CD player choices, Advice and dissent...

Good morning,

For the last several years I've been a "committed" HT junkie. I'd like to get back into the 2-channel music scene and could use some advice while looking for an affordable used CD player.

Existing components are Yamaha HTR unit using preouts to a Yamaha M-80 and both conditioned with Monster 3600II unit. Down the line are Boston Acoustics VR-3's. So far, I flip between a Toshiba HD-DVD, a Blu-Ray and a Yamaha DV-S5950 for sources.

Since the HTR allows easy changing to Direct mode and for cost reasons it will stay. Likewise the amp and speaker combination (using Monster Z-series) need to remain for dollars and sense. That leaves me with experimenting on the player and with a limited budget.

Ebay doesn't make me nervous and I've bought on Audiogon with much happiness. Is there any other info I can pass along that would serve up much valued advice on a used player. I do like 90's Yamaha and Denon gear but know little about the dangers of buying a tempermental CD player used.

Any opinions would be valued and of course, if you see//here something that looks interesting I'd be grateful for a link.

Many thanks,
Dutch

The lack of a remote is a deal killer but for example...

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlplay&1215400359

Is this perhaps a good example of sound to value?

Dutch

Imo, If you are after a very good CD player for a reasonable price, that's the one.

The OSE version have some important upgrades compared to normal version.
Audiophile capacitors, better case, Marantz' proprietary, all-discrete HDAM (Hyper Dynamic Active Module) for output stage, instead of the NJR2114D op amps used in the standart model. Also, HDAM modules are enclosed in copper shielding, which is intended to protect them from stray interference pickup and electromagnetic fields.
These are imho very important upgrades in any good cdp.
In resume you can't go wong with Marantz.


This post has been edited by clint e. on May 11, 2008 01:24 pm

Thank you for the input...I've sent the seller an offer. After reading the ad again I realized it was the box not the remote that was missing.

Let's see where it goes...

Dutch

Read the Ad again, and good luck, Dutch.

The owner´s manual is missing, not the box.

In my experience it always ads to the resale value if you have the original packing.

Jorge

For years I used the Adcom GCD-600 CD changer connected to the Adcom GDA-600 Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). I replaced them recently with the Marantz SA-8001 SACD player which is a truly magnificent piece of gear.

Still, the Adcom combination was very, very good, and, from what I was told by the folks at Adcom at the time it was introduced, the newer GCD-700 changer is the equal of the two 600-series units. Still better (and, as I recall, a Stereophile Class-A Recommendation) is the GDA-700 DAC, but they're very hard to come by.

I've seen GCD=700's on ebay for a song. To me, that's quite a bargain.

Sweet advice and much appreciated. The seller accepted my offer and I'm "committed" (or should be) to the Marantz unit.

I guess what I'm confused by is the whole DAC thing vs. integrated vs. vodoo. I absolutely resist the notion of complicated gear (it took me years to buy into the seperates arguement) and it's likely that puts me at odds with the premise of this hobby in general.

The best set-up I ever had was a Carver pre, pro and CD driving older Klipsch speakers (long since forgotten the call sign). Back in 96 there came a need to make the rent and regretfully sold them. If I could have had a remote it was nirvana

Anyways, since investing in a decent Harmony remote the issue is closed. Provided anything came with an original remote the multi unit has me covered. Maybe it shouldn't be that important but I do appreciate point n' shoot.

The seller is c/o of Audiogon so no doubts about what I'm receiving. How I'm going to slip it past my significant other is a different story. Most times we say that in jest...she's not the giggling kind Dutch

Since the Marantz comes with multiple connection options is there an advantage to any? Typically if digital audio is available (not coaxial) then I default to that. Should I consider using the RCA with good quality cables?

Dutch

Having fun with the camera. I've no idea why the resolution is not so hot as it looked good on the download

http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg57/Ma...t=1210604923502

Dutch

This post has been edited by Mako20ft on May 12, 2008 08:10 am

Hey I know that subwoofer,

Nice subwoofer Dutch. I have one myself. Great sweet little beast it is. Barely run it over 4 for a 200 sq. ft. room.

AK

Nice thump without the boom...BA is so underrated in many circles. I team it with a Yamaha SW315 which is extrememly tight musically. Had both running for several years and could not be more pleased.

Dutch

unless you plug the cdp into a DAC, the analog RCA connections will be your only option. of course, always use quality cables.

If I'm going optical out to the Yamaha HTR does this digital path degrade the sound? This is were I cry uncle...RCA or optical for standard CD's?

Dutch

I think you would get a cleaner signal with an optical cable, but if I am wrong, I hope someone corrects me, my system sounds better using an optical cable.

elroy

Imho you must choose a very good dac to beat the internal dacs the 6000 OSE has... and yes, it has more than one.
The serie 6000 from Marantz cdps use two SM5872BS DACs in a differential configuration.

Dual differential DAC implementation offer quite a big improvement over a single-ended configuration, especially if the entire design path is complimentary, which is the case here.
The models 6000 maintain Marantz's tradition of having separate active low pass filter (LPF) stages from dedicated output stages. Model 6000 uses the well known and traditional to Marantz op amp, NJM2114D, for the LPF filter stage and Marantz’s proprietary HDAM discrete modules for the output stage, while model 6000 OSE eschews the NJM op amp for another pair of HDAM modules, uses better quality caps and better transformer.

One more thing. If you choose the dac path and goes optical, imo you should try to find a away of experiment the many optical cables possible. They all sound different...


Btw, we at ST have something about dac's and digital stuff here :

http://soundt.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=787&st=15


Enjoy your new toy.

This post has been edited by clint e. on May 12, 2008 04:31 pm