CD-player died, need advice
 

Gentlemen,

I replaced the driving belt of my trusted old Thorens TD166
this week and today I find the CD-player has become so
upset by this it refuses to play or even acknowledge the
existence of the CDs I feed it.

The CD player is a Cambridge Audio thing (everything
important inside is labeled Sony) about five years
old (the Thorens is 25 years old).

So, even though the Thorens 166 works just fine and
I have a number of LPs to play I am in the market
for a CD-player.

I don't care much for fancy brand names and exotic
design but I want good sound reproduction. (and
reliability).

Any recommendations?
Second hand? (New models are not always better)
DVD-players?

--
Martin Schöön "Problems worthy of attack
show their worth by hitting back."
Piet Hein

CD-player died, need advice
 

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:24:23 +0100, (Martin
Schöön) wrote:

Gentlemen,

I replaced the driving belt of my trusted old Thorens TD166
this week and today I find the CD-player has become so
upset by this it refuses to play or even acknowledge the
existence of the CDs I feed it.

The CD player is a Cambridge Audio thing (everything
important inside is labeled Sony) about five years
old (the Thorens is 25 years old).

So, even though the Thorens 166 works just fine and
I have a number of LPs to play I am in the market
for a CD-player.

I don't care much for fancy brand names and exotic
design but I want good sound reproduction. (and
reliability).

Any recommendations?
Second hand? (New models are not always better)
DVD-players?

Buy the cheapest Sony that has the features you want and tell us
honestly if it sounds any different to any other cd player. CD
playback is pretty much a utility job these days. I suppose you MIGHT
get unlucky and stumble upon one with a seriously crappy audio output
stage, but they're pretty easy to make too.

CD-player died, need advice
 

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:24:23 +0100, (Martin
Schöön) wrote:

I don't care much for fancy brand names and exotic
design but I want good sound reproduction. (and
reliability).

Any recommendations?
Second hand? (New models are not always better)
DVD-players?

I would seriously consider a Pioneer DVD player - one that also plays
DVD-Audio and SACD. (The DVD600, for example.)

--
Chris Isbell
Southampton, UK

CD-player died, need advice
 

"Martin "Schöön"" wrote in message
...
Gentlemen,

I replaced the driving belt of my trusted old Thorens TD166
this week and today I find the CD-player has become so
upset by this it refuses to play or even acknowledge the
existence of the CDs I feed it.

The CD player is a Cambridge Audio thing (everything
important inside is labeled Sony) about five years
old (the Thorens is 25 years old).

So, even though the Thorens 166 works just fine and
I have a number of LPs to play I am in the market
for a CD-player.

I don't care much for fancy brand names and exotic
design but I want good sound reproduction. (and
reliability).

Any recommendations?
Second hand? (New models are not always better)
DVD-players?

**Forget second hand, unless you are prepared to throw a new laser in a
decent exotic machine. IMO, the best value around today is the Harman Kardon
HD970. Brilliant machine for not too much cash. It'll even play MP3s.

Trevor Wilson

CD-player died, need advice
 

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:57:34 +1100, "Trevor Wilson"
wrote:

**Forget second hand, unless you are prepared to throw a new laser in a
decent exotic machine. IMO, the best value around today is the Harman Kardon
HD970. Brilliant machine for not too much cash. It'll even play MP3s.

Looked it up. The "...exclusive sound improvement system based on the
Real Time Linear Smoothing III, optimizing the sound level and
quality" worries me a little. Smacks of audiophile snake-oil. Can it
be switched out?

CD-player died, need advice
 

"Laurence Payne" NOSPAMlpayne1ATdsl.pipex.com wrote in message
...
On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:57:34 +1100, "Trevor Wilson"
wrote:

**Forget second hand, unless you are prepared to throw a new laser in a
decent exotic machine. IMO, the best value around today is the Harman
Kardon
HD970. Brilliant machine for not too much cash. It'll even play MP3s.

Looked it up.

**A waste of time. Go listen to it. It is a very fine sounding machine.

The "...exclusive sound improvement system based on the
Real Time Linear Smoothing III, optimizing the sound level and
quality" worries me a little. Smacks of audiophile snake-oil. Can it
be switched out?

**Nope. IMO, the good sound of the HD970 is likely to be related to the
excellent DAC used and the very impressive, all discrete transistor output
stages. Quality OP amps complement the mix.

