Need opinions on a great CD player. What's a good one for around 1000?

[premiumplus]

If you were going to buy a very nice CD player that is available for around $1000 give or take a few hundred, what would it be?
Thanks!
Dave

 

[Gepetto]

If you were going to buy a very nice CD player that is available for around $1000 give or take a few hundred, what would it be?
Thanks!
Dave

My choice would be the one that PLP (Phase Linear Phanatic) just procured.

 

[premiumplus]

I'll bite. What did he buy?

 

[premiumplus]

Ahh, Oppo. I think I'm going to have to get me one of those...I'm due for a treat to myself. Been using the Pioneer DV-45A for about 10 years now.
It's time.

 

[Gepetto]

Ahh, Oppo. I think I'm going to have to get me one of those...I'm due for a treat to myself. Been using the Pioneer DV-45A for about 10 years now.
It's time.

Yes PLP got the top of the line Oppo

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

Yes PLP got the top of the line Oppo

Yes Dave. It's the one in the picture with your PL700B I took while your amp was here. But Joe; is this the best for a grand in terms of Strictly CD playback? Keeping in mind my purchase mainly was for the amazing video processing of blue ray; i've heard Lee and others mention some pretty nice players for CD playback. Dave; if you want both; I can give my biased opinion enough. Get that Oppo. You will never look back. Their top tier model is the BDP-105. Top notch dac's in that $1 grand price point you are looking for. Read the reviews. Narry a negative one. And customer service is second to none.

 

[premiumplus]

I made the plunge...Oppo BDP-105 is on the way!

OK, made the jump and bought it online last night. I've never spent so much money on a CD player but this one looks spectacular. I just downloaded the manual, (all 96 pages, wow) and I am really looking forward to using this sweetheart.
No doubt it's going to kick the Visio Blu Ray player out of the video duties as well.
I hope I can run a HDMI cable from my studio, which is just behind the TV wall, out to the bigscreen.
Then the trick will be to use the remote which is not line of sight. I may have to get an IR repeater if it's not a RF remote, but from what I've heard about Oppo, it wouldn't surprise me if that remote won't be powerful enough to reflect the signal off the walls in my studio.
Dave

 

[Elite-ist]

Congratulations on your decision, Dave. I think you've made a wise choice and it's one I might have made within that price range.

Nando.

 

[Gepetto]

OK, made the jump and bought it online last night. I've never spent so much money on a CD player but this one looks spectacular. I just downloaded the manual, (all 96 pages, wow) and I am really looking forward to using this sweetheart.
No doubt it's going to kick the Visio Blu Ray player out of the video duties as well.
I hope I can run a HDMI cable from my studio, which is just behind the TV wall, out to the bigscreen.
Then the trick will be to use the remote which is not line of sight. I may have to get an IR repeater if it's not a RF remote, but from what I've heard about Oppo, it wouldn't surprise me if that remote won't be powerful enough to reflect the signal off the walls in my studio.
Dave

Happy to hear you got a player that will do more than just redbook CDs Dave. IMO (and yes I admit that I am biased on this), redbook CDs are yesterday's news, invented off of an old VCR standard back in 1984. There is much better audio quality available on SACD and you need a better player to do that. Plus the Oppo will up-sample and interpolate to make those old CDs sound better too!

 

[BlazeES]

Congrats!
That Oppo is fine choice and I highly doubt you won't be anything but thoroughly pleased with your decision.
I know you were primarily interested in CD performance but once you experience what an Oppo brings to the table in terms of Bluray capability, the entire value proposition will be strong & long lasting.

Oppo is also one of the few companies left IMHO that still have customer service and dedication to quality as Job Number One!
They are a lean & mean company...

 

[Northwinds]

Yes Dave. It's the one in the picture with your PL700B I took while your amp was here. But Joe; is this the best for a grand in terms of Strictly CD playback? Keeping in mind my purchase mainly was for the amazing video processing of blue ray; i've heard Lee and others mention some pretty nice players for CD playback. Dave; if you want both; I can give my biased opinion enough. Get that Oppo. You will never look back. Their top tier model is the BDP-105. Top notch dac's in that $1 grand price point you are looking for. Read the reviews. Narry a negative one. And customer service is second to none.

