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New member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 7 Registered: Jan-08 | I'm looking to buy a cd changer for under $1k. I've read about the Marantz CC4001, Denon DCM-390, and the Rotel RCC 1055. Are these my best choices for the price range? Any recommendations? |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 6374 Registered: Feb-05 | My best recommendation is to not buy a changer and to go with a single disc player. Greater reliability and sound. |
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Silver Member Username: Malco49Baltimore, Maryland Usa Post Number: 145 Registered: May-05 | i can't speak to the technical reasons,as much as to just the sound. i for years had a sony 5cd player.it finally gave up the ghost a bit and i wanted to upgrade after getting new speakers and amp. i went out and bought the denon dcm-390. after less then a month i knew something was missing. the music wasn't where i wanted it to be. i upgraded to the cambridge azur 640C v2 and knew that i was hearing the music as intended. bottom line art is correct.sound will be much better with single disc player. |
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New member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 8 Registered: Jan-08 | The wife requires multi disc capability. My plan was to buy a moderately priced changer and then invest into a quality single player later on. What about a single disc player and making MP3's in place of the multi disc system? Would this be a bad way to go? |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 9822 Registered: Dec-04 | Yes, a very bad way to go. MP3 is the only cuss word that the forum allows. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 6380 Registered: Feb-05 | Tell your wife that you intend to buy both and that should cure her of her need for a changer. My wife has a changer...in her system in her office. |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 2493 Registered: May-05 | Don't swear off the mp3. I think its a great idea to get a single disk player that also plays mp3, so long as its a good CD player. Burn a few mp3 discs for your wife and parties/background music. When you want to sit down and listen to music the way it should be listened to, use the standard CD. mp3 is very good for continous background and party mix music. Most poeple in these scenarios wouldn't notice it at all. If they do, maybe they should focus a little more on the party and less on the sound quality. I don't know the rest of your system to make a specific recommendation. I think a good majority of the current players will play the mp3 format. What is the rest of your system? |
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Silver Member Username: Malco49Baltimore, Maryland Usa Post Number: 146 Registered: May-05 | or if you have an iPod or other MP3 player you can use that connected to you system cd's ripped in lossless(itunes-iPod)don't sound that bad on my system.especially when "background" listening. |
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New member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 9 Registered: Jan-08 | My system is little old. My 25 year old pioneer receiver died last year and in a rush I went out and bought a Yamaha RX-V661. I'll eventually move it to another room and upgrade. My JBL speakers and pioneer cd player were from about the same era. After reading the speaker forum I've ordered a pair of Monitor Audio RS6's with a center speaker. You're dead on about the background/party music. Much of our listening is sitting on the back porch listening through a set of outdoor spreakers or just background music when we have company over. Speaking of ipod, that's one of the reasons I selected that particular receiver was for its ipod capability. So maybe a plan would be to get a good cd player and let the wife go with ipod and mp3 music. If that didn't work I could get a cd changer to add to the system later on. It seems like the Rega Apollo is highly regarded on this forum but may be little above my price range of $1k. What would be good choice for me? By the way, I live in central Mississippi where high end audio stores are WalMart and BestBuy so going out and auditioning involves extensive travel. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 6392 Registered: Feb-05 | The Marantz makes sense as a well regarded changer that sounds like it may suit your needs. Single disc players are usually better but it sounds like you will not be doing much critical listening. |
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Bronze Member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 11 Registered: Jan-08 | Art, I'm probably not capable of critical listening. I suspect I'm suffering from excessive brain damage and hearing loss from the 60's drugs, sex, and rock&roll. But I do want to buy the best equipment I can afford. I don't have audio shops available to audition different equipment, that's why I'm here. |
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Bronze Member Username: MorphPost Number: 29 Registered: Feb-08 | The cambridge audio 740c is close to the Apollo's SQ, and 200 cheaper. You can buy online, from a reputable dealer, with a money back guarantee. I believe it even has a digital in for that ipod and mp3 situation. |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 2496 Registered: May-05 | Ricky, I'll try not to put words in Art's mouth, but I think I'm thinking the same thing he is here... Do you sit down and listen to music with minimal distractions? Are you looking to start a stereo system, and building it peice by piece? If you're not doing either one, the investment probably isn't worth it. You're not going to get your money's worth in terms of sound quality because the rest of the system won't be revealing enough to show its potential or even the differences between this and a cheaper CD player. I still like the mp3 or iPod idea for continous music over a CD changer. An iPod Classic with 80 GB can hold a lot of music, even uncompressed. Combine that with a good dock that bypasses the iPod's internal amp, and you can get good sound quality and convenience for not too much money. The iPod Classic 80 GB runs about $250. The Marantz dock runs about $150. It'll be hard to beat the combined convenience and sound quality for $400 IMO. http://www.musicdirect.com/product/73836 |
