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ryanianmckinnon
01-04-2010, 05:46 PM
im looking to buy a cd player in the future, now i have been told alot of stuff about them but im not sure what to believe. I want to buy a good cd player, not some cheap $40 used one, i am willing to spend up to $300-$400 somewhere around there, and hopefully have it match my int. amp which is a denon but thats not a need its a want so it doesnt really matter. So my question is what makes a good cd player ? i was told the more volts the better but i dont get how that makes it better but i want to find a pretty good one i just dont know what to look for and also what is better to have a single tray or a 5 disc tray ? any help would be great

02audionoob
01-04-2010, 06:17 PM
No way I'd want a changer...just more stuff to break. You seem like a good candidate for Emotiva, given your budget...

http://emotiva.com/erc1.shtm

ryanianmckinnon
01-04-2010, 06:27 PM
yeah i think that a single tray would be the best option and they look nice but the problem is trying to find somewhere that sells there stuff online and ships to canada, and im not gonna pay like $100 or more for shipping but ill deffinetly check them out

02audionoob
01-04-2010, 06:34 PM
Maybe this Marantz would be a good option. Surely MusicDirect would ship to Canada...

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/83658

ryanianmckinnon
01-04-2010, 06:44 PM
yeah im pretty sure they would but it doesnt tell you how much shipping would cost when u are filling out the info ill look into it and see how much it would cost but its a pretty nice cd player

02audionoob
01-04-2010, 06:49 PM
Maybe it's worth a phone call. The Cambridge Audio 340C is nice in this price range, too. I think at this price range you're getting into the bottom edge of the pretty decent players.

dakatabg
01-04-2010, 06:49 PM
I would definitely take the Marantz cd player! Call them and ask them how much for the shipping, they have the number 800-449-8333 or you can also email them!

ryanianmckinnon
01-04-2010, 06:55 PM
yeahi like cambridge audio its deffinetly in my price range but yeah i would phone them and ask but i still havent had my question answered what makes a good cd player is it the laser that reads it or what ?

02audionoob
01-04-2010, 07:08 PM
yeahi like cambridge audio its deffinetly in my price range but yeah i would phone them and ask but i still havent had my question answered what makes a good cd player is it the laser that reads it or what ?

Read the Emotiva ad. It sort of explains their objectives.

ryanianmckinnon
01-04-2010, 07:19 PM
ok will do

Mr Peabody
01-04-2010, 08:34 PM
Ryan, a lot goes into a CD player. What makes a good one is a big question. You won't know by looking on paper, you have to hear it. You need a good digital to analog conversion, high quality parts and circuits in the analog area, a solid unit that will be less prone to vibration and interference, good isolation on the inside to isolate digital sections from analog.

If you like Rock, as you mentioned, I highly recommend the ERC-1. It's a lot of player for the money. It will be faster and I feel have more detail than the Cambridge or Marantz. The ERC is a very solid unit that comes with an aluminum remote. The sound stage is large and provides a lot of air or space between instruments. The Cambridge and Marantz will sound warmer or sweeter though. If your Denon is on the bright side the Cambridge or Marantz will help to balance that. If the Denon is more in the middle to warm you will like what the ERC does.

I would urge you to buy a CD player before getting new speakers.

ryanianmckinnon
01-04-2010, 08:55 PM
yeah mr p ur right and i pretty much only listen to rock maybe some rap but i doubt it and yeah but i believe that u pay for what u get when it comes to audio, and so far thats been true for me, that little bit extra money is worth it in the end. At first your like humming and hawing weither its to much or not then u buy it and about a week after u realize that it was worth that extra little bit. The denon is in the middle i think the ERC would compliment it very well. And yes a CD player is before speakers, i was looking at Emotiva X series speaker cable, its a very nice product and pretty good for price, im thinking i only need 3 meters to each speaker which gives me enough extra to play around with my speaker placement, there Dual-twisted, 10 gauge, high strand count oxygen-free copper conductors.And only $70 bucks per 3 meters. So once i get a CD player i think it would be time to upgrade the speaker cable to make it sound even better i think im going with a good choice speaker cable, and the one thing i like is the ends are interchangeable which i like so if u want bananas u can have them but if u dont want them u can change to spades or whatever else they come with

Mr Peabody
01-04-2010, 09:13 PM
I haven't tried the cables but their products seem to be a good value. I have the ERC-1 in a second system. You might buy a set of their RCA cables to go between the player and your Denon.

