How to Buy a High-Fidelity CD Player

When searching for a high-fidelity CD player, make sure to consider the speakers or other output device, as well as the cables you'll use to attach the CD player to the receiver. You don't want to spend money on a good CD player and not be able to hear its true fidelity.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• High-fidelity CD Players

1. Decide whether to buy an integrated (single box) CD player or a separate transport and D/A (digital-to-analog) converter.

2. Decide how long you are likely to keep the products and budget accordingly.

3. Budget between $70 and $800 for cables; expect to spend at least $200 on cables to get value out of your investment in a good CD player.

4. Check the recommended components lists in the most recent April or October issue of Stereophile for prices and suggestions of models worthy of auditioning. Read reviews in audiophile magazines and at Audio Review's site to narrow your list.

5. Decide which features you consider essential: headphone jack, remote control (and what capabilities it must have), track searching and programming, digital outputs of various types, display muting, etc.

6. Take some of your favorite CDs to stores you visit. Choose pieces that will challenge the bass and treble, imaging and sound-staging and dynamic range capabilities of the equipment. Bring recordings of music you've heard performed live, if possible.

7. If a CD player sounds good to you in the store, arrange to listen to it at home through your own system. Ask the dealer to provide appropriate cables if you don't already have something appropriate to try.

8. Compare at least two or three models in a short period of time before making your buying decision.

9. Base your final decision on sound quality in your current system, price, dealer service before and after the sale, upgradability and your expectation of how long you will keep the CD player.

Tips & Warnings

• An integrated CD player may have better sound quality due to reduced jitter. It also costs less and requires less cabling and less rack and room space.
• An outboard converter provides more upgradability.
• If possible, avoid the risks of buying something as delicate as a CD player through the mail.
• Trust your ears. Don't let a reviewer or salesperson talk you into or out of a particular product.
• From an obsolescence standpoint, CD players are like computers. Even if the technology is not superseded soon, the sound quality of hardware will continue to improve. Unlike computers, however, prices of high-fidelity CD players will not drop because manufacturers are unlikely to cut build quality or parts quality.