Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Do I even need a CD player?..and "bad first exp."

I'm starting to gather a list of what I need in this home theatre system and it occured to me that I've yet to consider a CD player. Will this be necessary? I wouldn't need anything too fancy. I would imagine i could pick up a nice 5 disk cd player for a couple hundred bucks right? Are they as intense to research as the other pieces? Or do I even need one and can just go through the DVD player?

Just wondering what others are doing. My goal with this system is to have a good video/audio system to contribute to making my basement/romper room a kick ass place to hang out.

On a side note I went to the only listed Yamaha dealer here in GR, Michigan and the guy hadn't heard of the 2400, and knew nothing...great. Glad to see my research is off to a great success. The other "nice" A/V place I went to to look around I couldn't find anyone to hook up the nicer of their two projectors and the one they had on looked like garbage. All the salespeople were too busy hawking crap onto unsuspecting consumers. I thought those folks all worked at the major stores? A disappointing beginning.

-Nick

If you're looking to save some money, and who isn't, I'd suggest looking into a CD/DVD changer. In addition to taking up less space, you'll also have fewer cables to worry about. There is a huge range of players available, and even some that include DVD-A and SACD playback capability, although they will cost you a bit more.

I'll leave it to others to recommend players, as I haven't researched them lately.

That would be alright, I was just afraid if I got into some sort of Combo changer that I might sacrifice DVD playback quality. Sort of like the theory on TV/VCR combo's. The more you pile in there the more problems and less quality you get.

But if it's possible that certainly makes sense from a logistics standpoint.

Got a catalog from onecall.com the other day, and they had a 400 disk Sony DVD-A/SACD changer fro $400. If only I didn't want to get Axioms first...

Hi Nick,

As my stereo experience has grown from CD listening, I believe the CD source is very important. My first hi-fi equipment was a $70 Panasonic portable CD player, coupled with a Headroom Little amp ($250) and Grado SR60 headphones ($70). I thought this was excellent.. I couldn't imagine why I would need to spend more money.

A few year later I finally broke down and bought a speaker system. Paradigm Mini Monitors, Yamaha CDC-775 CD changer, HK 3470 stereo receiver. The step from the portable CD player to the Yamaha was amazing, especially after years of listening to my headphones. Even though my Grados are better than my Paradigm speakers, the CD source clearly added something special.

I should note that I decided on the Yamaha by auditioning. I brought several of my own CDs, in various genres, to the local Yamaha dealer, along with my headphones, and sat down and listened. Some people may claim that DACs don't make much of a difference. There was something like an $80 premium for the 775 over the CDC-685, and the only difference was the DACs. Both players had a lot of detail. I kept switching back and forth between the sources, and I started to hear a kind of smoothness that made the 775 sound more natural.

I told the salesman: "I like the 775, but I don't think it's $80 better.." well he gave me something like $50 off retail for the 775, so I got it. No regrets.

Eventually I got the Axiom M22's because I knew the Yamaha had resolution that the Paradigms weren't revealing (easily demonstrated by going CD player-> headphones). I was right. I also got a Panasonic RP-82 DVD player. While this player sounds decent on DVD-audio discs, it is horrid with audio CDs. Horrid is relative; lets just say that it seemed to have more in common with my portable CD player than my Yamaha.

Bottom line: if you listen to a lot of CDs, an inexpensive, dedicated, well-made CD player will often match DVD players double the price. Ignorance is bliss, but here's the fruit of knowledge if you want it.

-Cooper

Nick, CD/DVD players use dual lasers that operate at the different wavelengths needed to read CDs and DVDs and provide optimum performance for both. There's no good reason to buy separate players if quality of reproduction is the question.

Cooper,
was the audio CD performance from the RP82 really that poor? I've started looking into CD/DVD player options to replace my Toshiba, and the Panny seems to get great reviews on the DVD side, including here:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=&manufacturer=0&maxprice=0&deInt=0&mpeg=0

The progressive scan video performance of the RP-82 is indeed excellent. However, I think the deinterlacing issues on DVD players are overblown, simply because they are easier to quantify than audio quality. What is your priority? Don't forget that if you are using the digital audio output from the DVD player, then the audio burden is almost entirely on your receiver.

"Poor" is still a relative term in the audio. My portable CD player can sound "great" plugged in to a good system, if you haven't heard better. But it's all about balance in an audio system. The RP-82 audio performance is probably a better match for lower-end speakers like Paradigm Atoms.

I may get a Denon DVD-2200 universal player at some point, though I wouldn't be surprised if its CD performance was still below my Yamaha. Don't take my word for it; the only way you can be convinced is by listening for yourself.

-Cooper

Cooper,
I certainly agree that the only way to know for sure is to bring one home and listen to it yourself. Unfortunately, since the RP82 is discontinued, it's not easy to find one, especially one I'd be able to demo without buying it. According to Panasonic the S55 model is supposed to be similar to the RP82. Would anybody vouch for them on this? I emailed a couple of time with questions on DACs in the S55 but they haven't gotten back to me.

I'm actually along your thought lines though in looking towards a Denon 2200 or 2900. Both seem like great universal players.

I don't believe that Panasonic has any DVD players with better DACs than the RP-82; it's just not a priority. I don't think any of there current models have particularly good video performance either, as they no longer use the Faroudja chip that gave such stellar performance.

If you want more detailed discussion, head over to www.hometheaterforum.com, and look under the audio/video sources. If you are looking to spend around $300, it shouldn't be hard to find a Denon 1600 DVD player, which has the video performance of the RP-82, plus much improved audio DACs. I think this player also does DVD-A.

If you want to spend more money and get a solid universal player, I think the Denon 2200 or 2900 is the best choice; they use Burr Brown DACs which are supposedly very good. They strike a balance between features, audio/video quality, and reasonable price for something that may be obsolete in a few years (different audio formats and digital connectors).

-Cooper