I've been thinking about replacing the low-end Philips CD player in my main system with a better unit. I've heard good things about Denon CD players in the past.

Does anyone here own one? Can anyone make a recommendation for a particular model to look for?

Thanks

Rick

I had a 5 disc carousel, it sounded great, it was a re-furb that i got off ebay, it lasted a couple years, it had the burr-brown chip so that is why I got it. Not real sure on reliability tho.

elroy

I understand the 1560 can be had for not too much money. great player in its time, still holding its own now.

Jorge

I have\had several and all of the players with a 4 digit model number have sounded good. Even the very early models. I think the best sounding are the 1500, 1500MKII, 1520, 1560. There are even better models but they seldom if ever fly under the radar and are expensive. If you ever get a chance to grab a 1650AR, 3520 3550 for under 300.00 you better jump on them. There is a model the S-10 of which there is one on Audiogon for 850.00 in case you want to see what the holy grail of Denon players looks like.

Mike

I still have an old Denon cdp, an entry model from the '90s. Very reliable gear.
A friend of mine bought a few months ago the DCD 700 AE and imho it's a great cdp.

I've got two- a 1420 and a 1500 MK II.

Great players indeed, but one big caveat- the lasers are 10-20 years old now, and well past their prime. Many are growing tired and lazy, and are developing problems like disc skip, non-readability, or reading 90% of a disc then running out of steam. Lasers are hard to come by, and are usually $100 to $150 before shipping, if, and only if, you can find one.

A minor issue is the belts- they stretch or dry- this prevents the trays from opening. don't force them- you can break the gears beyond repair.

Positives are a great sound to them, and a heavy construction. Faceplates on some earlier models are thick aluminum. They are truly quality units.

I've had good luck with lower-end Sony ES models. These are usually slightly modified standard players, so you don't get the great ES benefits like aluminum block lasers or copper inner chassis, no wood sides or aluminum faceplates, but the chips are decent, the prices are good, and lasers are available for many, at a cost of $10 to $25.

The upper ES models are jumps ahead in performance, BUT... sell for $100 to $400 and up, and the lasers, these aluminum block types I mentioned, unobtanium.

The vintage Adcoms are well-regarded, by the way, and build quality is supposed to be impressive. They sell for $75 to $175 usually. Anyone who owns one that I've spoken with sings their praises.

The early Philips/Magnavox units are great- Marantz used the transports in their more desireable CD players with fantastic results. The Marantz units are not always found at a bargain, nor are the Philips, but the Magnavox label throws folks off, and these can usually be had for cheap. Kinda like the RCA badged Minimus 7s.

My thought on the whole thing lately is to do one of thre things-

1) The expensive solution- save up and go for a new Oppo DVD player (100-180), a new Cambridge Audio player (starting at $279 online, and featuring an aluminum face, sony lasers, and an aluminum remote control, and warranty), a new Denon, Onkyo, or if you have the cash, new Rotel or NAD.

2) Grab an Adcom, and try to source a spare, backup laser for it.

3) Get any cheap cd/DVD with digital or coaxial out, and mate with a DAC, like an entech 203.2 or 205.2 that can be had for under $100, and will most likely best anything new under $279.

I've picked up a DAC for $60, an Entech 205.2, and will be doing the latter.




don't get me wrong- I love the Denons, and may even persue one of those $150 lasers at some point to keep my 1500 II and 1420 going, but that's a lot of cake to sink into a 20 year old player.

I'd still grab another 1420 or 1500 II if the price was low, though.

I've owned the Denon DCD-1500 (x3), DCD-1800R (x2), and a DCD-1100. They have a dsitinctive sound different from my Sony's, Magnavox, and Luxman D-109. The Denons sounded somewhat heavy and unresponsive to my ears. My non-ES Sony's are bright and sometimes crashy. My Luxman D-109 has a Sony transport and sounds smooth and rich. I'm thinking about getting another one.

My favorites are the Belgian-made Magnavox CDB-650 and CDB-560. About the highest compliment I can give them is I do not notice them in operation. The Philips swing arm transport has large rubber isolation pads and coil springs to dampen vibration at high volumes. They read everything and never skip. They definitely look low rent but are top performers in stock form.

The 650 and 560 are favorites of modders because the components are easy to access and there is extra room inside for piggyback DAC's, filters, and the like. I have a modified CDB-650 with a toggle on the back to switch to filtered mode. I like the stock sound better.

I loved the DCD-1650AR. JP loves it now.

I got a 305.2 finally from a friend, and will be trying it out soon (I hope).

These can be had as low as $70 (you need to order a $15 power supply seperately) or $89 complete.

If you go to a store like Ocean State Job Lot or Biglots or Building #19 and grab a $6 t $8 closeout Monster/Philips/AR/ect digital cable to start with, for $91 to $97 and a bit for shipping, you can have what's expected to be killer budget sound.

I'm going to keep an eye out for those Magnavox units. Maybe a bit homely and cheap looking, but a killer transport.

Sam,

I'm itching in places unmentionable to hear about these mods.

Got photos? Illustrations?

sounds excellent! Please share!

heres my 2 cents

Go to EBAY and find one of the champagnene colored early 90's era JVC's. They are a suprisingly good transport, and are under the audiophile radar. I acquired my XL-Z1050TN off Audigon for $160, and it is wonderful. Use it witha 2.5K DAC and a $680 digital cable.

Heres the next best thing, but its not cheap. Buy a Squeezebox. Learn to set the adjustments in it. Bypass the FLAC encoding, turn off volume coompensation. And most improtantly, go to EBAY and buy a used ELPAC outboard power supply for it. Its surpisingly good when used with a DAC. And its standalone performance is not too shabby. I also heard one with a Bolder modified ELPAC power supply. Not bad at all.

Regards
Mister Pig

Thanks for the input everyone. I think the point about the lasers on the older Denons is a good one. I forgot about JVC's-- I have an Early 90's XL-M403BK 6+1 here in my office with the PEM D-D converter, and it's a pretty nice unit. I was surprised at how good it sounded when I got it. It came with a JVC RX-503BK A/V Receiver and a pair of Paradigm 5se's

I like the idea of going with a good DAC and a CD with a decent transport and digital output.

I'll look around and see what I can find.

Rick

That´s sound thinking indeed, Rick.

Jorge

Where can I find one? The last Entech on the Bay went for $130

Rick

There was a buy-it-now for $69 just 8-10 days ago- you needed to get a power supply seperate, for $15 from a connection I may have written down here. If you get oner, pm me and I'll do some research for you.

check every few days- one will pop up. Two seperate sellers had 'em by the handful- at least 8 to 12 each seller.

I got mine, with power supply, for $60. Arrived today. Can't hook it up for at least 2 or 3 days, but I expect big things from it.