Like I said: "Listen to it." Forget all the bull**** and the hype (which
pretty much ALL companies are guilty of) and just listen to the thing. It's
not an expensive machine, but it will easily best fancy machines costing
several times more. The HK is designed using good, solid engineering.
Nothing more, nothing less.

Trevor Wilson

CD-player died, need advice
 

Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Laurence Payne" NOSPAMlpayne1ATdsl.pipex.com wrote
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

**Forget second hand, unless you are prepared to throw a new laser in a
decent exotic machine. IMO, the best value around today is the Harman
Kardon HD970. Brilliant machine for not too much cash. It'll even play
MP3s.

Looked it up.

**A waste of time. Go listen to it. It is a very fine sounding machine.

The "...exclusive sound improvement system based on the
Real Time Linear Smoothing III, optimizing the sound level and
quality" worries me a little. Smacks of audiophile snake-oil. Can it
be switched out?

**Nope. IMO, the good sound of the HD970 is likely to be related to the
excellent DAC used and the very impressive, all discrete transistor output
stages. Quality OP amps complement the mix.

I look forward to your detailed analysis of why a DISCRETE output stage
performs any better than an INTEGRATED one.

It's just yet more marketing ******** appealing to pseudo-technical prejudices.

Graham

CD-player died, need advice
 

"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Laurence Payne" NOSPAMlpayne1ATdsl.pipex.com wrote
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

**Forget second hand, unless you are prepared to throw a new laser in a
decent exotic machine. IMO, the best value around today is the Harman
Kardon HD970. Brilliant machine for not too much cash. It'll even play
MP3s.

Looked it up.

**A waste of time. Go listen to it. It is a very fine sounding machine.

The "...exclusive sound improvement system based on the
Real Time Linear Smoothing III, optimizing the sound level and
quality" worries me a little. Smacks of audiophile snake-oil. Can it
be switched out?

**Nope. IMO, the good sound of the HD970 is likely to be related to the
excellent DAC used and the very impressive, all discrete transistor
output
stages. Quality OP amps complement the mix.

I look forward to your detailed analysis of why a DISCRETE output stage
performs any better than an INTEGRATED one.

**It doesn't per se. It depends on the topology of the discrete stage and
the topology of the IC. A decent OP amp will outperform a crappy discrete
stage any day.


It's just yet more marketing ******** appealing to pseudo-technical
prejudices.

**Just listen to one and get back to me. Until then, you are arguing from a
point of ignorance. Don't forget: We aren't discussing some fancy
multi-thousand Dollar CD player. The HK is very modestly priced.

Trevor Wilson

CD-player died, need advice
 

Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Eeyore" wrote
Trevor Wilson wrote:
"Laurence Payne" NOSPAMlpayne1ATdsl.pipex.com wrote
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

**Forget second hand, unless you are prepared to throw a new laser in a
decent exotic machine. IMO, the best value around today is the Harman
Kardon HD970. Brilliant machine for not too much cash. It'll even play
MP3s.

Looked it up.

**A waste of time. Go listen to it. It is a very fine sounding machine.

The "...exclusive sound improvement system based on the
Real Time Linear Smoothing III, optimizing the sound level and
quality" worries me a little. Smacks of audiophile snake-oil. Can it
be switched out?

**Nope. IMO, the good sound of the HD970 is likely to be related to the
excellent DAC used and the very impressive, all discrete transistor
output
stages. Quality OP amps complement the mix.

I look forward to your detailed analysis of why a DISCRETE output stage
performs any better than an INTEGRATED one.

**It doesn't per se. It depends on the topology of the discrete stage and
the topology of the IC. A decent OP amp will outperform a crappy discrete
stage any day.

I'm glad you agree.


It's just yet more marketing ******** appealing to pseudo-technical
prejudices.

**Just listen to one and get back to me. Until then, you are arguing from a
point of ignorance. Don't forget: We aren't discussing some fancy
multi-thousand Dollar CD player. The HK is very modestly priced.

Still doesn't change the fact that the marketing of it is pandering to
quasi-snake-oil (negative) perceptions about ICs.

Graham

CD-player died, need advice
 

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:31:24 +1100, "Trevor Wilson"
wrote:

It's just yet more marketing ******** appealing to pseudo-technical
prejudices.

**Just listen to one and get back to me. Until then, you are arguing from a
point of ignorance. Don't forget: We aren't discussing some fancy
multi-thousand Dollar CD player. The HK is very modestly priced.

It's several times the price of a utility model. It doubtless uses
the same transport. I'd need convincing that the extra few pennies
they spent on the power supply and output circuit (if they did) were
worth it.