# classical music , what kind of gear do you use to listen to your cds (player, amps)?



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

I use to be more rich , had a very decent cd player made in Britain cost me 1000$ back than it was like 1500$ no kidding bt eventtually, everything whent broke use...

After 10 year of loyal service my speakers, amp and cd player desease...

But it hard these days to find a cd player store dosen sell em anymore, except pawn shop (used gear)
So i bought new speaker , my father bought me a new sony amp 2 year ago, and i have a denon cd player now , dont know iif it good, it has hidden vice sometime open and close i push open close cd but i can managed to put a cd if im quick enought and it played.

Yesterday the stoory goes i was so angry i whent to this pawn shop ''anecdote'' i ask the owner i need a cd player audio cd player ask him twice he grab some old dvd player me not noticing it and iit crappy..
Today i spite venom at the shop owner employe , i said : look all i wanted was a cd player for my sound system, he sold me an old dvd player and i told them twice i felt rip off and was, so the kind youth working there said no problem i will try to find you on in the store and fetch this cd player, he said here you have 20$ left..since the crappy dvd player was more expensive.

And my speaker well i use to have splendor , now austerity , obligated me to find cheaper one called QUEST i know , i know sounded a bit crappy well actually it's decent dose the job.

Now ii can explore my collecton of cd whit ''decibel abuse'' find hidden melody, deepness, since music played loud at 55 on a scale of 74 (whit headphone you hear everything, on my computer (portable i do have two cd player ) but the sound as lack and limitation.

As for neighbor complaint i did not have any when playing my music at 20 decibel(thus said whiteout headphone and durring the day), since i have news neighboors movedd amen to this...

My new neighbor has dogs , dogs people dont complain because dogs or a source of noise polution when they bark and they my new neighbor sleep at 2 or 3 am, but after souper time ii dont listen to music in resting room were i sleep..Because i dont whant to see boys in blue at my doors again and ever...(let use euphemism shawll we).

And my amp music come alive, under high voltage, decibel abuse...sometime you have no choice take per see some of hosokawa his symphony on naxos you hear next to nothing iif under 55 decibels, no kidding i swear, the dynamic or that far out so in order to hear everything you have to crank the volume just like Jon Leiif so both of gentelmen music is great but need volume and headphones to have a decent flavoring listening of these artist work's.

What about it folks, please rant on this , comment i whant to hear from you guys?
Hurray deprofundis can listen deepness of classical composer work, like sometime listening
to renaissance work i hear a polyphonic work that hide another layer of polyphony 
i did not heard correctly before or notice, this mean my gear ok now.


thanks for reading me, friends , benevolant soul, charming fans , melomaniac, musicologist , art lover

:tiphat:


----------



## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

I have nothing useful to contribute here except to say I enjoyed reading your post.

I listen exclusively to downloaded media via Bluetooth headphones because I live amongst ignorant savages with no appreciation of baroque opera at high volume.

Best wishes
Metairie Road


----------



## Guest (Dec 31, 2017)

DALI Epicon 2 speakers 
SVS SB13 Ultra sub
PrimaLuna Premium Dialogue HP tube integrated amp
Esoteric K-03 SACD player
VPI Prime Signature turntable/Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridge
Musical Surroundings Nova II phono stage
Audeze LCD-XC headphones
Oppo 105 Blu-ray player
Nordost, Audio Analysis interconnects; Kimber Kable speaker cables


----------



## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

Deprofundis,

Take heart that equipment can always be bought. A music collection must be acquired.


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

CD players, good ones, are getting hard to find, I agree. Nowadays there's little in the middle - you can buy cheap dvd/blu ray players that will play cds, but the sound is often strident and ugly. Then there are really pricey players. But gone are the $300-$500 days. Even Sony doesn't make the players like they should - they invented the format! For listening with speakers I just use the Onkyo 7.1 receiver driving Paradigm speakers. The sacd player is a Sony ES model that is getting old. For most listening, I use Sennheiser HD800 cans driven by a Woo tube amp. The player is a reasonably priced sacd player from Onkyo. Younger ears may hear audio artifacts that I don't, but at my age it doesn't bother me.


----------



## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

For the CD player, you may want to get something used from https://www.audiogon.com . There are plenty of very good CD players there for under $300 (US dollars). Denon, Rega, Technics, etc.

The problem, as I am sure you are finding, is that the vast majority of major manufacturers are no longer making decent CD players in the mid price ranges. New CD players are still being produced, but they tend to be on the high end (translation, lots of $$$).

And, as someone else mentioned, you can still find plenty of very inexpensive players that play blue ray, DVD and CD, but as dedicated CD players, they sound quite bad.

Buying a used player might be something you might want to look into.


----------



## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

I am very happy with my Onkyo C-7070 CD player, which I normally use to play CDs through my AKG-701 headphones. With a pair of Wolfson 192 kHz/24-bit DACs on board and a dedicated headphone amplifier, it does the job extremely well for 500€. I would not get any greater value from a more expensive player.

When I'm not listening on headphones I will pump the CD player, or my iTunes stream, through a pair of Audio Engine A5 powered speakers in one or both of two similarly-equipped rooms. The speakers may not be reference grade, but they are close enough for my purposes. Very flat frequency response and a lot of power if needed.


----------



## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

I have a decent Yamaha CD player (C-600) that is slightly above average ( I believe Yamaha discontinued their top of the line CD player). The Marantz integrated amplifier PM5004 I use is terrific. I have Klipsch speakers that I use with a Martin Logan subwoofer which brings out the full range. I'm extremely happy with the sound.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Same set up for a couple decades now.

Marantz CD player
Adcom pre-amp
PS Audio amp
B&W floor standing speakers


----------



## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

I listen almost exclusively using headphones & custom-made digital files on iPhones so I have nothing to add except to say that CD players continue to be plentiful in a wide price range on eBay.


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

These days all my music is on a hard drive and streamed via Sonos 
I am a full convert to this way of accessing my music now and would not wish to go back to CD or heaven forbid vinyl


----------



## AlanB (Oct 17, 2016)

Haydn man said:


> These days all my music is on a hard drive and streamed via Sonos
> I am a full convert to this way of accessing my music now and would not wish to go back to CD or heaven forbid vinyl


Ditto! I stream and listen via Spotify and internet radio. Try Audiophile Classical!!
My gear is Union Research Unico 90, Sonos into Naim Dac V, Harbeth Super HL5 Plus speakers.


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

AlanB said:


> Ditto! I stream and listen via Spotify and internet radio. Try Audiophile Classical!!
> My gear is Union Research Unico 90, Sonos into Naim Dac V, Harbeth Super HL5 Plus speakers.


I shall give Audiophile Classical a try
Thanks for that


----------



## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

My gear--







click to enlarge

*Speaker gear*: Audiolab 8300CD >>Simaudio Moon Nēo 340i >>Dynaudio Confidence C1 II's + SVS SB12-NSD

*Headphone gear*: Audiolab 8300CD (balanced XLR) >>Balanced Cross-feed X6B >>Audio-gd NFB-6 (balanced XLR) >>Norse Skuld 2 Litz UPOCC >>HiFiMan HE-500


----------

