a get you on the 1st rung of the Linn ladder, sacrifices a little performance for one box convenience etc when compared to separates.
Try a Genki !!!!!
 
9designs2

That sounds about right! Nice unit, just lacking in a couple of areas! I'll look out for a genki - heard good things but never listened to one!

Seem to be quite rare cos i searched for one just before i got the cyrus but wasn't lucky enough to find one on ebay! However, as is fairly typical of my usual luck i just checked and there's one on that auction site for £560 with a day to go!!! :rolleyes:

Decided on anything yet Cruiser?

gt_junkie
 
whats the deal with modded units. i see a modded marantz CD63 SE MkII on eshay. sounds like the guy knows what he's talking about.

if i got that cheapish would it be better than a Marantz CD6000 KI which i see on there?
 
Cruiser said:
whats the deal with modded units. i see a modded marantz CD63 SE MkII on eshay. sounds like the guy knows what he's talking about.

if i got that cheapish would it be better than a Marantz CD6000 KI which i see on there?
Click to expand...

Modding CDPs "can" bring good improvements, but it's not guaranteed. Have to say I've always been confused about modding a fairly cheap unit like the 63.
Personally I wouldn't bother unless I had something like a good VRDS unit as a starting point.
 
i bid on a marantz CD6000 KI OSE last night, however i was outbid.
these were £500 new. they seem to consistantly get over £200 second hand, oh well.


NEW QUESTION.

rather than start a new thread could i get some advice on speaker wire. i have Mission Speakers (not sure which model :o ) and a marantz PM KI amp.

i was looking some good but reasonably cheap speaker cable (maybe £5 a meter, I’ll need around six meters in total) any suggestions?

I have a richer sounds near me or would ebay be better?

I think the cable can be ‘plugged’ into the Mission’s but not the amp. Does it make much of a difference using these rather than just screwing down the bare cable?

ta
 
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Mr_Sukebe said:
Modding CDPs "can" bring good improvements, but it's not guaranteed. Have to say I've always been confused about modding a fairly cheap unit like the 63.
Personally I wouldn't bother unless I had something like a good VRDS unit as a starting point.
Click to expand...

Trust me, a cd-63 sound AMAZING when modified. There is no point paying for an expensive brad like arcam, cyrus etc when you can pick up a healthy cd-63 for under £50, and modify it.

I have replaced the op-amps in mine and the clock with and audiocom superclock 2. These gave massive gains in the SQ. SUperclock cost £60 and the op-amps i got free (from manufacturers free sample program). Then replace the critical capacitors with high spec low-esr caps, remove the un-used and un-required circuits and you have a great player :D FInally remove marrantz's HDAM circuitry which is a waste of space with good op-amps.

There are many more modification to do, such as strengthening the chassis with metal plates, and applying vibreation dampening material throughout. The mods i have listed are the tip of the iceberg, with many other mods such as splitting the voltage rails, adding higher grade voltage regulators, etc etc.

Spending £200 on a cd-63 will easily give you a cdp that can rival anything at twice or even 3 times the price.

adam
 
The OSE model of Marantz CD6000 didnt sell for 500, the Ki model did. I would only pay over 200 for the Ki model. the OSE should probably go for either 200 or just less in my opinion.
 
Cruiser said:
i bid on a marantz CD6000 KI OSE last night, however i was outbid.
these were £500 new. they seem to consistantly get over £200 second hand, oh well.


NEW QUESTION.

rather than start a new thread could i get some advice on speaker wire. i have Mission Speakers (not sure which model :o ) and a marantz PM KI amp.

i was looking some good but reasonably cheap speaker cable (maybe £5 a meter, I’ll need around six meters in total) any suggestions?

I have a richer sounds near me or would ebay be better?

I think the cable can be ‘plugged’ into the Mission’s but not the amp. Does it make much of a difference using these rather than just screwing down the bare cable?

ta
Click to expand...

Hi

Don't spend £5 a metre, as it is a waste of money. Just a good quality length of 2.5mm squared diameter cable will do the job nicely.
Search for 'vanne damme' cable (as i can't link competitors), which is about £1.99 for the 2.5mm squared stuff. Or some Ixos XHS706-W, but that is £3 a metre. You won't hear any difference between the 2, so pick up 2x 5m strips (as 3m each side isn't enough. trust me)

You could just wrap the wire around the terminals on the amp and speakers, for the best connection, but if you will be taking it on and off regularly then i recommend some banana plugs. Just search the well known auction site for ones @ about £2 a pair.

hope that helped
 
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^ thanks. that Ixos should do the trick.

i'm a little torn now on the CDP front. there is the modded marantz CD63 SE ending soon on ebay. i fancy possibly getting a bargain with this, however i like the looks of the marantz CD6000 KI and there is one ending a few days later :(
 
That modded cd63 looks quite nice from the bits that i can see in there. Don't pay more than ~£150 including delivery as the cost of getting all those parts together is easily less than that. And the other thing is, it could easily break during transit, and would be a bitch to fix if you didnt know what you were lokking for.
The 6000 KI looks very nice, but could turn out to be expensive, as i can see one at £200.
 
adfinni said:
That modded cd63 looks quite nice from the bits that i can see in there. Don't pay more than ~£150 including delivery as the cost of getting all those parts together is easily less than that. And the other thing is, it could easily break during transit, and would be a bitch to fix if you didnt know what you were lokking for.
The 6000 KI looks very nice, but could turn out to be expensive, as i can see one at £200.
Click to expand...

the modded CD63 went for £280 :eek:

i ended up getting a CD6000 KI for £210 inc P&P which i thought was very good. i am seriously considering an audiocom upgrade for it now. i've read so many good things about the superclock 2, seems like an awesome piece of kit :)
 
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