Dear old dad has decided he needs (wants) a new cd player.

 

Budget ~ $3k, new or used. Valves need not apply.

 

Hes tossing up between (another) oppo 105 or primare CD32 or BD32.

 

(Yes i know, primare BD32 is a modded oppo 93, and the 105 is in turn close to the 'old' primare bd32.

BUT, which is better for audio cd's ? or is the primare CD 32 better again ? )

 

Any other brands he should look at ?

(I'm also wondering what the general consensus is with jlti oppo mods ? )

 

Primary use would be cd's. if it doubles as a blue ray video source, thats ok too.

 

Only real requirement is balanced outputs (pretty much a given at this price I thought).

And hopefully a decent display (another reason hes interested in the Primare).

 

I'm mainly hoping for reports from those that have compared items and can report their thoughts.

 

On yer marks..... GO 

 

 

 

You should be able to get a second hand naim cd2x for around $3k (RRP around 8K).  The second hand market for cd players is really tanking especially with all of the computer audio and streaming with dacs coming online.

 

There are the older cdx which go for around $1.5k which are excellent cd players for the money.

Oops balanced outputs with Naim may be a problem as they use 5 pin din or RCA.  I am pretty sure you can buy leads with rca to balanced or 5 pin din to balanced.

Another option with balanced is the Ayre.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ayre-CX-7e-CD-Player-AVbay-The-High-End-Audio-Hi-Fi-Store-/261401925431?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item3cdcc4d737&_uhb=1

 

 

Good luck

Try a a Linn Ikemi. I had one up until eighteen months ago. Never had a use for the balanced outputs. Sound quality is very good. As far as these things go it looked the ducks nuts. The  only reason I sold it was that I have gone to hdd storage and streaming and it hadn't been used for more than a year.

 

There must be at least one out there, somewhere.

So what's wrong with valves? The boss here has his Droplet for sale and it blows away any amount of high end non valve driven cdp's by all reports.

 

My own little valve driven bit of shiny bling left my Apollo down a couple of rungs in the minor league.

 

But if your not going to countenance valves then grap a 2nd hand  Ayre c5 cdp perhaps.

Dear old dad has decided he needs (wants) a new cd player.

 

Budget ~ $3k, new or used. Valves need not apply.

 

Hes tossing up between (another) oppo 105 or primare CD32 or BD32.

 

(Yes i know, primare BD32 is a modded oppo 93, and the 105 is in turn close to the 'old' primare bd32.

BUT, which is better for audio cd's ? or is the primare CD 32 better again ? )

 

Any other brands he should look at ?

(I'm also wondering what the general consensus is with jlti oppo mods ? )

 

Primary use would be cd's. if it doubles as a blue ray video source, thats ok too.

 

Only real requirement is balanced outputs (pretty much a given at this price I thought).

And hopefully a decent display (another reason hes interested in the Primare).

I'm mainly hoping for reports from those that have compared items and can report their thoughts.

 

On yer marks..... GO 

 

$100 blu-ray player, leave rest of the budget for a CD player...that way don't restrict yourself to players that do both

Is there any reason why balanced is a must ?

Righto.

 

No valves as hes old enough that he used to make valve gear, in the days of mono. And he wants nothing to do with them anymore.

 

Balanced. cause he can. (pass 2.5 pre that has both rca and balanced inputs)

No, seriously, I know it wont make a scrap of difference, so does he, but there is no way in any dimension, that he will change his mind.

 

Unless you have dealt (long term) with someone autistic, I just have no way of demonstrating to you what he's like.

 

he has an oppo 105, and now he wants a pure cd player to replace other bits (doing a reshuffle of his bits 'n pieces)

hes contemplating the primare purely for the display. "Oh its oled and gets rave reviews on its clarity"

and yes ive pointed out he either shuts his eyes, or falls asleep snoring, thus the display is irrelevant.

Nooooooooope. that don't mean jack. it's oled. its good. see comment re autism.

 

do not, ever, offer me a baseball bat. there are days, i would put it to good use......

 

ta for the suggestions so far.

 

what are the electrocompient like ?

