What is Build Quality & Transport on a CD Player?

[EdwardGein]

In my neverending search for perfection at bargain prices, I just bought, based on reviews a Pioneer PD-59 CD player on Ebay in excellent condition for $285 including shipping from a reputable seller (I think it retailed for $550 or so when it was on the market, it is now discontinued). I'm somewhat sceptical that I'll notice any difference in sound quality between this & my Harmon Kardon 31 player, whether I connect this digitally or by analogue & I basically offered this to the next highest bidder if I don't notice a significant improvement. He said, he already had one & he needed another one for his business. He said the best 2 things about it were its built & transport. What exactly does this mean in plain English. Me, personally, though I'm sure many people on this forum will disagree based on past comments, really am not concerned how something is built why should that matter, just the sound. What exactly does transport mean?

[musicman1999]

ed

the term transport means that the the digital to analog conversion is done in the reciever not in the player.In other words a digital link.
you should in fact be concerned about build quality,because a better built player will more than likely have a better sound because better components are used,in general.
Remember the digital to analog conversion must be made somewhere,you need to use the component with the best converter.Speakers are analog devices,so are your ears.
bill

[N. Abstentia]

Build quality would be heavier chassis, better sheilding, heftier power supply, tighter tolerance components..better all around quality.

I find it odd that you are never satisfied with your sound, but you refuse to upgrade your tiny little speakers. Why?

[EdwardGein]

Because my speakers are good. I don't have a problem with you or anyone criticizing them, each to their own, but without actually hearing them, its really hard to put yourself in my shoes. The other thing is if I actually lived in a house like you do & I'm sure alot of people on here, I might experiment with bigger speakers but because I'm in an apartment, I can only play the volume so loud. I have found, that different DVD/CD players, different receivers & different cables do affect the audio quality, so for now I'm willing to change those around if it gets me better sound.

[musicman1999]

sound quality and volumn have little to do with each other.I to live in an apartment and must restrict my volumn levels,but i have good quality speakers and good quality sound.Doing what you are doing now wont change the fact that if you want to take your sound to another level you need new speakers.Not sating that they are bad,but they are limited in what they can do,they dont have enough range.They only go down to 120hz,if you have your crossover set to 80hz that is to big a gap.

bill

[EdwardGein]

Not saying that your wrong on anything & my sound is actually pretty good but a majority of my problem for which there may be no solution & I keep banging my head against the wall is that most of my albums are remastered CD's of stuff that was recorded in the 70/80's and the sound on alot of this stuff is not to my satisfaction even though the companies insist they used the original recordings and the most modern studio technology to remaster this stuff.
My perfect example is Traffic. I bought the latest remasters of their first 3 albums & was expected to be knocked out, especially by some reviews I read. Well the sound was OK not fantastic- this isn't a comment on the music but the recorded sound & I keep thinking their
must be something better. Same thing with Beatles CD's like Rubber Soul & Revolver. Sound is OK but not fantastic & I keep thinking their must be a way to make this music sound better. When I've brought these kind of CD's into high end stores, they didn't sound that much better either.

[musicman1999]

i agree ed,i have all the early beatles cd's,and they all sound like crap.You can't make something out of nothing.The more revealing your system is the worse they sound.Enjoy them for the music,because until they are remastered,they are not getting any better.

bill

[N. Abstentia]

I'm not saying your speakers are bad, they are actually quite good. They are probably the best speaker you can get....in their class. I can't think of a better 'pod' speaker.

Red Baron makes a fine $3 pizza. Probably the best $3 pizza you can get. However, if you go to a real Italian restaurant and get a nice fresh hand made $25 pizza it will make that Red Baron taste like cat food. Same with speakers..you might have the best tiny pod speakers you can get..but they are simply outclassed by top notch bookshelfs like Paradigm Studio 20's. There's no comparison.

It does not matter that you live in an apartment, you don't have to shake the walls to make it sound good.

[Eric Z]

nothing like a good chicago deep dish pizza- nice analogy!

[EdwardGein]

For all your great set up, you still don't own an HDTV. Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah!

I'm not saying your speakers are bad, they are actually quite good. They are probably the best speaker you can get....in their class. I can't think of a better 'pod' speaker. Red Baron makes a fine $3 pizza. Probably the best $3 pizza you can get. However, if you go to a real Italian restaurant and get a nice fresh hand made $25 pizza it will make that Red Baron taste like cat food. Same with speakers..you might have the best tiny pod speakers you can get..but they are simply outclassed by top notch bookshelfs like Paradigm Studio 20's. There's no comparison.It does not matter that you live in an apartment, you don't have to shake the walls to make it sound good.

