Disc Players

An entry-level amp and CD player combo that promises better-than-ever performance at a bargain price

The turntable manufacturer turns its hand to CD

Building on its predecessor, this next-generation CD player/DAC/preamp is as versatile as it gets

Now that the CD format appears to be in the twilight of its life Rega has produced one of the most entertaining and enjoyable players I have ever encountered. It’s ironic really that when vinyl was being written off in the eighties folk in the audio business carried on improving and refining turntables and now they are significantly better than they were in the format’s heyday. It looks like something similar is starting to take place with CD. Disc sales are being trampled under the weight of downloads, yet in the last year I encountered the best CD transport ever created in the MSB Data CD IV and now Rega has delivered all the best bits of its phenomenal Isis player in a machine that’ll set you back £1,600.

Flashy products come and go, sensations soar up the sales charts and then fizzle away and a procession of award winners fill dealers’ shelves. But amidst all this drama and chaos, there’s one thing about which you can always be sure – Marantz budget separates will always offer quality. Marantz’s entry-level CD playerand amplifier are never going to be stinkers! Nor, to be frank, are they going to be dramatically different from their predecessors, save a tweak here and a feature change there. Residing on the very first rung of the Marantz silver disc-spinning range ladder, the CD6005 doesn’t offer SACD playback functionality.

Ray of light How many features can you cram onto a CD player? Raysonic's latest appears to have all the bases covered, says Jason Kennedy The CD 128S is a brightly lit and styled-up player and just a glance at the back panel reveals that it has balanced and single-ended outputs, as well as digital in and outputs of all the key varieties. More importantly, it’s a fully balanced machine with a Class A output stage driven by no fewer than four triode valves, all this in a toploading aluminium chassis. It looks like an awful lot of hardware for the money. The question is, does the sound match the appearance? Electric blue Raysonic is a dedicated to valve electronics and has a wide range of amplifiers and a growing portfolio of CD players.