 

oh, and forget suggesting a lower 'transport' and external dac combo, I already tried that one........

the elctrocompaniet universal is based on the oppo/mediatek chipset just like the primare and the 105. if thats what he wants ....let him have it ...why argue or confuse things

Marantz CD 63 punches well above its price point ( get one and pocket the change )

Marantz CD 94 MK II is one of the best CD players I have owned and heard

I had a good listen to a Primare CD 32 a few weeks ago and it is a very nice player . Heaps of detail, almost to the point of forensic analysis. It's also got a very sweet and definite boogie factor, which somewhat offsets the hyper detailing. One thing I can guarantee is it would never lack energy or be boring.

 

With careful system matching it could sound sensational, but you wouldn't want to be using any amplification on the bright side of neutral. I was considering buying one myself, but it's a maybe at the moment.

Edited March 6, 201412 yr by Phantom

Cec perhaps?

the elctrocompaniet universal is based on the oppo/mediatek chipset just like the primare and the 105. if thats what he wants ....let him have it ...why argue or confuse things

 

Really, ok. are their any players that dont use oppo guts

 

yes, we have arguments, only cause i want to try and see he gets something that will make him happy.

Cause if he aint, i'll never hear the fn end of it................

 

 

cec ? shall go have a look for them now....

 

ta all. don't let me stop the discussion

Really, ok. are their any players that dont use oppo guts

 

 

~

 

its not oppo guts, its a media tek chip set. that many makers share including oppo. ofcourse its only the chipset, things like dacs, power supplies, analog output stages, displays, etc etc these other companies use of their choosing. the mediatek chipset you will find if wanting a blu-ray player/universal as its a pretty solid base. and why i suggested if wanting just a cd player (rather than combined cd/blu-ray) you then have a lot more choice...

Why bother with all these modern stuff?

At that price range I should suggest a used Audio Aero.

There is a Cd player on ebay for less than $1,000 - I will try to find and post the link.

Even better, on Audiogon they regularly come up - an Audio Aero Capitole. That is a fantastic Cd player as well as a SACD player and if you are lucky a fantastic dac as well - ask me I have one   .

 

It has RCA and balanced out etc etc. Some say better than the Ayre already mentioned, but I would not know.

If his budget can stretch a little bit further he can even get a later model with usb input.

 

Possible dealbreaker - it does have one valve.

 

Alternatively - there is a nice Teac VRDS cd player on ebay for $625 -  please buy before I can't control myself any longer.

I would highly recommend looking into Arcam gear my FMJ Cd37 sounds detailed and sweet all at the same time or maybe I am just biased.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Audio-Aero-Prima-24-192-HIGH-END-CD-Player-MADE-IN-FRANCE-VG-CONDITION-/141194120393?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item20dfd34cc9&_uhb=1

Buy a valve based CDP like the Droplet. The tubes last 10 000 hours. Tell him it doesn't have any. He will be dead before they are ; )

Buy a valve based CDP like the Droplet. The tubes last 10 000 hours. Tell him it doesn't have any. He will be dead before they are ; )

Good idea. I think Marc still has one for sale.

Beautiful to look at too.

 

(He won't know the Audio Aero has one either)

simaudio moon

I would highly recommend looking into Arcam gear my FMJ Cd37 sounds detailed and sweet all at the same time or maybe I am just biased.

 

I would also recomend looking at Arcam CD players ... my Alpha 9 punches way above it's weight.

Someone hand me that baseball bat now please.............................

 

He's decided he wants the primare BD32 (blue ray unit).

All for the reasons that make absolutely no rational sense what so ever.

 

I've got him waiting for the moment.

 

Has anyone compared the cd audio of the primare bd32 against the oppo 105 ?

Someone hand me that baseball bat now please.............................

 

He's decided he wants the primare BD32 (blue ray unit).

All for the reasons that make absolutely no rational sense what so ever.

 

I've got him waiting for the moment.

 

Has anyone compared the cd audio of the primare bd32 against the oppo 105 ?

If he wants that, send him to the shop by himself. Then at least he can see it before committing.

Just to throw another suggestion in. How about a used Accuphase. Then he can use the DAC inputs as well.

I have the Oppo BDP 105 and a Primare DVD30. When it comes to disc playback the Primare is better, but using a dedicated PC and the Oppo as a DAC the Oppo sounds better (more detailed, still prefer the Primare sound). The Primare BD32 should only sound better than the Oppo since it uses the same video section as the Oppo, but I recon that the CD32 would be even better. The Oppo I believe is not a truly balanced design like the Primare.

You could also upgrade the Oppo with ModWright or spend the money on the Primare DAC30. It is a BD32 without the video section and you can hook up more devices to it.