The Compact Disc revolution: Part 1: 20 iconic CD players 

Yep. Buying them since 1985 - Have about 4000 now. Mind you - All of them get ripped to my USB HDD for playing.

I only had about 500 & even though vinyl is my favourite I still purchase a regular supply of cd's from magpie today while they are very cheap at £2 each. I am currently in process of ordering another 100 for £180 with bulk buying. I am lucky I am old enough to be around when vinyl was way before cd's so plenty of both formats. Most converted to flac albums too for streaming. More music than I get time to play now. I was born into vinyl & no doubt still die listening to it in my armchair.

However, there are those who believe that music masters today that are published on vinyl or hires have better dynamics. due to the fact that they probably do different Masters. The CD today unfortunately does not have the same status as it did 20 years ago. Unfortunately, the record companies probably think that those who buy music on vinyl or hires demand more and may also have more expensive stereos

Note that there are those who only use the vinyl record to charge extra. The same album on vinyl can be significantly more expensive than a CD has ever cost. who would have thought In the 80s or 90s when someone in the record industry thought that vinyl records were too cheap

‘91, but same

I buy that amount monthly!

@@scottchegg1209 Big deal. I buy that many every week!!

I wasn't implying that I spend tons of money...

@@ericjensen9091 I wasn't implying that either

@@rockmusicvideoreviewer896 ok

Thanks, much appreciated. Thanks for your comment too.

At the beginning of the 1990s, there could be big sound improvements in just two years. A Denon 1992 sounded significantly better than a Denon from 1990 and then we are talking in the budget class Type corresponding today to 200 to 250 €. note at the time Denon won CD tests. The fight was well between Pioneer and Denon

Though i am a fan and have DENONs from that golden era of the hifi industry i must confess that the fight for the leadership was not only between Pioneer and DENON. Sony, Marantz , Yamaha and some other companies also had excellent models.

But noise and flutter are good things and is gave Analog the warm and imperfect sound.

rega ear 1 sounds very? decent to me büt thöse p€$keyy nön ´cööl devveiß? plückce v v rega cdp knobs look designey büt hal to oper8 a device ? sonys are so pretty and i love when you can do everything on the device instead öf an art piece that isnt even (Föölleyy) 5kD?? in some rentat holiday flat i think was a tv with such tiny buttons ´rc´ -.- ´GiF blööD?? whats nice except the rega cdp enterpri$€ ´Löök??? burmester ör ecöm-nör are light ahäeD vv szellF view närmöhR€D jaja germs nö XxD

Thanks! Thanks too for your little back story. Enjoy the discman!

Thanks

@TheCharlesAtoz: My problem is my “dumbness” at streaming. In many cases, 💿 CDs is much easier for me than streaming reliably.

I have no more room for CDs, so I've gone over to the dark side, uncompressed streaming. I use Amazon Music Unlimited, Echo Link player & a Fire tablet (for control) & have enjoyed hundreds of 'new' albums in the last few months. I have filled in the 'holes' in my classical & jazz back catalogs. I use YT channels for new release influences. I do miss liner notes but something had to give.

I use roon with qobuz into a blue sound node 3 into an external dac, sounds fantastic. I use a cd transport and also a turntable. The streaming absolutely wins hands down.

Extremely gud information about CD players kudos to u from India 🇮🇳

Thanks, that’s good to hear.

the brand offers upgrades to it´s 90´s cd players for free

​@@RUfromthe40srega has zero support for the planet 2000 at least in the us. Laser bad? Your unit worth zip.

@@JohnDoe-np3zk i only heard it in a blog when discussed the late 90´s Rega cd players, i haven´t a Rega, i have Pioneer , Revox, Philips, Teac,Technics, Sony DVD/CD player (the one that as better frequencie response than most of others cd players)also a CEC belt drive,it seems to be very good ,but i felt very bad when paying to change the belts, my father bought a better one and gave me this when he was still 89 years old, once i saw in what hi-fi ,the magazine "the most analog cd player of the world "and i think i read words like"... the best in the whole world..." but if my father bought a better one it seems it isn´t, but he passed away last year so i didn´t had time to open all boxes of hi-fi components that belonged to him so i only refer to the ones i have now at home, the philips also won a prize in the 90´s but with a box saying Marantz Dual DAC ,etc.,etc.,

Thanks Laz! Great to hear your Sony is back in action.

