Best CD Players of 2023: You Still Need One
-
-
James,
There is definitely a nostalgia angle for everyone. I’m 50 and have been buying records since 1982. I inherited a lot of them from parents and grandparents which was a nice way to start. I do agree that there is a lot more involved when it comes to vinyl/CD and you really do have to set-up your table properly to hear what all of the fuss is about. I own both really high-end digital and analog systems and they both give me joy. I like listening to records because it feels more “human” if that makes any sense. I own 2,000 CDs and have 3,000+ albums saved on Tidal/Qobuz…but you don’t own any of the streaming music. It can all go away. Thank you for reading BTW. Greatly appreciated.
-
-
-
As the newest crop of players sports not only the latest, greatest dacs , but also
multi- format utility , I’d like to let one cat out of the bag : The best dac ever made for cd was the Philips Gold Crown TD- 1541 AS1 ( can’t remember all the nomenclature.) What is to be gleaned here is that chip was designed to
only decode 16/44. No multi- format , no ‘ chip of the month club. ‘
An experienced digital audio engineer who has done OEM work for many
high end outfits assured me that my perceptions are correct. We retro-ed one into
my Tandberg 3015 A thirty years ago in place of the original stock 1541. To this
day, anyone who hears my player comments on the sheer beauty of the sound. -
-
Because unless we’ve actually listened to it, it doesn’t make the list. I have another 20 CD players on my list that might be better than all of these from Metronome, Naim, Mark Levinson, ATC, Esoteric — but I’m not going to randomly just add things to the list just because they exist.
When I have a chance to try the Technics and others on my list — this article will be updated.
Thank you for reading.
Ian White
-
If you have others that have not been tested, and only list what you have listened to, this list should be designated as “favorites” and not “best”…. there are simply too many very good players not listed that are better than any on this list.
-
Joshua,
It is impossible to test every available CD player and we have a very specific cut-off in terms of price. We don’t review CD players over $5,000.
Best,
Ian White
-
-
-
-
-
100% for longevity but have not heard a Yamaha CD player in many years so I can’t comment on its sound quality.
Ian White
-
-
-
Having a top loading CD player is a must for me; I’ll take the Rega. Long Live Physical Media.
-
-
The “drawer” design has been a problem with several players I’ve had over the years. The Rega and the Naim eliminate that concern from the equation, which appeals to me. In my experience, Rotel has a good reliability reputation, but that Rega Apollo intrigues me, I must say. Nice article with a diverse selection of possibilities.
-
Steven,
I still have the original Rega Planet in a box somewhere. I prefer the Rega design in terms of reliability but the Naim CD players have always been my cup of tea sonically.
Ian White
-
-
I really, really wish that Oppo was still making CD/DVD players. Oppo switched to making cell phones and it was a real loss for audiophiles.
Larry Southerland
-
Larry,
Don’t we all. My BDP-95 is still working but it won’t last forever.
The prices on the last generation of players are crazy. $2,500 and up for a Blu-ray player.
They’ve made a killing on the smartphone side so they probably see it a a huge win.
Modwright has an incredible sounding modification for the last two Oppo players but that takes them up to $4K or more.
Ian White
-
I still have my BDP-93, great player but a way to complicated remote due to all of the DVD and video options.
Modwright has stopped offering mods but you do see the odd one pop up on the secondary market.Will you be offering a companion article on just transports?
-
Mike,
Most of these are also transports, so it would seem rather redundant at this point.
I’m thinking of a follow-up in regard to some vintage CD players including Micromega, CAL, Krell, Sonic Frontiers, PS Audio, Naim, Linn, Spectral, and Meridian.
Best,
Ian
-
That would be excellent if you did a review of some vintage players. I currently own Sony 777ES and it’s still running fine.
-
-
-
-
-
I bought the Marantz CD6007 to match my PM700N (which I bought as a temporary replacement while my APT Holman preamp was being rebuilt).
I was not just pleasantly surprised, I was truly shocked at just how good the CD6007 sounds – CDs that previously were ‘nails on the chalkboard’ were dramatically improved – smoother, more detailed, more coherent, less ‘digititis’.
For reference my analog rig is a VPI Prime with a JMW Memorial 10″ arm and a Hana SH moving coil, and I listemn to either Kef LS50s or Magnepan .7s with a Sunfire SDS8 subwoofer crossed over at 80Hz.
-
Right?
CD players have taken a backseat for far too long over the past 10 years.
I’m listening to CDs all the time now.
Ian White
-
-
-
Lash,
I want to say Copland but I might be wrong on that one. I did own a Copland CD player that decoded HDCD and I still have all of those CDs with that encoding.
Finding one that does both HDCD and SACD is definitely rare. You might find a used high-end unit that does both but I doubt it will be inexpensive.
Ian
-
Marantz makes SA-10 SACD player which plays CDs, Hi Rz dvds , others as well as can burn them for you. Came out beginning of 2017 and still can hardly find a used one cheap. Considered one of best to own as it streams and has its own unconventional dac which they claim is not a dac. Stereophile never mentions in any detail in articles and almost mute about the player. I think it’s because, Marantz didn’t buy into the MQA hype. Will process any file you can think of otherwise. Read about it as there are many excellent reviews besides marketing hype.
-
-
I sold my CAL Audio Cd/DVD player and Denon Cd player/recorder both of which played HDCD. I still have the Eastern Electric Mini Max tube CD player which also plays HDCD. Ashgrove by Dave Alvin is a great HDCD from start to finish, “Out of Control” really rocks if you are ready to head out on the town 🙂 I saw him perform this whole CD in Washington DC in front of just 300 people(max capacity) in 2004.
