The NAD C 516BEE is a very good CD player for $299 or the Marantz CD5005 for $399 is maybe a hair better. Either will be on par or close to on par with that Oppo for 2 channel audio. You probably can find a Marantz CD5004 on clearance in a few places like Amazon and get if to $299.

Regarding just looking for a Wolfson chip, I would say that is not good advice. The implementation of the chip and the overall architecture are far more important than the chip itself. Marantz uses a Cirrus Logic chips. Others use Burr Brown and they sound great. A good chip implemented poorly will sound poor.

One other thought since this is for your elderly mother. Have you considered an all in one like the Marantz M-CR610 for $699. The feature set is great and with only one unit, it might be easier for her to use.

I have the M-CR510 in my bedroom. It is a very similar but lacks the CD player. It sounds way better than you would think. Quality of sound is exceptional and I have seen people in the WhatHIFI forum compare it to a PM6004 for detail. Marantz has taken a liberal approach rating it at 60w but if you are driving vaguely efficient bookshelf speakers, say 86-87dB or higher, at normal volume levels, it is more than enough power. I am assuming your elderly mom is not turning it up to 11. Might be worth a look.

hcsunshine wrote:

hi y'all, I'm putting together a small bookshelf system for my elderly mother. this system will consist of three things: a CD player, an integrated amp and a pair of bookshelf speakers. I'm wondering about the sound quality of the 2 channel stereo output of the OPPO BDP-103. could I find a better "CD player" for $500 or less, or should I buy this one? edit: someone on another forum just told me that if this player is just for 2 channel listening I could find a decent CD player for about $200. he said look for one with a wolfson DAC (onkyo, Yamaha, pioneer, Marantz) is this good advice?

The BDP-103 will play DVD, SACD, and BLURAY as well as CD. It also has a great DAC and can essentially be used as a system preamp. It is a very good-sounding CD/SACD player.

For many people, it is hard to beat.

BUT...if all you want is a CD only player, the Marantz CD5004 is hard to beat, as you can get it for only $349 and it is very good-sounding (Stereophile did a recent article on it). It has just been discontinued by Marantz, but Music Direct still has some for $299.

ANSWER NO