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Looking for a CDP from a company that'll be around

Strange post, no? Here's the deal: I am looking to replace my much loved Musical Fidelity CD-308 with a newer/ pre-owned CDP in the +- $2k range from a company that, according to your guesstimate, would be around in say, 5-6 years from now. Easily serviceable, should the need arise...excellent reliability record. I do use my equipment on average of 6-7 hours a day. Very heavy usage, as you can tell. No motivation or time to tinker around with repairs or maintenance issues. The last thing I'd want is to buy something and then to be left hanging dry, just as it happenned with the MF products. No chinese equipment or flavors of the month, please!
Associated equipment: CJ CA-200 control amp, Proac D-25, VD cables throughout
Best regards, and thanks for your advise!
alextychkin
tvad
9,467 posts
 
I think expecting to have a CDP for many, many years without operational problems is unrealistic. Yes, I know there are folks here who will now post about players they own that they've had since "Happy Days" was on the air, but overall, CD players are prone to failure...primarily the laser assemblies.

So, I've begun to look at CD players as disposable items, like most cars.

If you take a look at some of the players that can be purchased today used, there are some real bargains. Some of the modded players available for under $1000 (and some below $500) will surprise you with their performance.

Perhaps, buying a used player and enjoying it until it croaks isn't such a bad thing.
alextychkin OP
86 posts
 
I think that the idea of treating CDP's as disposable devices with a rather limited life span is of merit. Before I settled on my Musical Fidelity, I did what some of us do: purchased 3 units to compare, with my CD-308 being the least expensive (@ $1250). The other 2 were in the $2-2.5k range used. All three were different-sounding...nothing drastic or absolutely horrendous, merely different. As tempted as I was to step up price-wise and get the most expensive one, I came to a stark realization that it just didn't make good sense...because in 3 or so years I'd have to move on to something else regardless, either out of boredom or because of mechanical issues. That said, each one of us determines his/her own definition of what disposable price range would be.
mitch2
1,911 posts
 
Can't believe I do not see Ayre here yet. Their support is highly regarded as approaching the industry best; their gear is generally regarded as sounding quite good for the money; they offer two players to cover your price range (CX7e used is around $2K, and C5Xe is considered a worthy upgrade at about $3.5-4K); they support upgrades of their players; and they are currenty implementing two new upgraded players, that can be achieved by current owners who send in their players to have the upgrades installed. At least check them out.
psacanli
535 posts
 
Alex,
Lexicon has very strong service and they have built their business on professional grade reliability and long standing customer satisfaction. I don't think they would want to tarnish their reputation. Harman is behind them and look how solidly they stood behind other, lesser known-i.e. Proceed--products.
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