Best CD player for unsung romantic music - advice needed

[John_Boyer]

OK, I'm pushing it.  I don't want to start a lot of audiophile posts, but I do have a problem someone might be able to help with. 

I have a 25+ year old Sony CD player that is on its last legs.  The only reason I have kept her in service this long is because it is the ONLY player I know of that will play consecutively programmed tracks without interruption.  I usually program what I listen to.  I don't like to jump up to shut off the player after the last chord has died away so as to avoid having the moment ruined by the unwanted next track starting. 

The problem is, in compositions where the movements are played without pause (e.g., the transition from the first to the second movements in the Mendelssohn piano concertos or the Dvorak violin concerto), most players will come to a full stop, search for next track, then resume playing, resulting in a jarring interruption.  My old Sony is the only player (including other Sonys) that realizes there is no need to stop if the tracks are consecutive, resulting in a seamless transition.

Stereo people I have spoken to, having no idea what classical music is, also have no idea what I am talking about.  Plus, the only stereo stores left specialize only in high-end equipment, running in the thousands for each component.  So, lads: do any of you know of a player that will fulfill this need?

[Alan Howe]

Please tell us where you are, John. It's no use members from elsewhere in the world making recommendations about equipment whose specifications may well differ in their markets.

[Alan Howe]

So: US-only contributors, please! Can anyone help John?

[adriano]

Very strange! I have never encountered in my life a CD player featuring those oddities. I am buying CD audio equipment since it first come up in the 1980s. It just continues playing without resuming and searcing the next track - except if you program a non-chronological sequence perhaps (then it has to search, of course). Otherwise the intervals in-between are corresponding to the ones of the master. I can hardly believe that those who invented these machines would have conceived them in this manner; in other words, that Sony must be a very special (defective) case.
Sony and Denon are generally the best recommendable players for a normal budget. But today you can even use a BluRay machine to play, besides DVDs and BluRay discs, audio CDs. Just look for one which has a good display for browsing. "Just CD" players will perhaps disappear soon from the market, except, of course, more expensive "vintage" hi-tech players or studio equipment.
Besides a Denon CD player, a Sony and a Philips BluRay player, I have an expensive Sony CDP-D500 studio machine, which is still used in TV and film studios today and appears to be undistructible. At Ebay, sometimes they are offered at 300 US$, since they are considered as "old". Sony still offers support for this, it's considered a "time icon" - but it is not necessarily compatible with CDR and other "modern" disc formats.
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sony/cdp-d500.shtml$

For more info about the history of CD players, see:
http://www.wiki-zero.com/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvQ29tcGFjdF9EaXNjX1BsYXllcg

And here some excellent "actual" midrange players:
https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/hi-fi/best-cd-players

And this is a "modern" - and professional Denon:
https://www.amazon.com/Denon-Professional-DN-500C-Player-Integrated/dp/B009V2ATN6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1520666386&sr=8-4&keywords=denon+cd+player

Another professional player is the Tascam:
https://www.amazon.com/Tascam-CD200-Professional-CD-Player/dp/B002DOVT7O/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1520666386&sr=8-6&keywords=denon+cd+player

If you have more question, just ask :-)

[MartinH]

You're looking for Gapless Playback. In the original CD Redbook specs it was required when playing consecutive tracks. But as soon as you go to program mode, all bets are off. Now that we're in the post-cd era, manufacturers have dropped a lot of once important things. Like the Index feature - long gone. Playback of HDCD. Or even SACD is getting hard to find. A decent, modestly priced unit is a thing of the past. I was looking to replace my 20 year old Sony EC machine, and you're right - the new audiophile units costs thousands! For under 200, Onkyo still makes a basic player - but without SACD. I realize that I am a dinosaur with my huge cd collection that no one will ever want, but I'm just not ready to go down that download path. I'm going to buy some cd players and store - just enough to get me through (hopefully) 25 more years!

Have you looked into Oppo? They make a universal player and the price is reasonable.

[sdtom]

I have a dependable Marantz 5004 you might check out.

