Budget CD Transport for Rega DAC: Yamaha CD S700 vs. Marantz 5004 vs. ???

[hydra]

I belong to the Music PC persuasion, but of late, I've been thinking of picking up a entry-level-priced CD transport for use with my Rega DAC.

There are times that I want to be able to play music without switching on my TV (that acts as the monitor for the Music PC) or boot the Music PC up. I tend to play an LP on such occasions, but I don't own that many LPs, and I'd like to have a wider range of music that I can listen to, which I have on CDs.

I was looking for a CD player in the under 20K range (less costlier the better) that I could use as a CD transport only. I will hook it up via coaxial digital to my Rega DAC.

I think I'll need to choose between a Yamaha CD S700, a Marantz 5004, based on my basic research. I did see that Emotiva has a CD Player (ERC2) that's close by in terms of budget, but it is not available locally. I already feel guilty about getting a CD player when I have a perfectly good Music PC, so I don't want to add shipping and customs hassle to the mix.

Are there any other CDPs that I should be looking at (from a transport perspective) in this range?

Which of the two (Marantz 5004 or the Yamaha CS S700) would be a better choice for transport use? I'm tending towards the Yamaha myself, after reading a few online reviews because everybody has only good things to say about it's silent mechanism and solid build.

Thanks in advance, Folks

 

[iaudio]

hydra, what is this i see?

 

[Kittu]

There is a preowned nad for sale. 10k.

Bass 'n' Treble

 

[hydra]

@iaudio Oh, the travails of a confused and troubled mind!

@kittu Thanks! I would have thought of it if it was in my city. Also I'm not so open to a used CDP of this vintage, considering there are a lot of moving parts.

I've decided to take a step back and consider this purchase for a bit. I've scratched the upgrade itch by ordering a 3TB WD Green HDD and a 60GB OCZ Agility III SSD for the Music PC.

I'll think on the CD Transport option for another few months, and if I still feel like getting one, and if the Rega Apollo-R is back in stock by then, I'll probably go for one.

 

[ranjeetrain]

hydra, I am offering you an unconventional solution. May be you like it, may be you don't. It's just my 2 cents.

Go for a media player. There are tons of made in China media players on the market nowadays, available for a four-digit sum. They will offer at least as good sound as a low end CDP. Take my words for it.

 

[hydra]

@ranjeetrain, thanks for the suggestion.

The thing is, I want to not have to turn the TV (or a monitor) on, boot up the Music PC, open up JRMC and look for the music I want to listen to. A media player will necessitate that (turning the TV on, and scrolling through a list to choose what I want to play). I want to be able to just spin a CD. There are times I just want to pick up a particular CD, play it, lie back and close my eyes. I don't want to compromise too much on this experience either, heh, heh.

My miserly bent is not really able to let me justify buying a decent CDP when I have a perfectly good Music PC. Perhaps for good reason too. I'm going to let the thought stew in my mind for a bit before decide either way.

 

[Hassan Khani]

Have you considered controlling your music PC with Android / IOS? I use my music PC (running MPD, Music Player Daemon) headless controlled by client running on my Android phone / Ipad or Ipod.

I also have OPPO BDP 95 which also can be controlled by Android app and hence can be used without turning on TV. I use Oppo as DLNA client as well as local USB, MP3 disk for music listening without turning on TV. It works fine.

Hassan.

 

[iaudio]

Hydra, why dont you try out on of those pioneer DVD players with your DAC? Like the DVD 610 model from a few years back which is supposed to be a good transport.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[gobble]

@ranjeetrain, thanks for the suggestion.

The thing is, I want to not have to turn the TV (or a monitor) on, boot up the Music PC, open up JRMC and look for the music I want to listen to. A media player will necessitate that (turning the TV on, and scrolling through a list to choose what I want to play). I want to be able to just spin a CD. There are times I just want to pick up a particular CD, play it, lie back and close my eyes. I don't want to compromise too much on this experience either, heh, heh.

My miserly bent is not really able to let me justify buying a decent CDP when I have a perfectly good Music PC. Perhaps for good reason too. I'm going to let the thought stew in my mind for a bit before decide either way.

At last you realized .... hyeah: !!
Try the Yamaha CDS series - I beleive they are going at 50% of MRP in many places.

--G0bble

 

[Shivam]

I am a big fan of Pioneer BDP 140. It plays SACD also and works as a good transport.

 

[hydra]

@Hassan Khani: I'm a bit minimalist when it comes to the Music PC. I haven't even installed the ethernet drivers. I prefer to have minimum stuff running on it, and so adding a wireless dongle and putting the PC in a wireless network (or connecting it to the internet) would make me uncomfortable. Not to mention that I don't have antivirus installed on the PC which itself would not let me connect the PC to anything.