With the Emotiva you can always send it back if it doesn't perform as you like. Emo says they don't believe in "break in" but I found my player did sound better, smoother, after about 20 hours or so of play. Once hooked up you might want to put it on repeat and let it play over night. Be sure to let us know what player you buy and how the experience went.

ryanianmckinnon
01-04-2010, 09:30 PM
There cables seem to be good, and deffinetly a good product for somebody who is on a budget like me, a person who is looking for a audiophile quality product for a reasonable price. I like the fact that you can send it back if u dont like the product, but do u as a consumer have to pay to ship it back ? i would probally listen to a bunch of CD's to break it in, and ill price out there RCA cables, what is another good brand of cables ? I will be sure to let you know about my experience. I am so happy with my new int. amp i got a week or two ago

Mr Peabody
01-04-2010, 09:43 PM
www.bluejeanscables.com I've only heard the LC series RCA's and they are great for the price.

Check www.emotiva.com on their returns but I believe they refund your full initial cost and shipping but you pay shipping back.

ryanianmckinnon
01-04-2010, 09:59 PM
Ok thanx for the help on cables, and thats good but im sure shipping it back wouldnt cost alot, depending on where u have to send it back to

manlystanley
01-05-2010, 05:26 AM
This is the the Denon 3930ci CD / DVD player that I have. I'm real pleased with it: http://www.dakmart.com/product_info.php?products_id=6491 . This refurbished version is on sale for $398.

Best Regards,
Stan

ryanianmckinnon
01-05-2010, 07:36 AM
thats a pretty nice CD player, mstanlely how long have you had it for ?

Mr Peabody
01-05-2010, 07:44 AM
The 3930 is actually a DVD player. It also plays SACD. It was one of Denon's higher models so could have decent CD playback.

manlystanley
01-05-2010, 08:45 AM
thats a pretty nice CD player, mstanlely how long have you had it for ?

I had it for about 9 months. I'm not a real audiophile expert (just learning), but it gives a great sound. I use it for movies as well and the picture is tremendous. If you have a dual use situation, this is a great deal. I'm also very very please with it as a CD player as well.

Best Regards,
Stan

ryanianmckinnon
01-05-2010, 04:38 PM
Mr P i think im gonna try the Emotiva ERC, it looks like its built pretty soild, and they seem to be concerned about the consumer when making a product, and put everything into there product to make it better, like research and quality parts. So i think im going that route i just have to save up for a bit, and when i order the ERC i think i might purchase some Ultra Series Speaker Cable from them to its cheaper than the X series at $30 for 3 meters

bonsaiguitar
01-05-2010, 04:46 PM
Hope I'm not too late. Found the Marantz CD5003 for $285 shipped new in the US. Shipping shouldn't be too high to you. PM me for info.

bonsaiguitar
01-05-2010, 04:50 PM
I haven't tried the cables but their products seem to be a good value. I have the ERC-1 in a second system. You might buy a set of their RCA cables to go between the player and your Denon.

With the Emotiva you can always send it back if it doesn't perform as you like. Emo says they don't believe in "break in" but I found my player did sound better, smoother, after about 20 hours or so of play. Once hooked up you might want to put it on repeat and let it play over night. Be sure to let us know what player you buy and how the experience went.


The so called "break in" has much more to do with your ears getting use to it than anything going on with your gear. Been there, done that.

ryanianmckinnon
01-05-2010, 04:57 PM
where did u find it for that much ? and yeah something that sounds harsh at first could sound totally different after 10 or more hours

bonsaiguitar
01-05-2010, 05:06 PM
Onecall.com has them for $349, and an open box for $278, but if you hit the online chat and ask for one for $285 they'll sell it to you for that. The shipping is free in the US so even if you pay $50 for shipping which I doubt you'll get a better deal. And from what I've read outside this forum its the best thing going in this price range. Most people have never heard of the Emotiva (though I did read one being returned for the panel not working), and I think part of it's appeal aside from being something "different" is the nick name Emo. ;)

ryanianmckinnon
01-05-2010, 05:16 PM
well the Marantz CD5003 is a nice CD player i am gonna keep looking around till im positive i know what i want

Mr Peabody
01-05-2010, 05:42 PM
No, people like the ERC because it's a kick ass player. It will blow the 5003 away. The ERC-1 was much better than the NAD 545 I compared it to and the NAD got glowing reviews and retails $499.00. Right now my ERC-1 is connected to my Krell 500i via XLR. A cheap player would sound like hell hooked to the Krell. The ERC sounds good. For under $1k you'd be hard pressed to find a better player. I also liked the ERC-1 better than a Conrad Johnson DAC I had. The DAC was older digital technology but cost $1200.00 new. The only criticism I have of the ERC-1, and that's ONLY when comparing to much better players, it could use more tonal quality and more weight in the bass. The ERC-1 has enough bass with a lot of detail, just not as much authority when compared to more expensive players. When compared to players it's own price range the ERC-1 will feed them lunch.