I don't bother with SACD's or care about blueray players. The best CD only player I have ever owned and still own is the dbx-DX5 that I still use. Never heard a more analog sounding player ever and that included the Carver SDA 390T that I replaced with the DX5 when it died. The dbx has a dynamic recovery system (DAIR), Compression control and Ambience control that actually controls the mid and highs. You can use them alone or combined and I am telling you, it is that cat's meow. I got mine for $20 from a local Mom n Pop music lesson place that friends own with the factory rack ears, remote and manual. Best purchase I have ever made. I think they go for $200 or under on eBay now

As for the Oppo, never heard one so I can't say at all how they are though I have read nothing but good things about them. The price makes me balk but for someone who can afford it, looks to be a very nice component. I could never use one though, I don't watch Blueray DVD's or give a crap about SACD's. I spin records for the most part. The CD's I have are played to protect my original vinyl issues or bought if there was no vinyl offering of the source material

Joe, I think you would be a bit surprised how good the DX5 sounds with a "redbook" cd, totally different animal maybe not up to SACD standards but I guarantee it will make you jump at conversation levels, no other regular cd player even approaches it (at least the old stuff). It left the Carver in the dust

Congrats on going for the Oppo though! It should last quite a longtime until it also becomes obselete someday when the next "best thing ever" comes to the market. In 100 years, I wonder what audiophile systems will look like

 

[orange]

Happy to hear you got a player that will do more than just redbook CDs Dave. IMO (and yes I admit that I am biased on this), redbook CDs are yesterday's news, invented off of an old VCR standard back in 1984. There is much better audio quality available on SACD and you need a better player to do that. Plus the Oppo will up-sample and interpolate to make those old CDs sound better too!

HMMMM?

1984? VCR?

They were in development on 12" optically read discs by Sony in 1973...the format was supposed to be introduced in 1977 and the VCR part was for hobbyists to record experimental PCM transmissions after hours on stations like those on one of the WGBH sisters in 1979-there was no practical way to make home all-digital recordings. only record and play transcribed programs.


But the VCR was only an interrim step-real digital tape recording was made on machines like the Mitsubishi X-80 or Soundstream system and the format battle was between stationary and helical scan recording techniques.

The Compact Disc was introduced in 1982, although many of the well-known players did not show up until 1984-86 and the format was not truly established, hardware or softwarewise until 1989. 1989 is when a lot of people seem to have received or bought their first CD player by my estimation and also when i got mine.

 

[Gepetto]

From John Watkinson, The Art of Digital Audio, 2nd edition, pg. 104:

In the early days of digital audio research, the necessary bandwidth of about 1 Mbps per audio channel was difficult to store. Disk drives had the bandwidth but not the capacity for long recording time, so attention turned to video recorders. These were adapted to store audio samples by creating a pseudo-video waveform which would convey binary as black and white levels. The sampling rate of such a system is constrained to relate simply to the field rate and field structure of the television standard used, so that an integer number of samples can be stored on each usable TV line in the field. Such a recording can be made on a monochrome recorder, and these recording are made in two standards, 525 lines at 60 Hz and 625 lines at 50 Hz. Thus it is possible to find a frequency which is a common multiple of the two and is also suitable for use as a sampling rate.
The allowable sampling rates in a pseudo-video system can be deduced by multiplying the field rate by the number of active lines in a field (blanking lines cannot be used) and again by the number of samples in a line. By careful choice of parameters it is possible to use either 525/60 or 625/50 video with a sampling rate of 44.1KHz.
In 60 Hz video, there are 35 blanked lines, leaving 490 lines per frame or 245 lines per field, so the sampling rate is given by :
60 X 245 X 3 = 44.1 KHz
In 50 Hz video, there are 37 lines of blanking, leaving 588 active lines per frame, or 294 per field, so the same sampling rate is given by
50 X 294 X3 = 44.1 Khz. The sampling rate of 44.1 KHz came to be that of the Compact Disc. Even though CD has no video circuitry, the equipment used to make CD masters is video based and determines the sampling rate.
​

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

From John Watkinson, The Art of Digital Audio, 2nd edition, pg. 104:

In the early days of digital audio research, the necessary bandwidth of about 1 Mbps per audio channel was difficult to store. Disk drives had the bandwidth but not the capacity for long recording time, so attention turned to video recorders. These were adapted to store audio samples by creating a pseudo-video waveform which would convey binary as black and white levels. The sampling rate of such a system is constrained to relate simply to the field rate and field structure of the television standard used, so that an integer number of samples can be stored on each usable TV line in the field. Such a recording can be made on a monochrome recorder, and these recording are made in two standards, 525 lines at 60 Hz and 625 lines at 50 Hz. Thus it is possible to find a frequency which is a common multiple of the two and is also suitable for use as a sampling rate.
The allowable sampling rates in a pseudo-video system can be deduced by multiplying the field rate by the number of active lines in a field (blanking lines cannot be used) and again by the number of samples in a line. By careful choice of parameters it is possible to use either 525/60 or 625/50 video with a sampling rate of 44.1KHz.
In 60 Hz video, there are 35 blanked lines, leaving 490 lines per frame or 245 lines per field, so the sampling rate is given by :
60 X 245 X 3 = 44.1 KHz
In 50 Hz video, there are 37 lines of blanking, leaving 588 active lines per frame, or 294 per field, so the same sampling rate is given by
50 X 294 X3 = 44.1 Khz. The sampling rate of 44.1 KHz came to be that of the Compact Disc. Even though CD has no video circuitry, the equipment used to make CD masters is video based and determines the sampling rate.
​

And so this opens up SACD. And high end audio formats. Since regular CD players cannot duplicate this, the sound-stage opens up dramatically on SACD. The Oppo will transfer THX Master Audio as well if used on a blue-ray source while you are watching a movie. No compression, loss-less audio. The way it was mastered in the studio. Thanks to the large space on these discs. You CAN and WILL hear things a stand alone CD player cannot touch. Things the studio intended you to hear. But could never produce on a regular CD at the time.