I'm installing an SSD in the Music PC so the boot-up time should be far better with that. Maybe that will fix things. I'll also try using a spare 19" monitor from my office with the Music PC for a couple of days and see if that makes things easier for me.

@iaudio & @Sivam, I read up on those players and they do seem to be pretty good. I won't really need the BR or DVD capability, but I guess they should work well as a transport. I'll see if I can get one from Amazon -- buying from India seems foolish, considering that it is almost double the price here.

@gobble, heh heh yes. The convenience of simply slotting in a CD and listening can't be beat, I guess. The Yamaha CD S700 is on the top of my list, actually. The local dealer does not have any offers running (and pleads ignorance of any such offers anywhere else). I'll check with the Mumbai people. I have a friend coming from Mumbai to my city by this month end, so maybe he can bring one over for me if the offer is open there.

The only reason I was considering the Rega Apollo-R is that it does not need a loading mechanism (as it is a top-loader). The only moving part in the player would be the spinning mechanism. And of course, I do have a fascination for things Rega... But it is more than double what a CD S700 would come to, at street prices, so I've crossed the Rega out for now. If I do decide to buy a CDP for transport duty, I think I will get a Yamaha CD S700.

 

[reignofchaos]

Avoiding a tray in a CD player is the best possible thing since every single CD player with a tray develops issues sooner or later. I have a thing for top loaders - they look nicer, work better and probably sound better too. Only real issue is to make sure that dust is kept out of the transport.

 

[gobble]

Whats your budget HYdra. I saw a CDS-2000 lying unsold on a loft in a musical instrument shop here in Bangalore. He was forced to buy it to keep his relationship as a Yamaha keyboard dealer. He might sell it at 50% who knows?

Good point about the top loading transport. Although front loading washing machines are considered better ...
My next transport will be top loading too.
--G0bble

 

[reignofchaos]

Wow! Who is this dealer? :lol: :lol:

 

[ranjeetrain]

I'm a bit minimalist when it comes to the Music PC. I haven't even installed the ethernet drivers. I prefer to have minimum stuff running on it, and so adding a wireless dongle and putting the PC in a wireless network (or connecting it to the internet) would make me uncomfortable. Not to mention that I don't have antivirus installed on the PC which itself would not let me connect the PC to anything.

I'm installing an SSD in the Music PC so the boot-up time should be far better with that. Maybe that will fix things. I'll also try using a spare 19" monitor from my office with the Music PC for a couple of days and see if that makes things easier for me.

Now you are talking. Very sensible approach! This is what I did a few years ago. I bought a media player (some 170 USD at that time), a pre-owned 15 inch LCD. Connected the LCD to the media player permanently. Inserted a 500GB hard disk (its way more than enough if you only store MP3s into it) into the media player and behold. I never had to take pains to play my favorite music ever again. Choose tracks you wish to play with a flick on remote. No messing with disk ever again. No RF, no EMI, no BS. Just plain vanilla clean music from an investment of 200 USD on source. Comfort unlimited!

 

[hydra]

@gobble, my budget is under 20K. I don't think the CD S2000 will come within that even with the best discount. But thanks for offering to check with the dealer, though!

@shivam, thanks for recommending the Pio BDP 140. After quite a bit of looking around the web, I'm now thinking of picking up a Pio BDP 450.

A trusted dealer (grey) has the BDP 450 in stock here for 11K. For that much, I'm very tempted to pick it up. Even if I don't use it a lot as a CD transport, it seems to be a very very competent Blu Ray and DVD player, with excellent upscaling capabilities. I do have about 800-odd DVDs with me from the time I used to buy them, so this player should give me good service there. This seems to be one buy where the multi-capability seems to "help" me with my decision, rather than keeping me off it.

 

[Kittu]

Pioneer BDP 450 at 11k is a killer deal. The only shortcoming would be no analog outs. But you have coaxial out. No built in Wifi , I think it is ok for that price.

Do check out the Panasonic DMP-BDT500, if your dealer can source it.

 

[reignofchaos]

Sounds like a killer deal for 11 grand - plays SACD/DVD Audio, has twin HDMI outs, no cinavia and has a very good marvell qdeo image processor. Barring analog outs, this is as good or better than the oppo at a much lower price.

 

[square_wave]

I have heard that the old oppo players are very good transports.

 

[hydra]

@kittu, the lack of analogue outs is not a problem for me, as I don't plan on using analogue outs anyway. I'll only be using the digital coaxial out to feed the Rega DAC. And I kinda appreciate that the unnecessary (to me) connection is not there at all. Lack of WiFi is currently not a problem, but could be later. Since there's an RJ45 port it is okay. I do have a CAT6 cable snaking out just behind my rack.

The Panasonic DMP BDT 500 looks to be a great machine. I didn't see it with the dealer today. But thanks for the suggestion!