CD Player options under $1000

Shadowfax

Shadowfax

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My old trusty Rotel 1072 CDP is finally starting to flake out a bit. It started by not being able to Random Play or jump tracks on CDRs but now seems to have issues reading Redbook disks.

I always liked the sound and performance of the Rotel. I think it was in the $700 range when I got it over 15 years ago.

I see the latest TOL from Rotel is the 1572 right at the $1K spot.

What other CDPs can you recommend in the $1K and under range?

TIA
 
Stick with Rotel Brian, still one of if not the best sub 1k CD players out there.
 
Any detail not extracted from your CD will never be heard, people tend to under estimate the importance of a good source. My suggestion is to increase your budget and look for a better player. Maybe something in Luxman t match your amp. I haven't kept up with recent CDP's. Arcam and T+A used to have good players in the $2500 to $3k range. Ifyou decide to go up on budget I'm sure Mike could direct you.

In the $1k range I am a Marantz fan.

I have always had a good digital front end, Arcam, Krell, some DAC's Conrad Johnson, Audio Note, T+A player, then my Levinson. I can tell you this is no area to compromise. If any doubt some listening and comparing is in ordr before buying anything.
 
Thanks Mike & Mr P.

I do like the Rotel at the $1K point. I would love to have a Lux but find it hard to justify a CDP that costs as much or more than my Amp. Mainly because it is mechanical and will have failures at some point so again hard to put out that much knowing it will have a limited life span. I am not real keen on used for all the same reasons. No idea how much use and wear they have.

I may up the budget a little if something shows up that gets my interest.
 
You could do something like a Bluesound Vault at around $1200.00 then add something like theSchitt Gundnir which I believe is around $899.00. Certainly there are a lot of options if switching to streaming but the Vault allows you to easily rip CD's to it's HD and Schitt is known for value DAC's. The Vault has a DAC but that's a lot in one box for $1200

I wish there was a way youcould borrow a highr end player so you can hear what your system is capable of.

If thinking used, a DAC would be the way to go, then pick up a reasonable priced transport, Cambridge has one around $499, I'd personally at least move up to the Bel Canto. If not wanting to get into the highest resolution race I bet you could get a great DAC on the cheap used.

Just throwing it out there.
 
If I can get the right price, I may have to swing for the Luxman D-N150 but it will be a stretch if I do.
 
You might find good deals in the used marketplace. A lot of people have moved to streaming and are ditching their once pricey CD players.
 
Mikado463 said:
Stick with Rotel Brian, still one of if not the best sub 1k CD players out there.
Click to expand...

I would second that, in that price bracket. I am 100% unbiased.
* The latest Rotel CD player has very good reviews and is extremely affordable for music addicts lovers audiophiles.

▪︎2020 Editors' Choice: Disc Players Under $2,000 - The Absolute Sound

The other option is to go to a slightly higher price bracket (tier). ....eBay...Oppo 105/205.
Are they more "musical/natural" sounding than Rotel? It depends; our ears.
 
Get a Tascam CDP and a Decent DAC like the Schiit Bifrost Unison which Mike Moffat from Schiit says it gives you 90% of the Yggdrasil. Or a Gungnir.

Here is a link to the Tascam which is supposed to have a very good transport made by Teac.

Amazon.com
 
RDSChicago said:
Someone told me Audiolab makes a nice transport for around $600 or so:

6000CDT CD Transport From Audiolab - The Audiophile Man
Click to expand...

That sounds like a real good deal ...

• SoundStage! Access | SoundStageAccess.com (GoodSound.com) - Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport

And mate it with this ...

• GUSTARD DAC-X16 Bluetooth 5.0 Two ES9068AS MQA Full Decoding XU216 Pr

But that's $50 over the OP's budget (total: $1,049.98).
I'm sure they have sales occasionally.
That could be a killer sound source, for much less than $100,000 ... and ten times less than $10,000
 
Shadowfax said:
My old trusty Rotel 1072 CDP is finally starting to flake out a bit. It started by not being able to Random Play or jump tracks on CDRs but now seems to have issues reading Redbook disks.

I always liked the sound and performance of the Rotel. I think it was in the $700 range when I got it over 15 years ago.

I see the latest TOL from Rotel is the 1572 right at the $1K spot.

What other CDPs can you recommend in the $1K and under range?

TIA
Click to expand...

My 1072 just keeps cranking. I'd love to get a 1572, but the 1072 won't give me a reason to take it out of the starting lineup. If you want a different sound the Rega Apollo might fit the bill.
 
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