[Kam]

nothing like a good chicago deep dish pizza- nice analogy!

respectfully disagree. gotta go with the new york style thin crust.

(although, given our locations, i doubt we'll convert the other, hehehe)

[shokhead]

Not saying that your wrong on anything & my sound is actually pretty good but a majority of my problem for which there may be no solution & I keep banging my head against the wall is that most of my albums are remastered CD's of stuff that was recorded in the 70/80's and the sound on alot of this stuff is not to my satisfaction even though the companies insist they used the original recordings and the most modern studio technology to remaster this stuff.
My perfect example is Traffic. I bought the latest remasters of their first 3 albums & was expected to be knocked out, especially by some reviews I read. Well the sound was OK not fantastic- this isn't a comment on the music but the recorded sound & I keep thinking their
must be something better. Same thing with Beatles CD's like Rubber Soul & Revolver. Sound is OK but not fantastic & I keep thinking their must be a way to make this music sound better. When I've brought these kind of CD's into high end stores, they didn't sound that much better either.

My Guess Who cd,one of the first i bought sounds like when i had a 8-track and the heads were dirty. Buy a new recorded cd from any new recording and it sounds like the heads have been cleaned, nothing you can do will make that old cd sound like you cleaned your heads. All you can do is replaced your old ones with new,remastered. Sometimes the remastered will knock your socks of and sometimes they wont. I always thought my Boston cd was a very bad recording. I bought a gold remastered from the org tapes and OMG. Your orbs are fine but they are small and i;ve said it a million times,you cant get big sound from a tiny speaker imo. If you upgrade anything else,at least TRY some speakers if only 2 that you can return and i think you would be happy and we for sure would be happy for you. LOL,now what are you going to do with your HK?

[evil__betty]

Your speakers probably do sound good. But, there is only so much good a small speaker like that can be before if it plataus. Heres an idea for you, go our and find a nice set of bookshelf speakers (and save the money that you would spend on extra dvd players and monster optical cables) and a matching centre channel and just see what the difference is. Bigger speakers don't just give you louder sound, but a much, much much better range than a sub/sat combo. Do this and I guarantee that you will hear a difference in sound quality (much more than swapping out optical cables) and it won't break the bank. That way, your ears and mind might finally be opened to better sound and people on the forum can finally take a break from the excessive posts about improving your sound with better cables.

For all your great set up, you still don't own an HDTV. Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah!

Ed, you're an idiot. You sound like a 7 year old getting frustrated that people are picking on him, so you try really really hard to come up with an insult. But like most 7 year olds, you fail to tie the insult into the topic of conversation that was happening around you and thus sound like more of an idiot. He may not have a HDTV but his sound system would distroy yours. And try to think before you type so you don't run into this problem later on.

[shokhead]

I bet you can find a pretty good pair of bookshelfs on e-bay,your pretty good at finding good deals on there. I think even something like my B&W 601's would sound pretty cool and they are not really a big bookshelf at all. Heck,if you could get over here i'd let you take mine to try just for the heck of it.

[paul_pci]

I bet you can find a pretty good pair of bookshelfs on e-bay,your pretty good at finding good deals on there. I think even something like my B&W 601's would sound pretty cool and they are not really a big bookshelf at all. Heck,if you could get over here i'd let you take mine to try just for the heck of it.

I say we kidnap him, tie him up, steal his credit card, buy him the damn speakers (some small bookshelf, 601, CM line) and take him home, tie him to the couch until he confesses that he likes them and will keep them. And in the meantime, we'll take pictures and post them to this thread.

[N. Abstentia]

For all your great set up, you still don't own an HDTV. Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah!

I don't own a TV at all, what's your point?

[shokhead]

I say we kidnap him, tie him up, steal his credit card, buy him the damn speakers (some small bookshelf, 601, CM line) and take him home, tie him to the couch until he confesses that he likes them and will keep them. And in the meantime, we'll take pictures and post them to this thread.

I like it. While he's tied,can we make him listen to Abba?

[paul_pci]

I like it. While he's tied,can we make him listen to Abba?

All we want! And the Bee Gees!