milwaukeebill Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 To go with a pair of 6000f speakers i intend to acquire,what would be a good cd player to go with it,perhaps a player on the warm side to tame any harshess comeing from the horn tweeters.My budget for a new cd player is anywhere from 600 to 900 dollars,a grand to stretch it to the max.I have an 80 wpc NAD integrated amplifier that even though i bought it in 2001,it still works great,and have never had any problem with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Could sound better Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Bill, I've had 3 CD players, a Sony, a tube buffered Carver, and finally a Jolida cd100. After some light mods the jolida is the best of the 3. cheers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeloManiac Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 5 hours ago, milwaukeebill said: To go with a pair of 6000f speakers i intend to acquire,what would be a good cd player to go with it,perhaps a player on the warm side to tame any harshess comeing from the horn tweeters.My budget for a new cd player is anywhere from 600 to 900 dollars,a grand to stretch it to the max.I have an 80 wpc NAD integrated amplifier that even though i bought it in 2001,it still works great,and have never had any problem with it. Welcome to the forum! I'm very happy with my entry level Marantz CD5005, which is entry level. Marantz has a rep to produce a slightly warm sound. With a budget like yours, I would go the Marantz ND8006, which combines a cd player with an advanced network streamer: https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/marantz-nd8006 Note: no SACD. Another path to follow could be a high end blu-ray player (with multi-channel capabilities). I have no personel experience with that, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadBlue Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 This unit has been getting good reviews, I haven't heard it myself but I have the ERC-3 and love it. https://emotiva.com/collections/cd-players/products/erc-4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 I would not hesitate to recommend this. https://www.safeandsoundhq.com/collections/nad-electronics/products/nad-electronics-c-546bee-cd-player-factory-refurbished I have owned the older version C542 for several years and it has been rock solid. Fast punchy tempo with a warmish signature but very detailed. Of all the CD players I have owned, which has been over a dozen, the 542 is by far the best sounding player to date. Some of the players I have owned were multi thousand dollar ones and this older budget player bests them all. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Cambridge Audio. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 3 hours ago, wuzzzer said: Cambridge Audio. How could I forget, I own one and have owned three more. Bill 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 28 minutes ago, willland said: How could I forget, I own one and have owned three more. Bill I've had three of theirs and they all were fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 There are some interesting suggestions here for good CD players (personally I like some of the Marantz models - depending on budget). However, the OP wants a CD player that is both good and "will tame the harshness in the speakers". That is really a different question. Asking a CD player to fix a flaw in the speakers is probably not going to go very far. I would look for other solutions (including different speakers), if that is the problem you are trying to fix. Good luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richieb Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Might consider older Pioneer Elites with their stable platter tray(s). USaudiomart has a PD65 and PD59 currently listed. The 65 has a long and outstanding reputation although this one is overpriced at $600 (but include an Elite tuner). Four hundred would be a decent value. Dont know much about the 59 but it too is stable platter, asking is $250. I mention these as I have the PD93 which was the top Elite model in the day, over $2K in the early nineties. Now these are past tremendous machine in sound and build - and rare. So good in fact I bought a second one as backup. These take CD to the next level. Another highly rated machine in from CEC which uses belt drive. I believe the model 51 series? Made in Japan and right there with the Pioneers. No harsh digital artifacts I can find - good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJEditor Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 A little out of your $1k limit but the Yamaha CD S 1000 is a very nice addition to my HIVs. Less harsh than my previous Sony SACD 6 CD player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 7 minutes ago, DJEditor said: A little out of your $1k limit but the Yamaha CD S 1000 is a very nice addition to my HIVs. Less harsh than my previous Sony SACD 6 CD player. Oh yeah. Love mine. Mates perfectly with my A-S1000 integrated amp. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 I would eliminate the CD player all together and go Hi-Res streaming. Think about it. Every component in the signal chain adds it own anomalies - distortion, noise, phase errors, error correction (especially with CD - errors on the disc, laser reading errors), more cables, more breaks in the signal path. How is any of that going to make anything "sound better"? It won't. And it also makes a bad case for "system synergy" component matching as well. Especially since we no longer need the extra steps regarding the media itself as well as the components. You may find out that your speakers aren't so harsh after all. Besides, the recording itself and the room you are listening in have much more to do with how everything sounds than even the speakers themselves much less a CD player. But if you must, just get an Oppo that plays everything. Some even stream, although that still won't be as good as streaming directly to the amplifier. EDIT: I notice that you have an NAD amplifier. FWIW NAD is at the forefront when it comes to Hi-Res streaming/Direct Digital Amplification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milwaukeebill Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 I have an Oppo I use for movies but i still want just a cd only player.In addition to all of the above mentioned models I am also adding to consideration the Audio Lab 6000 cd transport,the 800 dollar model made by NAD and the Tascam 500 which is a professional model but excels as a home unit.The latter is according to the proprietor,Vladimir of North Country Audio who used to sell them though the business may have closed recently.With any of these cd players under consideration,I intend to connect a Mytek Liberty dac that retails for 1000 dollars,a real giant killer for the price,I have been told.The addition of the Mytek dac will be to smooth out any harshness in the various cd recording I have,increase the sound stage in width and depth and improve bass definition. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Seriously, for the money you are talking about I would spend very little on a fancy CD player. With all the talk about "harshness" I would either use different speakers (that don't sound "harsh"), or I would get a moderately priced CD player and put the rest of the money toward a DSP unit and equalize the sound to tame the "harshness". Anywhere from a Behringer DEQ for $300 or Xilica for $1200. This is much better way to tackle the harshness. IOW, CD players are not very good as "equalizers". Good luck, -Tom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Could sound better Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 My jolida CD player and PP tube amp do not sound harsh at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr clean Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Get the CD player of your choosing. Get a schiit loki eq to tame the harshness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundbound Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marcd6006/marantz-cd6006-single-disc-cd-player/1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milwaukeebill Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 Re,harshness: I first became aware of this when I was over at a friend's house where we were listening to some of his later Maynard Ferguson cds via his pair of Klipsch R-620s.The trumpets sounded rather screechy but nevertheless I became hooked on the Klipsch sound for that,"being right in front of the band" feeling became addictive.The stuff Maynard recorded from the late 70s on were very fusion heavy and his trumpet section seemed to being frequently hitting the high notes for the sake of doing so,but perhaps that became his intended trade mark.Because I have alot of big band cds in my collection,I am looking for smoothness in the high frequencies in both a cd player and in floor standing speakers which is why I will be adding a dac to the disc player. I do like Maynard Ferguson but prefer his albums from the late 50s into the mid 60s and the 5 trumpeted Stan Kenton orchestra who also had 5 trombones and 5 saxes.[!] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VNC Studio Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 (edited) I have a CEC TL5 and a MHDT Havana tube DAC. Sounds smooth yet detailed with my Cornwall IIIs. You can try to find a used CD player or transport made by CEC. Edited July 6, 2020 by VNC Studio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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