Reddit mentions: The best cd & tape players

I've done a writeup very similar to this before, but I can't seem to find it now.

I think that Quad speakers have the best bang for your buck (hence why I've got some). I was looking at spending around $8000 on speakers when I got my Quads. I was looking at B&W 800 and 700 series, Martin Logan, Opera, and Paradigm. I ended up spending less than half that on the Quads that I have.

I think a big reason for this is the ribbon tweeter. It has all of the detail of a metal tweeter without the fatigue, so they're easy to listen to. They also sound great with every type of music that I throw at them. Rock, classical, jazz, pop, etc. all sound great.

In terms of subwoofer, yes you should get one. However, I think you'd be better off getting speakers and an amp and adding a subwoofer later.

If I were spending that amount of money on a system right now, it would be a pair of Quad S-2 with plans to add a REL subwoofer, as well as a Marantz PM6006. I say this because I've gone down the path before and I've listened to quite a few speakers and amplifiers, and I think Quad and Marantz go great together, and they both offer excellent price to performance.

Let me know what you think.

Looking for a good CD player (not portable or rackmount) for under $200.

I have a nice Marantz turntable and a Marantz HD-AMP1 that sends great signal to my Martin Logans. I have over 1000 CDs that are just gathering dust since I ripped them to FLAC.

I'd love to put the CDs on a shelf (rather than throw them away) to look pretty and to pull discs to listen to sometimes. But I have no CD player.

Since I lost my job, is it reasonable to expect good audio quality from a basic, inexpensive CD player that can plug into the back of the HD-AMP1 using a digital optical connection? I'm not sure if there are components inside the CD player that will make enough of a detectable difference.

Something under $200 if possible? The Teac, Onkyo, and Pioneer come to mind.

Thanks

Build a system from separate components: Receiver, CD player and speakers.

Home Audio Guides: Intro to home stereo systems • Introduction to Audio Components • Zeos Tutorials, Diagrams and Videos • r/audiophile Guide to Home Audio • AverageJoeAudiophile's Guides

First consider looking for everything used. Stereo or AV receiver and a pair of used bookshelf speaker. I see lots of DVD players that also play CDs at thrift stores for $10 or you may even find a good dedicated CD player.

Or new or factory refurb receiver:

• Pioneer SX-10AE $149
  
• YAMAHA R-S202 $149.99 $99.99.
  
  Speakers:
  
  
• Low budget $45 Dayton Audio B652-AIR 6-1/2" with AMT Tweeter Pair.
  
• On sale Sony Core Series 5" 3-Way $75.
  
• 4" Pioneer SP-BS22 $95.
  
• 5.25" Infinity Reference 152 $139 factory refurbished $349 MSRP new.
  
  For the most linear frequency response under $200 and for a neutral sound with great mids:
  
  
• 5.25" Wavecrest Audio HVL-1, and order on sale at Ascend $80 each + shipping, "budget/baby Ascends" from the same speaker designer. Neutral sound with a linear frequency response. To me, comparable to KEF Q100s. Great mids which many speakers in the price range lack.
  
  DIY Kit if you are handy:
  
  
• C-Notes $100. Add around $50+ for tools and supplies if you don't have them. Kit includes pre-cut cabinets. Glue, solder, paint, assemble. Comparable to built speakers costing two to three times as much.
  
  CD player if you really can't find a used CD or DVD player.
  
  
• TEAC CD-P650
  
  Speaker wire:
  
  
• Pure Copper Oxygen Free 14 Gauge Speaker Wire 50 ft, with self adjusting wire strippers or 4 Ways to Strip Wire - wikiHow. Optionally add banana plugs.
  
• Sets with banana plugs, AmazonBasics buy 2 for a pair.
  
  Speaker Stands: Low budget Dayton Audio SSMB24 or Monoprice Glass.

Hello. I'm really fond of my cd collection and need to buy a piece of gear to reproduce them. I've got a pair of Skullcandy headphones which sounds pretty good. My budget is somewhere between 100-200$.