Still have a CDP-101 Still (kinda) works. Sounds like shit compared to my CDP-X-303ES though.

Thanks for your comment. Agreed. However, I believe it was the Philips team that determined the capacity of the CD itself. This was back in the mid 1970’s.

@@PearlAcoustics this is where I will repectfully disagree. It was sony, as the 9th is something of an obsession with the Japanese. This per my professor.

@@kevinfestner6126 Hi Kevin. I am sure he’s correct. However, Philips invented the CD (including its specifications) before Sony ever heard of it. But it’s not an issue - the important thing is that Beethoven 9 fits on it! 😉 Enjoy the music

Maybe sort of... "The original target storage capacity for a CD was one hour of audio content, and a disc diameter of 115 mm was sufficient. However, according to Philips, Sony vice-president Norio Ohga suggested extending the capacity to 74 minutes to accommodate a complete performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on a single disc , however Kees Immink of Philips denies this. The extra playing time subsequently required the change to a 12 cm disc. According to a Sunday Tribune interview the story is slightly more involved. At that time (1979) Philips owned Polygram, one of the world’s largest distributors of music. Polygram had set up a large experimental CD disc plant in Hanover, Germany, which could produce huge amounts of CDs having, of course, a diameter of 11.5cm. Sony did not yet have such a facility. If Sony had agreed on the 11.5cm disc, Philips would have had a significant competitive edge in the market. Sony was aware of that, did not like it, and something had to be done. The long-playing time of Beethoven's Ninth imposed by Ohga was used to push Philips to accept 12cm, so that Philips’ Polygram lost its edge on disc fabrication." So maybe just an excuse on Sony's part if the above is true

@@petercook7502 James Russel, who taught one of my grad school courses stated that when Sony was designing the Walkman, one VP came in with a block of wood, and said, this is the size it will be, no larger, no smaller. When Russel worked with Sony on the error correction of the cd, the parameter was, it must fit Beethoven's 9th. Russel stated this is how sony designed, based on one goal parameter. Probably why the L cassette failed. Sony had some major flops, as well, like Beta vs VHS. Lon Neuman, an engineer for Sony who was responsible for some of the early use of Sony digital equipment in the entertainment business, esp at Warner Bros, confirms the cd we have today was from Sony's development and not Phillips. In fact Sony built for Warners in Burbank a complete sound studio. In it's day, it was the state if the art. I was in it many times, and it was wowing. I did note that one of the mix down speakers were not JBL, but locally made RSL 3800s. I was in a Sony built cd disc mastering studio in Pasadena used for demonstration purposes. Sony wanted to be the go to standard. They used a digital beta machine as part of the process. I took humor in that. In the early days of digital, Sony was very aggressive in getting its foot in the door in the entertainment industry. It had it's own office of engineers in an office building in Burbank, at the time, in the same area where Warners, Universal, Disney, NBC, ABC, and the famous Burbank Studios are. Sony, no baloney 😂 . When I think back to those days, L.A. was a dynamo. Now look at it. This is why I'm in Las Vegas, where we're trying to build an entertainment biz here, and we've made some progress.

Thank you so much!

Thank you. So glad you enjoyed it

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!

Get a grip don

If you bit technological it would be best chanell

Thanks 👍

Thanks

My pleasure, thanks for your very kind message

Thanks

@rogervd666gamer. Greetings from the U.K. I still have my Philips CD650 which I bought new in 1986. As a vintage Philips audio lover, you will know all of the technical innovations and features of this CD player. Last year, I took the player out of storage and sent it to a specialist in Israel who completely overhauled and updated the machine ( including the addition of a FEMTO clock system). It sounds absolutely fantastic and I measure the sound performance of all other CD players against my Philips CD650. Is there a comparable Marantz CD player from that time? You and yours stay safe and well.

@@markmiwurdz202 Oh, that's also a nice vintage Philips CD Player. At the moment I use the Philips fa890 amplifier, cd850 cd player and the fb821 speakers. I like that u use this old Philips CD Player, the most people throw them away. If you give the player sometimes some love it will play almost forever, the old Philips magnetic swing arm drives are not fancy but they last many many years.

