DEDICATED CD PLAYER $1K AND UNDER, THOUGHTS?

itzhak

In your scenario you have 2 components, a digital cable (they DO NOT sound the same), an extra power cord, a separate shelf, isolation/vibration control devices AND magically you have to get lucky to find synergy with all.

Before I got my Oppo 105 I was using a hotrodded Pioneer PD 65 (Stable Platter) with outboard power supply, another power cord and a high quality 2.0 Toslink cable from WireWorld, connecting to the 24/96 dac in my Parasound P 5.

The Oppo 105 with XLR outs was also plugged plugged into the P 5, but it crushed the transport/dac.  Now that I am using the 105 direct outs to my amps, layers of noise vanished, which has allowed me to hear everything at a much lower level, but there is the rub, when the Oppo volume control is slightly lowered from wide open, apparently it looses bits. So, I just bought a used Hattor XLR passive pre in hopes of improving bit loss at lower volumes, running the 105 wide open but using the Hattor to adjust volume.

I could have it by Saturday, and it will take me a couple days to figure it out and listen to some music before reporting back .

AND it plays hi-rez formats, and is an excellent Blu-Ray player

tweak1

Blu-Ray and DVD aren't great as transport it's better to use dedicated CD transport without build in DAC to an extrnal dedicated DAC,moreover coax digital cables are better than Toslink ones.

You can probably find a used Audio Refinement CDP for less than 500usd. Easily worth the money.

+1 for Rega CD players.  I still have the original Planet spinning discs in my living room.

Also add Resolution Audio to your list.