Advice on comparing highly rated older CD players with current CD players/universals?

[EdwardGein]

Would appreciate anyones advice on this & if its comparing apples & oranges, feel free to say. Do highly rated older (Single disc) CD players like say Pioneers PD-65/59 Elite series produce a better sound for regular 2 Channel CD's then the current Multidisc CD players or Universal players in spite of more advanced technology? I'm at a total loss of information here & was hoping someone could give me some info on the subject. It seems that the few Cd players on the market are all multi disc & I was under the impression that single disc players sound better though I don't know the reason why.

[musicman1999]

The universal players are all dvd players at heart,and some such as the cheap pioneer unit(can't remember the model numbers)well may not sound as good as your 59 but if you look at something like Sim Audios Moon Orbiter,it will blow your 59,and most other cd players,away.But it costs around $8.000.00,so it should.Analog of course.

thanks

bill

[EdwardGein]

$8,000 is a little out of my league. Any other players you'd recommend, both old & current. that retailed originally from $300 to $2000 (Hey maybe its $500 on Ebay now). I can't quite understand why the PD-59 sounds alot better to me then the PD-65 based on its reputation & reviews but the PD-59 sounds a little warmer, more natural, less bright & less in your face then the PD-65 by my tastes.

[musicman1999]

Marantz have a couple of players that are supposed to be pretty good in that price range,have not heard them myself though.

bill

[superpanavision70mm]

Cambridge CD players? how about that for fitting in your price range?

[EdwardGein]

I tried a Cambridge CD player a few years ago, 640C I think, and I actually preferred my Harmon Kardon 31 DVD's sound to it for CD's. There wasn't a hige difference between them but I thought the Harmon Kardon sounded a little more natural & not as forced. I started reading about tube CD players & something called the Jolida 100(A) seems to be the Holy Grail in terms of sound quality & goes for around $750 on Ebay which right now is a bit beyond my grasp & I'm hoping it goes down in price.

[Smokey]

Do highly rated older (Single disc) CD players like say Pioneers PD-65/59 Elite series produce a better sound for regular 2 Channel CD's then the current Multidisc CD players or Universal players in spite of more advanced technology?


That is loaded question since the sound quality of current Multidisc CD players or Universal players is not determine by the unit, but rather by type of DAC used (digital out).

For example, if one of current Multidisc CD players or Universal players is feeding a good quality DAC (such as Burr-Brown DAC) via digit output, then answer to your question probably be no. Pioneer internal DAC might not be able to hold a candle next to Burr Brown DAC :nono:

[EdwardGein]

Would appreciate any links to any good sites that rate & review CD/DVD/Universal players including high end stuff.

[musicman1999]

Any meaninful comparison would have to be done with the analog connection,most universals only output sacd and dvd-a through the analog outs.Thats also the only way to compare the dacs.


bill

[shokhead]

Would appreciate any links to any good sites that rate & review CD/DVD/Universal players including high end stuff.

Audioreview.com