@@artisans8521 oh, that's a shame. Do you already know what's wrong with it. Most of the time it's a bad elco or cold solder joints. This can be fixed for almost nothing.

Thanks!

Thanks for your lovely comment. It is much appreciated

Glad you enjoyed it Murray!

Thanks Jürgen

Thanks you’re most welcome

Thank you so much!! You will find that I have basically two play lists ‘Great Recordings’ where I talk about famous recordings or pieces of music, and also HiFi Equipment and general topics…. Enjoy!

Thanks!

Also from Halifax!

Thanks Frank. I must say that this one took a lot of effort! 😉

@@johnny1980ns Nice, perhaps we should connect some way to chat about music and gear!

Thanks Mark

Thanks!

Thanks

You’re very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it

Thank you Eric

Thanks Chua!

That turned out to be a good investment…

I was relieved to see the D-5/D-50 in the list. That had to blow some minds in 1984. The D-J50 and D-88 also show how absolutely mad those lads were. I know they might not be the pinnacle of high fidelity, but they are marvels of engineering nonetheless.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Try to find a ECC188 from Siemens ( nos )...............and if you're lucky a.........CCA.....

You’re very welcome!

Thanks for sharing!

🙏 for your comment

The SL-P7 was my first CD player. It was a price breakthrough, being $499.99 in 1984. I didn't see any CD changers in here. My old Sony claimed a 45-bit (!?) D/A converter. Still sounds terrific.

Thanks!

Thanks Rizer. SACD now that’s a topic indeed…

Were there 20 models to choose from? ;-D I kid, of course.

Thank you very much for your interesting comment and contribution to the topic.

Thank you. You’re very kind

Thanks! Very kind. Indeed the Naim is a worthy contender

Infact I have from 2006 a Naim CD5 X but the pick up and It begin to jump but the pick up Is finished in Italy so I 'll have to buy another one but not Naim any more.

@@PearlAcoustics yet not mentioned. lol

@@auggysimcity 😀

@@marcostefanoboietti6013 The Naim 💿 has served you well though for 17 years !!!

Thanks Rick.

Thanks for your appreciation and also for the very interesting comment!

I also purchased a Philips model around 1987. The big attraction for me was the remote control and variable outs that I used to go directly to a Kenwood power amp. Heaven!

Yep! $100 at Adray's for the Magnavox badged version, built by Phillips in the Netherlands. About 20+ lbs, all metal. Still have two of them!

Thanks Miguel

Thank you. Very much appreciated

Thanks Jimmy!

Thanks David. Sadly I did not know Oppo, there were so many good brands that never got the international reputation they deserved

I completely agree. It is a crying shame an Oppo product isn't in the review. I have had four models total and each one got better than the last. The review is almost not worth watching without an Oppo in the mix.

Oppo has nothing in common with this kind of cd players, it's a Chinese company founded in 2004 that only made DVD and Blu-ray universal players, they are not related to the audio world of the 80's and 90's.

@@francoisdallaire127 Ah, so there is a cut off for review based on country of origin? Do I sense a bit of snobbery? And are you saying CD players prior to 2004 weren't reviewed? BTW, the OPPOs played SACD, DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray. The review goes into the 2020s. The last Oppo, the BDP-205, may very well have run circles around those reviewed. It now sells for 2-2.5x it's last list price. For Chinese junk no less..............

Thanks Petra. Lovely contribution

Thank you. So pleased

That was my thought right away . The Linn CD12 is by a large margin the best sounding CD player I have ever heard.

Nothing comes close to a Linn cd 12 , still the best of all time

My "clamshell" Planet has also seen 27 yrs of service without a hitch

@@kenlyon8285 mine is semi retired, but can play some disc my current one can’t

@@gil3green mine has a few weak LED segments but functions perfectly in my workshop system and still bops merrily along with that signature Rega rhythmic sound. I think it holds up pretty well musically, if not in refinement

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Willy. Very kind and nice addition to the topic. (We are almost neighbours then)!

😀👍

Good point Peter

@@PearlAcoustics stick to making speakers please.

Indeed. They were not in mine either! 😉

My Nakamichi CDP2A is still my pride and joy :)

I think their cassette decks were more popular

@@jeffmountjoy5212 Had one myself. That's the magic of the Philips TDA1541A for you.

Thanks Keith. You’re very kind

Thanks Dan!