While doing some research I stumbled upon the Denon DCD50 and really liked its elegant style but simply can't afford the 500$. What would you recommend? Thanks.

I would rip them all and listen as I listen to everything else, a pi running squeezeplayer. If you want to listen to the physical CDs, the advantage is a single player requires you to put in one disc and listen to it, not skip from one disc to the next.

Any reasonable cd player at this point won't skip, have jitter, and likely has a great DAC. If I was going to buy one today, I would grab

this one because I can swap out the other 4 discs while one is playing and it's a good brand with good reliability.

That said, I don't. I rip them with DBPowerAMP and play them as FLAC.

If money's not too big a concern, and learning how to repair old tape decks doesn't sound like something you have time for- in other words, if the investment of money is easier than an investment of time, you might try and track down one of these. I have a couple, and they work fairly well, eliminating adapters and other such stuff. You just make recordings right onto a thumb drive.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Tascam+CD-A580

https://www.amazon.com/AD-850-Cassette-Player-USB-Recorder-Karaoke/dp/B073R46MDF

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TASCAM-CD-A550-220V-ONLY-AC-CORD-TYPE-CD-CASSETT-DECK-RECORDER/263277529678?hash=item3d4c904a4e:g:ZUoAAOSwZW5Z7jNU

Tascam/Teac are reasonable quality. Marantz at one point made some good things, don't know about the modern ones. like the PMD-300CP. I'm not married to the brand- or any other brand- so am open to hearing about other recommended decks, But there are some brands I've been told to stay away from, namely Io and Pyle. If there are good new decks made by them which don't have a tin-can sound quality, again am open to hearing about it. I just get the sense that Cypher25 is asking as someone who'd understandably like to avoid a steep learning curve as part of digitizing these memories.

Sorry about that, should have specified.

Are you sure something like this sound just as good as say, this? And will all blu ray players have an aux port for headphones?

Also thanks for helping me out!

Emotiva TA-100 for $400.

Adding in wires and whatnot, let’s call it $1000 left.

Emotiva also has a CD player but I think it’s too expensive (and that’s their cheaper one), but it is real good.

I’d probably suggest this for $170.

So, like $830 left.

For towers, my only recommendation under $1000 just so happens to be the Emotiva T1 at $700. $230 left over could get you a Dayton sub-1500 from PartsExpress or a BIC F12 from Amazon.

For bookshelves, let’s say $50 for stands, so $780 left.

$500 gets you Monitor Audio Bronze 2, $650 gets you KEF Q350, $750 (not sure if shipping is included) gets you the Philharmonic Mini (uses the famous RAAL ribbon).

Please critique my budget setup for listening to CDs. I don't understand the technical numbers like impedance and Ohms. I just want something that doesn't hiss. I tried using my laptop to play CDs, but the ambient hissing was audible.

• Sennheiser HD 598 Cs Closed Back Headphone (Already purchased. Great for glasses wearers and they sound crisp and amazing.)
  
• FX-Audio tube amp
  This is cheaper and smaller than this Onkyo amp. I will only use headphones, not speakers, so I think the Onkyo amp would be overkill.
  
• Onkyo C-7030 CD Player

Well you can take off the current drive belt and measure it, typically they are sized in mm. When I was fixing VCRs back in the day, Napa o-ring gasket material worked well. Try Amazon; they’ve got kits of square drive belts etc in mm increments.

GoldenTrading Mixed Square Cassette Tape Machine Recorder Rubber Belt for Repair Maintenance - Black (Packs of 30) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CZSU6K8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KlEBDbNND91PR

Checking the ION site they have parts for their turntables but not for your gear. May want to contact them direct to either get new part or at least specs. Mileage may vary. Good luck.

My suggestion is to roll the dice on a big bag'o belts like this one
Or a set of belts on ebay for a similar JVC from around the same time.
Or, if you can find the parts list for that boombox, locate the JVC part number for the belts. That's what I ended up doing for my boombox; once I had the part number I was able to find it on some online hi-fi part store that came up in a google search. Good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-CDPCX455-Disc-MegaStorage-Changer/dp/B000069JWX

• This baby right here is worth a shot, you can store up to 400 albums on it and afterwords just scroll to the number of the album and it plays! I have one at home and love it!

