Audio Building an Audiophile-Quality CD Playback System on a Budget

Prakhar Srivastava

Prakhar Srivastava

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Hey everyone,

I am pursuing a new project to build a high-quality yet affordable audio CD system. My goal is to leverage quality components - new or used - to extract the most detail and musicality from my CD collection within a reasonable budget. While my budget is flexible, I'm focused on maximizing value and getting the most out of every rupee spent.

The core of my system will be a Blu-Ray/DVD/CD player. Its digital audio output will feed into either a standalone DAC or an AVR with a quality onboard DAC. The player's primary role will be as a transport, although I'm open to player options with excellent built-in DAC-Amps if that lets me avoid a dedicated DAC/AVR.

My priorities for the player are:
  1. Headless operation without needing a connected display
  2. Basic front panel display for track info etc.
  3. Audio CD playback support (SACD/DVD-Audio a plus)
  4. Digital output, ideally Toslink optical
As for the DAC/AVR:
  1. Excellent price-to-performance DAC implementation
  2. At least one, preferably two, Toslink optical inputs
  3. Bluetooth support would be ideal, while Chromecast and Airplay support would be great to have
I'm currently exploring Blu-Ray players, with a few years old models from Sony, Pioneer, and Oppo looking promising. Some models I'm considering are the Sony BDP-S300/S370/S560, Pioneer BDP-150/180/440, Oppo BDP-95/103/105, and Oppo UDP-205. I would welcome any specific recommendations you may have.

Additionally, if anyone has built a similar setup, I would love to hear about your experience and any lessons learned or advice. This is uncharted territory for me, so any insights would be invaluable. I also welcome suggestions for complementary AVRs or DACs that you feel could pair well.

I appreciate your insights, and thank you in advance for your responses!
 
Why do you want to buy a Bluray player when you can get very nice quality standalone cd players and transports?

Also what is your budget and what all components do you need?
 
Chaos said:
Why do you want to buy a Bluray player when you can get very nice quality standalone cd players and transports?

Also what is your budget and what all components do you need?
Click to expand...
The main factor is cost. Dedicated CD players or transports tend to be pricey, but you can find a used DVD/Blu-Ray player for as little as Rs. 500 - 5000, which serves well as a transport.

As I noted earlier, while I don't have a strict budget, my aim is to maximize value. I'm only considering the components I listed in my initial post.
 
Well
Most of us budget music listeners (I am not calling myself an audiophilr) are in the same boat.
Buying a blue ray player won't be a headless setup, dvd players and bluray players are meant to be attached to a screen to extract most out of them.. So better would be (as advised by many learned guys over here) to look for a properly working micro, mini, tiny music system or player or cd player meant for audio listening, that will have a small display which will make it purely headless with enough info.

Second thing is buy any one of these two bluetooth streamers cum dacs (you can get any other which suits you, no compulsion )

FiiO Bta30 pro (I think) or xduoo xq50 pro2
This will solve many things for you without digging a hole in the pocket
Both are great bluetooth receivers (and I think transmitters too) supporting the aptx, aptx hdd, LL, and ldac so you have everything covered for bluetooth streaming as well..

Both have pretty good DAC chips as well (it's good for us budget freaks, audiophiles will give huge gyaan for their limitations though but my research says they would woek pretty well for starters) please mind I haven't bought any of these as yet coz I am foraying into something else atm..

Both have all the inputs and outputs that might be needed

Speakers well I am not well versed with which are good atm coz i am using a couple of old Sony system speakers and they are doing a good job for me at present.

I am. No specialist just a hobby music enthusiast Luke yourself who is gathering info and zeroing in on what I can get for myself at a budget that can suffice my needs for now
 
What is the reason you are not looking to rip the cd's into wav/wv/flac or any other lossless format and play through any dedicated hardware or software audio player?
even if you dont have any dvd drive to rip the cd's you can easily source flacs from websites.
 
I sort of (but very rarely) miss CDs. There's just something different about putting an album in and listening to it through, that a flac playlist just doesn't capture.

But the convenience keeps me from giving up streaming and my flac files.
 
@prakhargr8 that explains.

BTW I have hooked up a Bluray via coaxial to my Integrated and it slams, tbh just get a regular bluray player or a DvD player and use coaxial out and you'll get a sound of any dedicated transport.

My friend has a Marantz CD player and we have compared the sound and I couldn't tell the difference, you have to bypass the infernal DAC for a great sounding system..

As far hardware look at used NAD integrated amps they are tanks you can get them on olx from 10k to 25k, NADs are built to last, but most will not have Chromecast.

The thing is Stereo system with streaming features is going to be tough on budget in India, if you can get a used Integrated from U.S, places eBay \Reverb are great markets to find used gear.
 
Last edited:
JMak said:
Well
Most of us budget music listeners (I am not calling myself an audiophilr) are in the same boat.
Buying a blue ray player won't be a headless setup, dvd players and bluray players are meant to be attached to a screen to extract most out of them.. So better would be (as advised by many learned guys over here) to look for a properly working micro, mini, tiny music system or player or cd player meant for audio listening, that will have a small display which will make it purely headless with enough info.

