kinky

OK .. after several years of flawless service, my Sony CD transport died on me. It ate my CD, burped, flashed twice and closed its eyes for the last time.

Well, that gives me an excuse to buy a new player now and looking for some recommendations

The features that I am looking for is (in the order of preference)
1. Support for CD-R, CD-RW. MP3 support is a nice to have
2. Digital output is a must-have. I prefer a Co-Ax output, but even an optical out is also OK. I will be using it to feed my Denon AVR3200 receiver.
3. Atleast support for holding 5 CDs and should be able to program tracks for playback.

I would love to hear what you guys think.

-kinky

ManualManuel

The Aiwa "CD-Megamax" supports all those features. How do I know this? READ IT IN THE MANUAL!

TKOThomas

Yeah, the CD-Megamax is your best bet. I've had mine for the past month or so and love it.

MichaelBlanton

I suggest a refurbed Denon DCM-370 from ubid (about $170 shipped) or spidergear.com (about $190 shipped, when in stock).

Won't do mp3, but has hdcd decoding and is SWEET. For what they're worth, check the reviews at audioreview.com. This really seems to be the best bargain around. We love ours.

kinky

MichaelBlanton : Does the DCM-370 support standard CD-R and CD-RW discs ??


TKOThomas/ManualManuel : What exactly is the Aiwa "CD-Megamax" ?? I did a google search on the item and did not come up with anything. Is it a CD transport component ? Can either of you provide a link to the list of features ?


Thanks all.




[Edited by kinky on 02-26-01 at 11:21 AM]

DigIt

I think ManualManuel and TKOThomas are both trolls (and probably the same person) so please ignore their comments. I'd agree that Denon is a good starting point for your search. Good luck.

Blade

They have both been banned.

MichaelBlanton

I haven't tried a cd-rw, but the 370 plays all our cd-r's (we have lots, gold, silver, and blue varieties) fine. I never thought about it before, but it even recognizes hdcd tracks off cd-r as well.
It also plays some very scratched discs with no problem. The Toshiba dvd player (3109, our substitute cd player for over a year) would skip and click on them.

It has a coax digital out, but I use a pair of Monster 400 (only because I got for cheap) analog cables just to take advantage of the unit's built-in decoders (20 bit Burr-Brown). You also have to use the analog outputs to take advantage of the internal hdcd decoding. My system is fairly revealing, and this player is noticeably warmer (less bright) than the Toshiba (also with hdcd decoding) and seems to be a perfect match for my Yamaha 1105 receiver, which itself is bright by nature.

I bought from ubid, it took about two weeks to be delivered. A note on the box said "may have cosmetic blemishes" but the unit looks mint. I took the cover off and everything looks fine inside. The transport is relatively quiet. If the thing lasts, and I have no indication why it wouldn't, it will be one of my best bargains in years.

If you do happen to browse ubid.com, don't be tempted to get HK's 5 disc hdcd player (usually under $100). It apparently is a lemon (audioreview.com).
Hope this helps.

stevevt

As long as a hdcd player can play cdrs, it will be able to play hdcd cdrs, but only if they are bit-accurrate copies. Some cd recorders don't make bit accurate copies, and are therefore not be able to make readable copies of hdcds.