Do CD players make a difference in sound quality?

[hershon]

If everything else is constant, i.e, the receiver and 5 Orb Satellites speakers & a sub are the same, will I notice much difference in the sound quality of a rock or blues CD, depending on the model and brand of the CD player? This will be played in an apartment building in a normal sized living room. Will I get better quality sound hooking up this CD player to my DVD/receiver or will it still not sound as good as my integrated DVD receiver? Much help appreciated. If you do recomend a CD player please list the brand, model and rough guess as to its price.

[Wireworm5]

Yes cd players as well as dvd players and soundcards as well a TT cartridges can have better or lesser quality in source reproduction. The better question is, is whether or not your system is revealing enough to hear an improved source. For example: an sacd player playing an sacd disc, on a revealing system, has more body or depth to the music compared with your standard redbook cd. However to an untrained ear you probably couldn't tell the difference and with a less revealing system you definitly won't hear the difference.
My first multi-player cd player was crap, but I didn't know this till I bought a universal dvd player, then I knew.

[hershon]

Can you give me a gut answer to this question. I'm currently playing my CD's through my built in JVC RX-DV31SL combination receiver/DVD player. It is progressive scan & 500 watts. While I am very happy with the sound of my CD's, I always strive to improve, if I can & its affordable. Do you think I'll get noticeable improvement in my sound if I buy an Onkyo C-390 CD player that I can get under $200 which seems to be highly rated with 128 oversampling then my current built in progressive scan DVD player? Your help appreciated. Any other Cd players to recommend?





Yes cd players as well as dvd players and soundcards as well a TT cartridges can have better or lesser quality in source reproduction. The better question is, is whether or not your system is revealing enough to hear an improved source. For example: an sacd player playing an sacd disc, on a revealing system, has more body or depth to the music compared with your standard redbook cd. However to an untrained ear you probably couldn't tell the difference and with a less revealing system you definitly won't hear the difference.
My first multi-player cd player was crap, but I didn't know this till I bought a universal dvd player, then I knew.

[Wireworm5]

I wouldn't chance it. I suggest the Sony DVP-NS975V which I have. Be forewarned though, a few people have had problems with this unit, but I have yet to encounter them and I've played it everyday for 2 months. Even if you don't use it for video the audio from what I'm hearing is outstanding. This unit sells for approx.$500 cdn.
Once you know you have a good source, any upgrades you make in the future you can attribute to that equipment.

[kexodusc]

There's tons of good quality Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo, Denon, Sony etc CD players on ebay that can be had for pretty cheap. Might be worth the time to try one out. Not as "high-end" as a lot of gear out there, but they play and sound nice.
Personally, on my systems I cannot definitively say I hear a difference between my $200 Yamaha and $800 Arcam CD players in terms of sound quality. The Arcam's got some nicer features though.
I use the Arcam on my 2-ch system because it is suppose to be better, maybe it really is, I'd hate to be missing out on something. Before that I had a $450 NAD cd player, to tell you the truth I liked the Yamaha better. It was newer, and had a digital output. Can't say the differences between any of these is that much though.
I would tend to believe that a separate cd player probably has less shortcuts than an integrated cd/receiver, but I don't know for sure, never really tried an integrated unit before.

[hershon]

I'm probably going to go with the Onkyo C-390 as I'm just looking for a stand alone CD player not a DVD or SACD player & kind of looking at this as an experiment. If I don't hear much difference, I'll return the set to Circuit City which is why for this onc instance I'm going to spend extra and buy retail instead of online. I'll post the results albeit it they're subjective.


There's tons of good quality Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo, Denon, Sony etc CD players on ebay that can be had for pretty cheap. Might be worth the time to try one out. Not as "high-end" as a lot of gear out there, but they play and sound nice.
Personally, on my systems I cannot definitively say I hear a difference between my $200 Yamaha and $800 Arcam CD players in terms of sound quality. The Arcam's got some nicer features though.
I use the Arcam on my 2-ch system because it is suppose to be better, maybe it really is, I'd hate to be missing out on something. Before that I had a $450 NAD cd player, to tell you the truth I liked the Yamaha better. It was newer, and had a digital output. Can't say the differences between any of these is that much though.
I would tend to believe that a separate cd player probably has less shortcuts than an integrated cd/receiver, but I don't know for sure, never really tried an integrated unit before.