Indeed , the very best come (only) close to analog .....

Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.

On the inside the CD-73 was essentially the same the the Philips CD-300. Exactly the same signal processing. Same TDA1540D ceramic DAC’s and identical analogue buffering output stage. CD-73 and CD-300 were both made on the same production lines in Belgium. The MARANTZ Bus Remote system was incorporated in the 73, and of course the styling, and physical structure is different on the MARANTZ. But the core player is identical, with identical components, and identical sonic performance.

Sorry about the lack of CD12, to be honest, I didn’t really know it and it didn’t pop up on my research. I am very curious to hear one now!

Hi Jim, thanks for your very kind comment. An old machine of high quality, with a digital output does wonders. Enjoy

Thanks for your very kind words and interesting addition to the story. From my research I think we can be very sure that Philips determined the size and length of the CD, as there are photos of it taken, before Sony even saw it. It is certainly true that Sony switched to 16bits at the last minute. I think it is also a case of the Sony engineers wanting to have some input in the total design. Philips was also a major record label at this time, with a massive reputation in classical music, whereas Sony Music, as a recording company did not begin until the early 1990’s, when the American division of Sony took over CBS. I guess there must be a definitive work on this topic somewhere?

Also, the fact that the CD reads from the centre out, allows for different sizes of disc.

@@arthurgordon6072 certainly, this is why the 8cm cd-single was possible. But there are some mechanical challenges, when the cd-single in 8cm version was released, many players at that time were not able to play them. The CD-tray did not have an indent and it was a risk that the small CD would miss-align and even could get the complete CD mechanism stuck. This is why they also has the 8 to 12cm adaptor, you can click around 8cm disks..

@@arthurgordon6072 Oh there are ways to work around that. Vinyl being one obvious case study, but consider a Laser Disc player as well. Not only are CDs and LDs significantly different in overall diameter, but their innermost track isn't the same either.

Dit wilde ik ook vertellen, maar ik vermoedde al dat iemand mij voor zou zijn. 🥺

Thank you Robert. You’re very kind. Thanks for your interesting comment

What CD player did you buy Robert please?

Nope not nonsense, however it wasnt all of them it was only the ones with the Red/White Phono connections ont he back.. which not all of them had. But yes they where audiophile grade indeed.

Do you rate the Rotel RCD-965BX? I've Just bought one.

@@james9789 oh yes! The 965BX is a top player! And quite rare these days! You’ve made a good purchase for sure!

@@jacksonsystemslimited great to hear thanks I'm waiting on some interconnects so I'm having to be patient.

@@james9789 if you need it servicing have drop Mend It Mark a message see what his availability is.

Thanks Vincente

Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks for your comment

Indeed, I didn’t mention it and chose the Sony discman portable instead! Indeed, perhaps that was an oversight

Playstations have been the cornerstone of all the great disk format wars

Very interesting comment 🙏

Wadia... IIRC (I dont know much about them) used Pioneers Stable Platter at one point in time.

Hi, I guess because they were not known in the countries I grew up in? I only came across them when doing my research

@@PearlAcoustics I think back in the day anyway Wadia where very specialist!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks Guido

Dear Daniel, the Philips CD880, I feature has the TDA 1541A Dac chip that you mention. I have just checked the photos I took of its interior, and it’s their plain to see. I hope you enjoy part 3!

What differences do you hear between the two?

Thanks for your input

Thanks!

That’s good to know that servicing is still possible

Thanks David

🙏

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! All honorary mentions very welcome!

Thanks very much for your appreciation and kind comment. I don’t think that I left the Accuphase out as such, it’s just that I ran out of machines… I had to stop at 20! Indeed a really great piece of engineering. Enjoy.

Hi Scott many thanks for the story. Very interesting indeed.

Thanks

Glad you enjoyed it. I remember mini cds well. Never owned a player though

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing

Thanks!

Hi Frank, thanks for sharing your back story and for your very kind appreciation. Best wishes from Belgium

Thanks for you kind appreciation and also to adding to the discussion. I didn’t know about the Cambridge (it didn’t come up in my research). I will check it out!

@@PearlAcoustics You can't know everything! His next two machines (CD2 and CD3) both used 4 TDA1541 DACs.

@@abbersj2935 thanks!

I bet it did! 😉