At that price, new units models from Gemini, Numark and Monoprice are probably the best you can do.

http://www.amazon.com/Numark-NDX400-Touch-Sensitive-player-Flashdrive/dp/B002IWIYDS/ref=pd_cp_MI_0

http://www.amazon.com/Gemini-CDJ-300-Single-Disc-Player/dp/B00D6ZETKI/ref=pd_tcs_subst_MI_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1V7TV463RECCFXF4MDNV

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=115&cp_id=11506&cs_id=1150605&p_id=614410&seq=1&format=2

Generally most producs in this price range aren't expected to last very long. It would be worth looking into a set of used Pioneer CDJ-1000?

you could get receiver, cd player and headphones for $1000 - depending on how serious you wanna get on headphones........ maybe even bokshelf speakers.........

you want a 2 channel receiver or 5.1/7.1 av receiver?

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marcd5005/marantz-cd5005-compact-disc-player/1.html

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrn303bl/yamaha-r-n303-2-ch-x-100-watts-networking-stereo-receiver/1.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RFNZYJZ/ref=twister_B07SZ6PFJ3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Fluance-SX6-BK-Definition-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers-Black/dp/B00IEDL8EM

.

https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-Open-Back-Professional-Headphone/dp/B00004SY4H

.

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marmcr611/marantz-m-cr611-networking-cd-receiver/1.html

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/denrcdn10/denon-ceol-rcd-n10-compact-stereo-receiver-w/cd-player-bluetooth-airplay-2-and-heos/1.html

I see these 2 recommended:

https://www.amazon.com/CD-P650-B-Compact-Player-Digital-Interface/dp/B0045EJY90

https://www.amazon.com/Tascam-CD-200BT-Rackmount-Professional-Bluetooth/dp/B008224WPM

Budget Option - many guys use Sony Bluray players as CD players.

you could go with a desktop dac and headphone amp and hook cd player to it.......Schiit or JDS Labs.......

I'm running an Topping MX3 desktop Dac/Amp/headphone amp with a 1990's Sony 5 cd player thu it - but with your budget you could get Nicer Stuff..........

Hey guys. I got the opportunity to create an audio system with a budget of <$5000. How are all of these pieces? Sorry for any formatting issues, I’m on mobile.

Speakers: R-820F FLOORSTANDING SPEAKER ($720) (https://www.klipsch.com/products/r-820f-floorstanding-speaker#product-specs)

Amplifier: Marantz PM8006 ($1199)
(https://www.amazon.com/Marantz-PM8006-Integrated-Amplifier-Electric/dp/B077NBXQLT/ref=pd_bxgy_23_img_2/146-6058189-9012201?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B077NBXQLT&pd_rd_r=5315735b-0a7a-42aa-becd-df9747d5c5a1&pd_rd_w=LFeRz&pd_rd_wg=09ivC&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=ASE8QXTQ2NQSTM9QDX98&psc=1&refRID=ASE8QXTQ2NQSTM9QDX98)

Pre-amp,cd player, etc.: Marantz ND8006 ($1199)
(https://www.amazon.com/Marantz-ND8006-Network-Player-Mode/dp/B077NC44SH/ref=pd_bxgy_23_img_2/146-6058189-9012201?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B077NC44SH&pd_rd_r=378d60cc-3fd7-4746-96a0-b6723248b5b3&pd_rd_w=HdXDo&pd_rd_wg=VH2kD&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=1H1J59H3A4NC4KWJ60XW&psc=1&refRID=1H1J59H3A4NC4KWJ60XW)

Turntable: Orbit Custom ($595)
(https://uturnaudio.com/products/orbit-custom)

Subwoofer: R-120SW SUBWOOFER ($359)
(https://www.klipsch.com/products/r-120sw-subwoofer)

I know this is r/vinyl, but I'm wondering if any of you guys have any CD Players you'd recommend? Since, I've seen some people have their CD players by their TTs too.