-
The CAL CD players were really good. I missed my chance at one recently.
Dave Alvin is great music.
Ian White
-
-
I would like to suggest adding the Bryston BCD-3 to your list to audition. Thanks for these. CDs remain equal to vinyl in my home. No streamers as I’ve been committed to physical media for years. Convenience has never been a priority. My stack of 45s will attest to that. Convenience in audio playback is a conceptual necessity we’ve made up with no real value, especially in a field where you often literally need an expert just to help you set up and calibrate your system. I am fit enough to get off the couch and I’m OK with that. The Bryston is a wonderful player (w/ a balky remote).
-
Are you aware of a newer CD player that will accept multiple CD’S?? The ‘one at a time’ thing gets old!
thank you.-
Gregger,
I’m assuming you mean a CD changer. Integra and Yamaha still make 6-CD changers. The Integra model (basically a Onkyo) is quite good. Yamaha also makes really decent CD players still.
Best,
Ian White-
Hi Ian.
Recently, I purchased an Onkyo DX-C390 6 disc changer.At present I’ve got it connected to a very old Denon DRA-435R (hope to upgrade when $’s allow). Any comments on the DX-C390?.
Thanks-
Hi Steve,
Unfortunately, I’ve never had the chance to listen to one.
If it still works and you like it — enjoy it.
Best,
Ian White
-
-
-
-
I would really like to purchase the Audiolab 6000cdt but keep hearing chatter about CD’s getting damaged due to the slot loading system. Do you have any opinions about slot loaders? Am I better off buying a player with a tray?
-
I too wish that Qobuz was available in Canada. However, I would like to put in a plug for Deezer. Their CD resolution tier sounds wonderful and the library is vast in all genres. Spotify is still compressed and I don’t care about Tidal as MQA is a solution for a problem that no longer exists. If Qobuz, Linn, McIntosh etc. eschew it, that is good enough for me. Since this is a column about CDs and CD players, I spin mine on an old Pioneer DV-353 DVD player feeding a Moon 280D DAC. Don’t laugh :). I had an unfortunate experience with a McIntosh MCD201. The model was a rare lemon from this company and it had to go back to the factory twice because of a faulty transport. This was a common problem with this model and I was glad to see it go. After that, stand alone DACs only for me.
-
CD sales have climbed , in part, because there’s not much capacity to produce vinyl, so if you want to own a physical copy of an album then CDs may be it. CDs are also more durable and transportable than vinyl, and most new music isn’t mastered in a way that matters with regard to format. Used sales don’t factor into the statistics for cd sales and I doubt too many people who’d buy a $1000 plus player are shopping used CDs for anything except what may be out of production.
These CD player prices are nuts, or more politely, aspirational. There may be a qualitative difference between a nice new $200 player and one costing thousands, but I’d go vintage first. For the record, I don’t fault anyone who buys expensive gear. I own some, so I get it. -
CD is far from dead, even in the US. Have you noted the number of expensive transports that have appeared recently? I’m a recent convert to Pro-Ject, with the S3 MaiA amp and S3 CD Box. I couldn’t imagine buying a replacement system without a means to spin my CD collection. Discogs will ensure that collection continues to slowly grow.
-
Tony,
CD sales in N. America are definitely not strong compared to Europe and Asia in 2022. There was some momentum last year during the pandemic that saw CD sales increase for the first time in almost 6 years, but that momentum seems to have dissipated. CD sales in Japan, India, Europe, and China are a very different story. Streaming has not yet hit the same type of critical mass as we’ve experienced in N. America but it will happen eventually.
I love CDs. I own 3 CD players and will use them until they die. Hopefully that is at least another decade.
Best,
Ian White
-
-
I purchased one on impulse last year. I have listened to exactly two CDs since then. I have thousands of digital tracks on my NAS and they duplicated on the micro SD in my Fiio DAP. Why the heck would I want to fumble with CDs, I ask myself.
-
Gord,
1. CD players can sound better than streaming.
2. Not everything is available on streaming platforms.
3. Who doesn’t want to squint reading the album notes?Ian White
-
-
Ian,
I have been doing a ton of travel so just found this (gettingg Covid from a Calgary trip was not a great gift).I really love my older OPPO BDP93? but in comparisons in the new system I built recently I have discovered that the DAC (Burr Brown in the OPP?) has a big mid bass bump.
I only discovered this when doing a comparison between the analog out and SPIDF with my Modi.
So I am hoping at some point your team has the time to do just a transport comparison.
Since the OPPO was originally bought as a blue ray player for the home theatre its got a remote that can run a space shuttle which is another reason I really want to go down the pure transport route.-
Michael,
Feel better and I think it’s something I’d like to do in late-january after we clear through our backlog of articles and reviews.
Best,
Ian White
-
James Chater
February 11, 2021 at 4:44 pm
Have the Cambridge CXC coupled with an Arcam irDAC going through Chord C-Line interconnect to a NAD C316BEE amp and finally, Dali Spektor 2 speakers. To me this set up it sounds fantastically accurate.
Re the vinyl/CD ‘debate’. I am old enough to have owned a substantial collection when CD was introduced in mid 80s. In retrospect I got rid of my collection too hastily as decent turntables are now very affordable. But, at the time many retailers stopped stocking vinyl overnight as some record companies stopped releasing new material on vinyl. Yes, I get the argument that vinyl is somehow more ‘musical’ as actual physical vibrations are happening…But do I miss loud surface noise, replacing needles etc.? As for the ‘psychological’ aspect? For me now to re-purchase titles on vinyl is just a bit too sickly nostalgic. Thankfully, re-mastered sometimes re-mixed recordings on CD sound great.