[adriano]

Another positive aspect of having a "universal" player for CD, CDR, SACD, DVD and BluRay (connected to a good amplifyer) is that you can play the recent High Quality Pure Audio BluRay CDs (which seem to to sell well enough, so they are often enclosed as a bonus to "normal" CD re-issues - or to some LP re-issues like Collin's Sibelius. There are some excellent re-masterings by Decca and DGG, as, for example Karajan's 1960 Beethoven Symphonies, Maazel's VPO Sibelius Symphonies and Ashkenazy-Previn's Rachamaninov Concertos - all needing but one sole disc. You even can have Solti's complete "Ring" on ONE disc!
Decca/RCA have also re-issued Karajan's "Bohème", "Tosca" and "Butterfly" as HQPA, but there is a drawback. The discs are inserted to the inner cover of a thick and too tight booklet (à la Editions Singulières), which causes disc scratchings even before you take them out for the first time. While they are inserted at the plant, the packing machines mostly cannot cope with this "envelope" system. And it is very difficult to take them out from that narrow slipcase. I renounced buying these operas since I got scratched discs on all of them even after having returned them to be replaced after 2-3 times. I even wrote an angry letter to the Decca Magagement, asking why, on one side, they take care of producing such perfect discs and, on the other, using absolutely dangerous and primitive packaging - but, of course, nobody bothered to answer. The earlier mentioned "symphonic" issues are, fortunately, packed up less dangerously. In any case, Karajan's Beethoven is now heard as it was really recorded on the original master tapes. The first LP issues were all filtered down because of high frequency groove problems, and that's why at that time the BPO sounded so "velvety". The HQ re-mastering let us hear a more present/realistic an clear sound!
And, what Editions Singulières are concerned: before I could get unscratched CDs of Saint-Saens' "Les Barbares", I had to return them 3 times, so I decided not to buy anymore CDs packed up like this. Fortunately once can record the performances from broadcasts, and I do not always need such profuse liner notes! And the "baroque" book format of Editions Singulières is absolutely unapt for collectors and libraries with unform/universal CD shelves. Opera Rara are using a traditional box packaging, with a thick CD dimensioned inside booklet, and that is great!

[raffite33]

I generally listen to discs from start to finish, so I couldn't say about the programming issues one way or the other, but I'd second (or third) the suggestion that you check out the Oppo.  I've been extremely happy with the Oppo BDP-93 I bought 6 years ago.  When the time comes to replace it, I'll be getting the Oppo UDP-203 to replace it.  At $550, you're unlikely to get anything nearly as versatile.  If you have any of those wonderful BIS or Chandos hybrid SACDs, you might as well hear them in a higher resolution.  Plus, you'll have a great DVD/Blu-ray player in it as well.  My only minor gripe is that the new one doesn't appear to have HDCD decoding (useful for HDCD encoded CDs from Linn, Reference Recordings & some others).

One thing to keep in mind:  if you opt for a universal player or a CD/SACD player, you're probably going to want a receiver (or amp) new enough that it can handle HDMI or Optical patch cords.

[sdtom]

What did you decide on John?

[Alan Howe]

If you have decided, that is...

[Sandflyer]

In my usual fashion of my first posts in various forums, I respond to a topic more or less unrelated to the main theme of the forum... 

Also, the suggestion is a bit off-the-wall, but here goes:
Would you perhaps consider getting a streamer - i.e. a device capable of playing music files. This would require ripping your CDs to FLAC (or mp3) files, connecting a hard drive or pen drive to the device and playing them that way, so there's a bit of work involved initially. Most devices these days allow gapless playback, programming etc. In addition, streamers let you listen to online streams.
The queue length is unlimited, so you can program the complete Beethoven quartets to play in sequence from start to end.
Streamers can be run through a cell phone app as well.

Examples:
Pioneer N50
https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/2-Channel+Components/N-50

Onkyo
http://www.eu.onkyo.com/en/products/ns-6130-132943.html?tab=Details

[MartinH]

Here's something I hadn't thought of:

A friend of mine who also collects cds like a madman was looking for a quality CD player but couldn't find anything local that was reasonably priced for him. Tried a DVD player but the sound quality was poor, even for those 70 year old ears. So...went down to a car audio shop and bought a Sony stereo with cd/tuner/usb ability for $80. Even has a remote. Then to an electronics supplier and bought a power converter to take the 120 vac from the mains down to 12 vdc for the unit. It has a connector with audio output that went straight into the Yamaha receiver. It sounds great! Took a bit of wiring, and his wife is demanding that it be organized in a case or something, but what an idea! I don't think there are any car stereos that play Blue Ray or SACD.

[sdtom]

bit of a reach but oh well.

[chill319]

The CD player I use is an SACD DVD player made by Oppo. (Their blu-ray player may be even better.)

Perhaps not what you'd read about in audio forums, but if you read the reviews for Oppo, I think you will see why I'm so happy with the machine and why I suspect others would be, too. Huge bang for the buck.

[Alan Howe]

Expensive?