I do not consider myself a "TRUE" audiophile. True audiophiles scoff at the Oppo. They opt for the $10,000 MacIntosh CD player or the Aiyre. (I think it's called)? And their systems would use my Arcam as a boat anchor. I've been in the local high end audio shop here. A store called "Music For Pleasure". They have a website. And $100,000 Dyne Audio speakers are in the main room with SUN amps or monoblock boulder amps I have forgotten the name of to drive them. And speaker wire thicker than line-man's cables with networks as big as brick built into those speaker cables. I am nothing compared to this stuff. I just took it up the ol' keester for a few months to buy the smidgon of a sampling of this gear at the entry end of it while I wait for my new big screen. I wanted SOME form of crystal clear audio with a great price.

Congrats Dave on the purchase. Not just a great choice, but it looks like you went top tier model too. Just wait when you have a question on it? Call them up and it will be the best customer experience you ever had! You actually TALK TO AN ENGINEER! Not some foreigner in the Philippines. All based out of CA U.S.A. Probably one of the very RARE times I have actually gotten what I paid for. And NO, I did not have the money at the time. I just saved for a month. I knew what they were and read and read and read up on them. Magazine subscriptions, web forums, their own site, CNET even reviewed a smaller version. Even speaker forum groups that deal strictly with a particular speaker brand, even mention it over and over. For the life of me I tried to pick it apart? But there were no cons? The only complaint I had was that it arrived in a plain brown box. I mean....c'mon? Sheesh? You think they could have wrapped it it gold or something? gawww.........

 

[Northwinds]

The only complaint I had was that it arrived in a plain brown box. I mean....c'mon? Sheesh? You think they could have wrapped it it gold or something? gawww.........

Bwahahhahahahahahahhaaaaa good one!!!!! Now I want to hear one of these even if I can never afford one!

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

Well; at least they use gold plated......"everything" in this player? (see pics). They wrap it in a black satchel tote bag too. Not a clear celophane wrap like every other piece of electronics gear. I am not sure what purpose this serves unless you plan to carry around a 45 pound piece of equipment around a mall and show it off? Therefore needing such a carry bag? So the lady uses it as a grocery bag.

Last years model used a ROTEL toroidal transformer. This year OPPO wanted more windings and word is I think that Rotel wouldn't play nice, so OPPO did it for themselves. Nice when you have your own engineers eh? LOL!

Couple this player that does a phenomenal job of up-sampling standard CD's like Joe has said; and put it with a WOA converted PL and a great pre and holy S&^$! balls! Do you have a system?

I opened her up and snapped some photo's. So here is some wonderful electronics porn for those interested below...............

 

[Gepetto]

Bwahahhahahahahahahhaaaaa good one!!!!! Now I want to hear one of these even if I can never afford one!

Yeah but it did have the nice plush cloth bag around the instrument inside the plain brown box.

 

[Gepetto]

Well; at least they use gold plated......"everything" in this player? (see pics). They wrap it in a black satchel tote bag too. Not a clear celophane wrap like every other piece of electronics gear. I am not sure what purpose this serves unless you plan to carry around a 45 pound piece of equipment around a mall and show it off? Therefore needing such a carry bag? So the lady uses it as a grocery bag.

Last years model used a ROTEL toroidal transformer. This year OPPO wanted more windings and word is I think that Rotel wouldn't play nice, so OPPO did it for themselves. Nice when you have your own engineers eh? LOL!

Couple this player that does a phenomenal job of up-sampling standard CD's like Joe has said; and put it with a WOA converted PL and a great pre and holy S&^$! balls! Do you have a system?

I opened her up and snapped some photo's. So here is some wonderful electronics porn for those interested below...............

Looks like WIMAs and MUSE. None better...

 

[Phase Linear Phanatic]

Yeah but it did have the nice plush cloth bag around the instrument inside the plain brown box.

Bwaahh haa haa! Right. And they care about the environment too supposedly? Seems like this was the intended purpose of the bag?? Someone from marketing probably said; "hey look!!! FREE advertising"!! Pretty brilliant if you don't carry your product in brick and mortar stores.

 

[Northwinds]

Wow, love the nudies of the insides!!! That is indeed an impressive piece. Maybe I need to get out from the 80s rock I am under and start exploring some of this newer stuff (used and a few years old at least so I could maybe afford to try one). That's the thing though, we get set in our ways and sometimes just plain ignore new stuff because we don't like change and defend our old shit to our last breath LMAO