CD Player Under $1K - New or Used???

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Submitted By: Anonymous

Posted: March 10, 2006 - 11:40pm

I'm in the market to upgrade my CD player and am considering the Rega Planet 2000, which I've seen used going for around $700. However, I learned today about the Underwoodhifi-modded Music Hall cd 25.2 and have to say I am very intrigued. The reviews for both machines are very good, but it sounds like the MH machine is built, especially with the mods. Would I be better served with the newer machine, or is the Planet 2000 good enough to hold up against the competition for a few more years?? Also, any recommendations for cables with either of these machines is appreciated.

Thanks for any comments!!

Tedrick

Submitted By: ohfourohnine

senior member

Location: Illinois

Joined: Sep 1 2005

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Re: CD Player Under $1K - New or Used???

Posted: March 10, 2006 - 11:58pm

The Marantz SA8260 which John Marks liked so well in April of 2004 is still around at right on $1000 from various sources and it'll handle SACD's very well too, if that is a concern.

Submitted By: Jeff Wong

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Joined: Sep 6 2005

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Re: CD Player Under $1K - New or Used???

Posted: March 11, 2006 - 10:55am

Ideally, you'd be able to audition both units and let your ears decide. I haven't heard either unit. That said, from purely a spec POV, I'd lean towards the rebadged Shanling (the modded Music Hall 25.2) for a few reasons. I have experience with similar upgrades to the machine in a variety of my own components. The unit upsamples, which means it's going to breathe new life into your entire CD library. I have two DACs that upsample, and I enjoy them immensely. The Rega has 24 bit DACs, but, in the few reviews I glanced at, nothing was mentioned about what those DACs did. The upgrades listed for the Music Hall unit make a lot of sense. Black Gate & polystyrene capacitors, Riken resistors, Hexfred ultra-fast soft recovery diodes, and better RCA female jacks. Any time I've had Black Gates or polystyrene caps installed in my DACs, there has been an improvement in the sound. Bear in mind polystyrene caps can take upwards of 200 hours of burning in before giving you optimum sound. I also like when ultra-fast soft recovery diodes have been put into my power supplies (I seem to recall it lowers switching noise - in any case, it sounds good.)

I'd go for the optional upgrade to Burr Brown OPA 627 opamps to replace the stock Burr Brown 2604 opamps. 627s sound soooo much nicer than 2604s. I haven't heard the LC Audio clock and its dedicated power supply. I suspect an upgraded clock might be a nice improvement.