If you’re of a certain age or younger, it’s likely that you’ve never held a CD (Compact Disc, to the youngsters) in your hands, and probably even more likely that you don't have a CD player in your home.
Does that mean that the CD format is dead? After all, the buzz is much more about the resurgence of vinyl and the latest high-resolution online music streaming services. Should we just forget audio CDs?
Not on your life. LP’s have made a huge comeback and in 2021 finally regained the lead on sales against the Compact Disc for the first time in 30 years. This doesn’t change the fact that music fans continue to buy CDs to the tune of nearly 50 million units per year (46.6 million, to be exact). If you were a music-buying consumer when CDs were introduced, you recall well the tremendous impact that new format had. The convenience and ease of handling was a huge timesaver. Stereo equipment manufacturers rushed their designs for CD players to the marketplace. You could buy CD players for a song in the grocery store. Everyone had a multi-CD player in their car. CDs were everywhere.
Yet there was definitely a tradeoff in audio quality from LPs to CDs. The lack of warmth and the brittleness of the sound was obvious if you compared the same album in the two formats. Convenience carried the day, but sound quality took a hit. The rub was that over time the LP would degrade in quality if not handled properly, and the cassette? Well, the cassette was still the cassette, degrading in quality with every single play. The CD could and will conceivably last forever.
Did the establishment of the so-called CD-quality digital audio specification of 16 bits and 44.1 kilohertz have something to do with the reduction in quality? Audiophiles would say yes, and they have a point.
But the bigger culprits in the besmirching of the CD’s reputation were those you couldn’t see: Low quality digital audio converters (DACs) with underpowered chipsets, mass-produced connectors in the signal path, and chassis made from cheap materials. And quite possibly a flaw in the physical manufacturing process of CDs themselves. All these poorly made components added an imprecision into the CD player laser’s ability to read data accurately and an inability to restore the audio to its full purity. In short, this confluence of less than desirable conditions introduced jitter and noise into the audio signal, which our ears interpret as brittleness, coldness, and lack of depth.
This is fantastic news for you as a CD collector. Why? While the recording and encoding process of digital audio for the CD format has largely remained unchanged for the past 40 years, the R&D into the components for CD players themselves has resulted in vastly improved audio quality, thanks to build quality that helps to minimize vibration and noise. Just as the technology for home theater has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years, so has the quality and power of the DACs, direct digital audio output, signal path connectors, power supplies, and chassis that you’ll find in the CD players in this guide.
Among the CD players below you will find a wide variety of formats:
- Some that are chassis only, requiring a separate amplifier
- Top-loading, so you don’t have to bend over to put a CD in its tray
- Front-loading, so you can stack other gear on top of the CD player
- Portable players
- CD Players with USB inputs for hi(er)-res audio
- CD Players that also act as CD rippers to store your music on a hard drive to be accessible by other equipment in your home
One thing that these CD players all share: An ability to render the audio in your CD collection at the level of quality the producers of the original recording intended. We stand behind every one of these fantastic devices, and we can help you find the perfect player that will integrate into your existing system or will become the core of a whole new home stereo system.
How We Chose These CD Players
The CD Player was invented and released to the public in 1979.
World Wide Stereo was invented and released into the public in 1979 (that's us).
Trust us. We’ve got 40+ years of experience with these things and we’re here to point you in the right direction
We have hand-picked a selection of the best CD Players that our industry has to offer and then narrowed it down even more to the very best pieces of equipment you can get your hands on. These range from entry-level rock-solid players to the cream of the crop best player you can drop by our showroom, pick it up, plug it in, and rock and roll to into the wee hours of the morning (or until the neighbors invite themselves over or call the police… whichever comes first.)
First off, we made sure that the performance was up to snuff. We thought about you. Are you exclusively looking for a high-quality CD player and nothing more? We’ve got something for you. Are you looking to rip your existing CDs and store them on a hard drive for use with a streaming system? We've got that covered. Are you looking to pop in a USB stick and play some hi-res audio? We can make that happen. Once we considered your needs, we made it even more personal!
We took your Media Room into account, and what would look best installed next to your amplifier and speakers. We consulted the head of the house to make sure we had your design and decorating palette on our minds. When we thought we were finished is when we started thinking about the bells and whistles, the icing on the cake, the mustard on the hot dog, the feather in the cap, etc. What I’m getting at here is that we thought about everything from the rubber on the bottom of the feet of the CD player, the screen printing on the back of the device showing you the “ins and outs” all the way down to the chassis screws holding the beast together. All of it.
Comments (11)
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I’m just surfing as a neophyte. Have lots of CDs but no amplifier. Just want a basic player with speakers for me to hear my music. Suggestions?
As far as I’m concerned. All new cd players in the USA are crap. I’ve many marantz Onkyo. Ayer. Sony . I’ve had problem with the disc transport. Rattling sounds . Won’t play cd-rs. Skipping at minor scratches. . Braking CDs in the player that’s a scary thing. The only sturdy player ive own is my china made tascams recorder. It is 25 years old n still playing quite n smooth. But it doesn’t sound as nice as some of the player I’ve own. Right now I have the Rotel 1572 mk 2. Sound is amazing. But the transport makes whirling noice. It also makes a soft clicking sounds. The tray is very flimsy. But it sounds is better than any CD player I’ve own. Vey upsetting. Love n hate sucks. I’ve been told that Jay audio of China makes a transport from Phillip that built like a tank. But cost $2100 . I don’t want to buy from China. Also only 1 year warranty. Not long enough. At least 2 years. Makes u want to take a chance on n olad cd players from Phillip. N use it as a transport for a good dac. Hope that helps.
Sonically, the Cambridge Audio CXC is superb; mechanically, it can be a nightmare. The superb sonics are tempered by the troublesome mechanics with shuttering sounds from the drive mechanism; drop-outs, a drawer which does not either always open or close. I am on my second CXC as the first was returned. Now, this second CXC is acting up and I will be faced with either replacing it with another one or buy another manufacturer’s player. There is valid excuse for a CD Transport not to last even three years without the obvious "Built-in Obsolesce. My 23 year old Sony CDP-AX20 still works which I bought in 1998.
Sonically, the Cambridge Audio CXC is superb; mechanically, it can be a nightmare. The superb sonics are tempered by the troublesome mechanics with shuttering sounds from the drive mechanism; drop-outs, a drawer which does not either always open or close. I am on my second CXC as the first was returned. Now, this second CXC is acting up and I will be faced with either replacing it with another one or buy another manufacturer’s player. There is valid excuse for a CD Transport not to last even three years without the obvious "Built-in Obsolesce. My 23 year old Sony CDP-AX20 still works which I bought in 1998.
Hey Dot – Thanks for your inquiry. Single-play CD players require a connection to a stereo receiver or amplifier with connected speakers. The Yamaha CD-S303 and Marantz CS6007 are both simple to use, reliable and reproduce excellent sound.