If you can find our old threads on the ERC-1 there's more info on what we compared it to etc. I also wrote a review on the Emotiva website under the user name Krellion.

bonsaiguitar
01-05-2010, 05:48 PM
For $285 I think the Marantz will do me just fine. Not out to blow my doors off, just listen to some awesome tunes at a good price point. And I think it's ugly.

I'm sure there are other players that will blow the Emo's doors off. I'm also sure you heard the old saying.......there's always someone else out there faster, stronger, etc. Someone is probably reading this thinking the Emo is a joke compared to their $27,000 transport. ;)

How long did you own or listen to the 5003? Just curious.

ryanianmckinnon
01-05-2010, 05:53 PM
yeah im pretty sure im going to get the ERC, it may be more money but that really doesnt matter to me. I know once i find time to relax and listen to it, i will hear things in music that i havent heard before, i rather pay a little more for something to get a better product

Mr Peabody
01-05-2010, 06:00 PM
I did not own the 5003. We have a dealer that carry them. I did compare the ERC-1 to the NAD 545 side by side. The 5003 was sold for $299.00 all it's life. It may be alright for a budget player at $299.00 but the ERC-1 at $399.00 performs far better than it's priced. The ERC-1 was on holiday sale at $320.00. I started out a skeptic of Emotiva but it wasn't until I tried the ERC-1 and heard how well it did that I began to trust they do perform.

My main system is in my signature. The T+A is my reference player and came in at just under $3k.

bonsaiguitar
01-05-2010, 06:05 PM
Good luck. I hope it performs to your expectations. I may read up some more and end up buying one myself down the road. Now that I'm getting back into it and looking into exotic amps and other gear and have the room I might build a few systems.

The one I'm working on now is for the man cave where I workout.

ryanianmckinnon
01-05-2010, 06:59 PM
yeah i hope it does to i happend to notice that u have a AR sub ? how do u like it i have AR speakers and i love them, i am wondering if there subs are just as good ?

Mr Peabody
01-05-2010, 07:31 PM
Acoustic Research, the original company that is, went out of business several years ago. I see the name on cheezy cables now but I don't think any speaker product is being sold under it. I may be wrong I haven't been to a Best Buy in quite a while. When companies go out of business the name is often sold to some other company to use.

REL is an excellent brand of sub that is offering some affordable models. Affordable compared to their upper end stuff.
Martin Logan has some affordable models, such as the Dynamo.
I use SVS and very pleased with them. The best sub I've owned so far. Take a look the cylinder style are interesting, www.svsound.com

ryanianmckinnon
01-05-2010, 07:52 PM
yeah its to bad they went out of business it was probably because they sold there products to cheap and ended up losing money

philhh
01-12-2010, 12:19 PM
I've been reading rave reviews regarding the NAD C 565BEE at $799.00...

http://www.soundstage.com/equipment/nad_c565bee.htm

Also the Onkyo DX7555 at $599 looks extremely interesting.

These don't quite conform to your budget, so I apologize for the post, but in past experience I've found some really stellar products just out of reach of my initial budget that I wished I'd saved up for, rather than compromising on lesser gear.

This was certainly true when I saved up years ago for a Meridian 508.20 CD player (used) which lasted me a good 8+ years and doubtlessly saved me money over a couple intermediate upgrades/swaps even at moderate prices.

-Phil

bonsaiguitar
01-12-2010, 12:48 PM
I've been reading rave reviews regarding the NAD C 565BEE at $799.00...

http://www.soundstage.com/equipment/nad_c565bee.htm

Also the Onkyo DX7555 at $599 looks extremely interesting.

These don't quite conform to your budget, so I apologize for the post, but in past experience I've found some really stellar products just out of reach of my initial budget that I wished I'd saved up for, rather than compromising on lesser gear.

This was certainly true when I saved up years ago for a Meridian 508.20 CD player (used) which lasted me a good 8+ years and doubtlessly saved me money over a couple intermediate upgrades/swaps even at moderate prices.

-Phil


When you have several systems that might turn into a serious problem. ;) This is for a smaller system with tube amp. I've had NAD amplifiers in the past and loved them. I was going to go for a tube player but my ears can't tell any significant advance in sound. I might get one of those Lenova's or whatever they're called. I was reading about them a while back and they give military discounts. The Marantz arrived today and is a perfect match for this system in every way. And I was able to get it for $285 shipped. Thanks for all the input. Much appriciated.