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Bronze Member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 12 Registered: Jan-08 | The answer to the first is a few times a month. The answer to the second is yes, that's where I'm at now. But I still need to play the background music on a regular basis. I have the Monitor Audio RS6's on order. The next weakest link in my system is the ancient CD player I have which is already starting to freeze up. Although my receiver is not that old I would upgrade it as well after some saving-up. Maybe yall are telling me that the Marantz cd player is a good match to the MA speakers and say a Receiver in the $1500 range? If that's true I will save some money. I like the idea of the Marantz dock, especially since we already have the ipod. So maybe a good plan would be to get the ipod up and running to check out the sound quality and then look at single players that would keep me under the $1k mark including the dock. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 6397 Registered: Feb-05 | Where do you live that there is no place to audition gear? Just curious. The MA's will show you the differenc on a whole heck of a lot better player than the Marantz. That's what I was trying to tell you before I understood your limitations (changer and all). |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 9828 Registered: Dec-04 | And I didn't mean to shoot down the mp3 angle too quick, RH, my listening habits have taken me away from the stuff that other people use and like. My apologies. Yes, An ipod and dock would work very well for background music, and if the files are saved uncompressed, better han that! 80 GB of uncompressed Beatles seems like a fun weekend. |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 2499 Registered: May-05 | Starting at the source is a good way to build a system. You've got the speakers you want. Are you sticking with surround sound, or are you going two channel, and keeping the surround sound in another room? Both can co-exist in the same room and system, but that gets a little tricky. I know you're going to have a tough time listening to some gear, but I think its something you should do. Spending $1k on a CD player and perhaps the same amount on a receiver/amp is a bit of a risk if you can't hear it first. A safer route may be second hand from Audiogon. If you don't like something, you should be able to sell it again for what you paid for it provided that you didn't over pay. For classic rock, you may want to look into Naim, Rega, Linn, Bryston, and Creek for starters. See if you can track down an authorized dealer within a reasonable distance. If not, what are you looking for sound-wise from your stereo? What is your reference for 'good sound'? |
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Bronze Member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 13 Registered: Jan-08 | I live in central Mississippi. We have one audio store [other than the Bestbuy type stores] within 100 miles and they specialize in klipsch and b&w speakers. I think Rotel is the only cd player they handle. So not a lot of variety. I think yall have convinced me the changer is not the way to go. I'm going to order the ipod dock for the party music and then look for a good single player. I'll work on the cd player and receiver after I get the new speakers and ipod set up. Thanks for the good discussion. |
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Bronze Member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 14 Registered: Jan-08 | Stu, I'm overhauling my entire system. It was way overdo. Finally bought a HDTV. I've ordered the matching MA center speaker as well. I've got a couple of klipsch in wall speakers for the surrounds, which is another wife requirement of no speakers hanging off the wall. The old cd player was definitely the weakest link but I had to start with speakers because the big old JBL's didn't fit after some furniture changes. I don't think I have a good reference other than I'll know if I don't like it. I'll mostly depend on sound advise from you experts to put the system together. I'm confident it will sound better than my old system. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 9834 Registered: Dec-04 | RH, if you listen to our advise, it will be to listen to as much stuff as you can. And to go out and listen to as much live music as you can. That means acoustic more than amplified. However, if you listen to rock and amplified music mostly, just get out and listen a bit. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 6401 Registered: Feb-05 | Central Mississippi....I am convinced. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 9836 Registered: Dec-04 | Art, wasn't it the Marantz 4300 that you liked? |
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Bronze Member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 15 Registered: Jan-08 | When I talked to the Monitor Audio rep he just chuckled when I told him where I lived. The closest dealer was about 300 miles away. That turned out to be a TV repair shop. And most of the dealers don't seem to have sound rooms anymore. They're more into custom installation in homes. I do travel to LA on business quite often. I'll plan to check out some audio stores and have a listen on my next trip. If the ipod thing works I won't have to be in a big rush if the cd player completely dies. |
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Bronze Member Username: KillamabillaClear Lake, TX USA Post Number: 46 Registered: May-07 | Ricky, I think that given your geographical constraints, you might be best served by going with the Internet-direct manufacturers for speakers and subs, sometimes for electronics too. They all have free 30-day in-home trial periods, which means you can try their stuff in your own home doing direct a/b comparisons with other gear, simply ship back whatever you don't want and you are just out the cost of shipping which is trivial given the kind of financial ballpark a lot of these purchases are in. This is especially handy because a lot of gear (speakers especially) will sound completely different at home than in a shop due to different room acoustics as well as being run off of different electronics. Yes, it may be a little bit of a hassle to put something back into a box and call UPS to come pick up, (though some companies like Aperion Audio will actually pay for return shipping too so it's a no-brainer, nothing-to-lose proposition). Personally I have never been very impressed with Monitor Audio's offerings, especially given their retail pricepoints, and especially compared to what Internet-direct manufacturers (AscendAcoustics.com, av123.com, Outlaw Audio.com, hsuresearch.com, svsubwoofers.com, theaudioinsider.com, etc.) offer for the same or less money. AV123.com in particular sells some very high-value electronics, like their Onix CD players and tube amps. Audio electronics can also be had online from places like audioadvisor.com, jr.com, crutchfield.com, vanns.com, onecall.com, etc. with very amicable return policies. There is a strong bias on this forum in favor of supporting the small local audio dealer and sometimes pooh-poohing Internet-direct makers or buying online in general, perhaps since a couple of the regulars are current or former small audio dealers themselves. However if you expand your research to include other forums (audiocircle.com, avsforum.com, hometheaterforum.com, etc.) you will discover a whole other world of countless folks who've been extremely happy shopping online. Just some thoughts. |
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Bronze Member Username: ElmerfudPost Number: 16 Registered: Jan-08 | Bill, I'll keep that in mind. I have looked at some of the vendors you mentioned and many are highly regarded on speaker forums. I have a friend who bought from AV123 and he was pleased. Unfortunately he's moved away so I can't audition his speakers. Not much I can do about the speakers at this point since they're already on order. I did spend a lot of time on several speaker forums before making the decision on the MAs. |