Quality CD player for my elderly father

[open roader]

My father is in his mid 80's and perhaps close to the end of his life. He has been a classical music connoisseur all his life. He has all his favoured performances recorded on what is now a collection of literally hundreds of CD's. He is currently using an inexpensive all in one music system with cheap speakers to listen to his recordings and he says often parts of the performances are lacking in audibilitly and says the car stereo system is considerably better for him. He wears hearing aids so his hearing is not perfect but it's remarkably good when he wants it to be........

I've been asked to put together a better system for him to listen to his CD's. I have a decent stereo system here but it has far too many bells and whistles and features he does not require. So I'm pretty much starting from scratch.

My father is not tech savvy and easily looses interest in gadgets if he can't master them quickly. He spends many hours every day listening to his CD's - does not need DAB, USB, radio , tape or a turntable - just a CD player that will retrieve much of the detail from his recordings and a pair of low volume speakers that will reproduce that detail and perhaps most important of all - a comfortable pair of wrap around cordless headphones as I believe he will get most enjoyment from headphone use compared to speaker use and it will keep my mother's sanity intact........... I figured because he prefers the car sound system better the headphones might be the trick for him with his hearing loss.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to where to start looking / brand to consider / how much machine he needs to get decent reproduction? Budget is circa US$2000 give or take. The speakers must sit atop a large, heavy timber cabinet at approx. 1.1m above the floor. As previously stated, my father is not tech savvy, the less buttons and dials the better. I understand cordless headphones will need to be re-charged so he will have to learn how to do that but the simpler the better.

Any advice gratefully accepted.

[sk_tle]

Let's dismiss home theater and multiroom systems and focus on good old hi-fi

Yamaha AS-301 amplifier - https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audi...301/index.html
Yamaha CD-S303 CD player - https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audi...303/index.html
2x Yamaha NS-6490 Bookshelf speaker - https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audi...490/index.html

Fits waaay inside the budget but should still be way above what he currently owns and I don't think he needs to spend much more really unless he has a huge living room. There are similar options from other brands as well as more expensive ones but the hi-fi music market is driven by myths and intellectual masturbation more than real audio quality and most hifi nerds would fail in blindtests.

[Peter Polack]

NAD components have few buttons. Same goes for their amps and receivers. That would be the route I'd take. Check craigslist and ebay for older NAD stuff; craigslist for speakers.

Example: My local craigslist currently has a NAD CD player and receiver for sale, separately. Total cost would be $225. Not bad.

[dashDustin]

How large is the listening space?

While I like the idea of headphones, I don't know that a closed can wireless pair will be sufficient, without dropping $$$. The best sound I've heard, at a reasonable cost, comes from open can headphones, which become maddening when outside noise is more than a whisper.

[rmplum]

How large is the listening space?

While I like the idea of headphones, I don't know that a closed can wireless pair will be sufficient, without dropping $$$. The best sound I've heard, at a reasonable cost, comes from open can headphones, which become maddening when outside noise is more than a whisper.

This x1000. Once you get exposed to a decent or nice set of open backs (I've had good luck with my mid priced Sennheisers) going to closed headphones is like sitting in a closet. I have a set of HD 598s that are lower impedence and pretty easily driven by my pixel sans amp, and a set of HD 6XX that would be the bees knees if there's not a ton of background noise where he is. The open back design is also much more comfortable for longer listening sessions imho.

[j44ke]

Cambridge Audio AX series? Seem pretty simple. I saw them on a design website so were just featured for looks not function.

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/usa/en/range/ax

[davids]

Here's what I'm thinking:

Cambridge Audio AXC35 CD player: $350
Schiit SYS passive volume control and Schiit Aegir power amp: $850
Klipsh RP-600M bookshelf speakers: $700

I know there are (used to be?) all sorts of rules about the percentage of your budget to spend on each piece of the 'chain'. But I can tell you from personal experience that the Aegir is massively musical, and Kilpsch has a winner on their hands with those RP-600Ms. So toss in one of the best-reviewed inexpensive CD players and the volume knob on the SYS and I think you will have a very, very good system.

In fact I've got an unused SYS around here somewhere so you pay for mailing and it's his.


p.s. If he's got room and flexibility the Magnapan LRS would be cheaper and potentially amazing. But they are very room-dependent!

[bcm119]

I'd second the Klipsch speakers. Klipsch has a certain very bright sound, not to everyone's liking, but for older people they might compensate for loss of high frequency hearing a bit.

[Marvinlungwitz]

NAD, Yamaha, or Denon inexpensive single disc CD player (< $400) and integrated amp (< $500).

Revel M16 loudspeakers ($900) or Dynaudio Emit 20 ($1050). Emit 10 ($800) if a small size is desirable. (Don’t worry about the wive’s tale that the Dynaudios require a super powerful amp; as long as he’s not trying to shake the house, 40 watts or so will work fine).

[rsl]

I actually just ordered the Cambridge Audio AXC35 a few days ago, and should receive it next week. I have a cd collection from the early 90s to mid 2000s, but haven't had a way to play any of those discs for over a decade, and I wanted to resurrect them. This model seemed well-reviewed and available and at a reasonable price. Once I get it I'm happy to report back on ease of use, sound, etc.

[rsl]

Okay, here's my report back, just in case it's helpful.

First, I can't imagine a simpler piece of electronics to set up. I've got it connected to a set of powered Audio Engine A2+ speakers with a standard RCA cable. (https://audioengineusa.com/shop/wire...uter-speakers/). No receiver or amplifier needed with this set up. Simple, tactile buttons operate the CD player's tray, start/pause, advance a track, etc.

I'd say I'm a wannabe audiophile with a very limited budget. I don't have anything else of comparable quality to compare this set up to, but to my ears this combination sounds really great and easily fills my small living room.

[Marvinlungwitz]

Btw, I put this together for $650 for the kids’ game room just a few years ago. The Onkyo 7030 was $150 (believe it or not, my daughter likes CDs, she thinks they sound better than streaming or LPs), the 9010 integrated was $250, and the JBL 530s were $250. Pretty good little system for the money, IMO. (They also have a turntable connected).

Product line changes, availability, and inflation sure have quickly changed things.

The good news: I understand the 530s still go on special at $250 from time to time.

[open roader]

Many thanks for the suggestions and sorry for the late return to this thread.

My father happened to have a medical episode a few days after I posted this and spent a couple of weeks in a capital city hospital ICU 300km away from his home in the countryside - pretty scary during the Covid pandemic............. no visitors allowed.

On his way back home he stopped at a local hifi store and purchased himself a Marantz CR412 and a pair of studio standard corded headphones. Seems the salesperson ticked his boxes and my father now informs me he can hear the missing parts of his classical music CDs.

Case closed............