Wtd Reasonably Priced Cd Player

Following the sale of my Wadia 6 & Mf a308 I am now looking for a reasonably priced Cd Player to put through the Phono Inputs of my Pioneer Ax10Ii...I have about £300 to £400 to spend...some considerations are:
Cyrus Cd6
Marantz Cd17 Mk11 Ki
Avi Labs
Meridian
Arcam Alpha 5 (Avondale Modded)
I would also consider any other Cdp someone may have to sell in this price range.
Ideally it needs to be in its original box & good to mint in condition.
I can collect and pay cash within the Midlands area (pref East)
Thanks Paul

 

have you ever heard any of these? I mean the characteristics of the models you mention couldnt be further apart... cyrus to meridian being one of note

what kind of sound do you want to get.. cyrus is leaner and clean with a very fast upbeat kinda sound... not the most lush or forgiving sound around.. but great fun.

Marantz is quite dynamic and attacking and has good juicy bass.. but its still a fairly bright sound.. not one for the feint hearted.

meridians are something of a mixed bag.. some of their players sound bright and forward... some sound lush and warm.. its hard to know what your gonna get till you try.

also consider a used roksan caspian a rather good player indeed.

 

Hi,
The sound I am looking for is probably warm and analogue...peraphs something with a tight bass...the Pioneer & Nautilus 805's are both bright so I need something to act as a "foil" for these...
I have had a Roksan Candy Cdp that was a reasonably good player..the Caspian though seems fairly hard to find?

 

I've something you may be interested in - I've sent you a PM


JTB

 

if you want something to sooth the B&W's then how about NAD? Id very very much acoid the cyrus meridian and marantz in that system. it'll cut your ears open

The roksan caspian would be a good bet... they come up on ebay frequently.

Also the audiolab 8000CD is pretty smooth and shoudlnt aggrevate any bright treble problems.

or quite possibly a great idea in your system would be the older meridian 200/203 transport/dac these can be had for far less than your budget and i know sereveral people that own them very happilly. they are smooth warm and powerfull sounding.

 

I would have thought an Audio Analogue Paganini would be perfect - smooth, lush presentation. Not one for rockers mind.

Can be had for £600 used - a lot less for MkI/II models.

DT

 

Gotta recommend the Arcam Alpha 9 CD - a stunning second hand buy!

 

What to do?

Thanks for the feedback downgrading is harder than upgrading (this cdp has got to stay with me for 12 months!)...
AA Paginini is interesting a quck look around and I saw the 24/96 version within my budget don't know how this compares to the 24/192 version...I listen to a lot of Coldplay,Keane,Atlete etc don't know if this would be classed at rock....Roksan Caspian is also a possibility...isn't the Meridian 200/203 a bit dated in both looks and spec?

 

the 200/203 is still an ok player.. very very very solidly built.. and may give the smooth controlled sound yoru after. You dont wanna risk making your system sound harsh.

there are also a great number of mods for that combo from trichord etc.

 

…is it worth spending all that money if you listen to Coldplay and Keane? Sorry couldn't resist having a dig

 

yes

 

Having just got the top Exposure player to go with my Exposure amps, I will have a higher up Arcam for sale. Its the CD92 which sold originally for about £900. The player features the "Ring-Dac" you may have heard of. Its detailed and refined. Silver finish. Interested ?

 

I also have an old Arcam Alpha (square shape, black) which has some attributes the CD92 falls short of, albeit in a coloured sort of way. A cheap option and a good one for rock music. I love this player and may not sell it but keep it for a kitchen system. Yet I wonder what interest it might generate. It might be "Avondalable", just ask them, but it is such a well sorted player I doubt you would want to. Subsequent Alpha "improvements" were somewhat dubious.

 

hi how about a arcam 170.3 transport and a arcam blackbox 50 dac very detailed warm analouge sounding combo let me know if interested cheers henry

 

i would suggest that the CD92 isnt the best way to tame a system that may err towards brightness. Its not afraid of the treble thats for sure.

the transport/black box is a nice little player.. but could do with a few mods to bring it more up to date as its a bit warm and mushy in standard form.

 

I'm not sure if it will be of any appeal to you, but if you're interested in a good Arcam CD player I have a CD33T (in black finish) for sale for about £600. Cheers.

Paul

 

NAD S500 is worth a look too.

 

Thanks for the offer I have actually bought a Cd Transport (Teac Vrds 10) so I am now looking for a Dac as per my other thread.

Paul

 

I have just bought a meridian 206b it's the delta sigma version
I also use jm labs speakers, not shy in coming foward.
The meridian replaced xxxxx cd player brand new model at 3 times the price.
I paid £200 and could not be happier.
I am led to believe the 200/203 combo is very similar,
sometimes new products can sound a bit harsh to impress at
the dem room, but living with harsh products is another
thing.