Budget would be $200 at the most, or less.

https://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-C-7030-Compact-Player-Black/dp/B004UR487A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1481787618&sr=8-4&keywords=cd+disc+player

Currently looking at this Onkyo C-7030. ^

You could consider buying a new blu-ray / dvd player, or a used CD player that may come up for sale in your area. IMO investing more than $100 on a dedicated CD player is pointless, I'm skeptical it'll make much of a difference. If you must, you could consider something like this

wat. just get an AV receiver. like, any of them.

boom https://www.amazon.com/Marantz-ND8006-Network-Player-Mode/dp/B077NC44SH/

eBay is usually the place to go for that kind of thing. Unfortunately, I cannot find round VCR belts on eBay anymore, for whatever reason (used to be able to buy them in this massive bags that contained a variety of sizes). You can get a pack of square belts from Amazon, which may provide an awkward fit, but it might still work. Since I haven't bought this pack specifically, I cannot vouch for the quality of their construction, nor their ability to fit to a gear they may not be meant for.

https://www.amazon.com/GoldenTrading-Cassette-Machine-Recorder-Maintenance/dp/B01CZSU6K8/ref=lp_172550_1_6?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1571595620&sr=1-6

Alternatively, if you want the long way around, you can try to get the belt out of the camera (as long as it hasn't melted, which happens a lot), measure it's diameter, and buy a single belt of that specific length from eBay.

Go for it!
High quality CD players go for 150-200 bucks on amazon. they're steals compared to turntables.

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-C-7030-Compact-Player-Black/dp/B004UR487A/ref=sr_1_2?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1422644344&sr=1-2&keywords=cd+player
Onkyo C-7030 Compact Disc Player (Black)

I have no childhood connection to vinyl, none. We grew up on 8 track(lol), tapes, and cds in my household. I'm only interested in vinyl because theres still lots of good music that's never been released on CD.

I've seen lots of people recommend the Onkyo C-7030. Supposed to sound stupid good for the price. Happens to be right at $150

Onkyo C-7030 Compact Disc Player (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UR487A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_zfFpDbH4C1MM6

Technical Pro DV4000 DVD receiver

Keiid CD receiver

Yamaha NS6490 large bookshelf speakers

Found one on amazon for only $500.

TEAC still makes tape decks, in fact they keep making new models. I bought the previous generation of this deck, mainly to dub cassettes to digital.

$600 The 2.1 package

$180 Look, a CD player!

$400 HK-3940 Receiver

$31.50 Wire

$5.50 Optical cable


Note: HK3490 is usually cheaper, and you may find it cheaper other places on the internet. Also, you don't really need that CD Player, you can just use any ole dvd player that has an optical output.

>What would you call a "cd player" that's just the optical drive and outputs

That would be a CD player.

For example: http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-C-7030-Compact-Player-Black/dp/B004UR487A/ref=sr_1_2?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1418979061&sr=1-2

Sounds like a hassle IMO as far as dealing with navigation, etc. I assume that's what you use for blu ray as well, but a blu ray player might be more convenient with a remote and all if you have one.

You could also just get a basic dac/headphone amp and use your computer. Rip your cds to lossless and it should be the same.

This onkyo CD player has a built in dac and would have you covered as well if you are set on physical. No interference to worry about either.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004UR487A?cache=5a525fc4f6e55beafe1dd0fde8e1e62d&pi=SX200_QL40&qid=1410587762&sr=8-2#

I've never really had an audio setup of any kind, but as my cd collection is growing, I was thinking about purchasing a cd player and a pair of speakers, though I have a tight budget of $200. Something like this but with a cd player in place of the computer.This cd player really caught my eye but for that much I have no money left for speakers. I'm also not sure what kind of speakers to be looking at, or whether or not I'd need an amp for such a simple set up.
I also wanted to ask, would it be a bad idea to just get a cheap cd player from a local thrift shop and spend the rest of my money on speakers?