Second thing is buy any one of these two bluetooth streamers cum dacs (you can get any other which suits you, no compulsion )

FiiO Bta30 pro (I think) or xduoo xq50 pro2
This will solve many things for you without digging a hole in the pocket
Both are great bluetooth receivers (and I think transmitters too) supporting the aptx, aptx hdd, LL, and ldac so you have everything covered for bluetooth streaming as well..

Both have pretty good DAC chips as well (it's good for us budget freaks, audiophiles will give huge gyaan for their limitations though but my research says they would woek pretty well for starters) please mind I haven't bought any of these as yet coz I am foraying into something else atm..

Both have all the inputs and outputs that might be needed

Speakers well I am not well versed with which are good atm coz i am using a couple of old Sony system speakers and they are doing a good job for me at present.

I am. No specialist just a hobby music enthusiast Luke yourself who is gathering info and zeroing in on what I can get for myself at a budget that can suffice my needs for now
Click to expand...
Thanks, @JMak, this is super helpful! I'm looking into the hardware you've recommended. I'm also trying to figure out which Blu-Ray/DVD players are usable headlessly as well, but information on this is a bit hard to find. I will get back with updates.

6pack said:
What is the reason you are not looking to rip the cd's into wav/wv/flac or any other lossless format and play through any dedicated hardware or software audio player?
even if you dont have any dvd drive to rip the cd's you can easily source flacs from websites.
Click to expand...
I hate convenience.

But all jokes aside, I like CDs and audio hardware. I enjoy the occasional use of CDs from my reasonably large collection and value the experience they offer. So, my goal isn't to replace my Streaming/Roon setup but rather to enhance it by adding the option of lossless physical media.

calvin1719 said:
I sort of (but very rarely) miss CDs. There's just something different about putting an album in and listening to it through, that a flac playlist just doesn't capture.

But the convenience keeps me from giving up streaming and my flac files.
Click to expand...
I'm kind of in the same boat. I'm not looking to give up streaming, but I also want a good setup for my audio CDs for when I want to listen to them.

everythingeek said:
@prakhargr8 that explains.

BTW I have hooked up a Bluray via coaxial to my Integrated and it slams, tbh just get a regular bluray player or a DvD player and use coaxial out and you'll get a sound of any dedicated transport.

My friend has a Marantz CD player and we have compared the sound and I couldn't tell the difference, you have to bypass the infernal DAC for a great sounding system..

As far hardware look at used NAD integrated amps they are tanks you can get them on olx from 10k to 25k, NADs are built to last, but most will not have Chromecast.

The thing is Stereo system with streaming features is going to be tough on budget in India, if you can get a used Integrated from U.S, places eBay \Reverb are great markets to find used gear.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight, @everythingeek!

I had figured that bypassing the internal DACs of regular Blu-Ray/DVD players should work well enough, so your experience is good validation.

I'm curious - which Blu-Ray player did you use, and was it usable headless?

I'll look into NAD hardware and import options, too.
 
@prakhargr8
I am. Also using my cds via a dvd player,
It works but the biggest drawback for me is I can't use random track play, which just spices up your listening.. By ta dimly selecting different tracks while playing each time..
Secondly no. Option to browse folders and all while using mp3 cds..

But it's still working till I am. Able to arrange a better cd player or transport..

The other thing that I have done is using flac files storing them on my phone and streaming via Google chromecast audio, I love this setup..

Alternatively I ll be hooking an ext drive to my ar her c7's usb port snd streaming via network yo Google chromecast.
 
prakhargr8 said:
Thanks, @JMak, this is super helpful! I'm looking into the hardware you've recommended. I'm also trying to figure out which Blu-Ray/DVD players are usable headlessly as well, but information on this is a bit hard to find. I will get back with updates.


I hate convenience.

But all jokes aside, I like CDs and audio hardware. I enjoy the occasional use of CDs from my reasonably large collection and value the experience they offer. So, my goal isn't to replace my Streaming/Roon setup but rather to enhance it by adding the option of lossless physical media.


I'm kind of in the same boat. I'm not looking to give up streaming, but I also want a good setup for my audio CDs for when I want to listen to them.


Thanks for the insight, @everythingeek!

I had figured that bypassing the internal DACs of regular Blu-Ray/DVD players should work well enough, so your experience is good validation.

I'm curious - which Blu-Ray player did you use, and was it usable headless?

I'll look into NAD hardware and import options, too.
Click to expand...
I'm using Panasonic BDT380, nothing fancy but it does the job and can play DSD via USB if that's your thing, it doesn't support SACD Play back. The only SACD I have is Rage Against The Machine and I play it via Kodi on my shield pro.

I have ripped most of my CDs and use Kodi to listen it sounds significantly better than any streaming service.
 
JMak said:
@prakhargr8
I am. Also using my cds via a dvd player,
It works but the biggest drawback for me is I can't use random track play, which just spices up your listening.. By ta dimly selecting different tracks while playing each time..
Secondly no. Option to browse folders and all while using mp3 cds..

But it's still working till I am. Able to arrange a better cd player or transport..

The other thing that I have done is using flac files storing them on my phone and streaming via Google chromecast audio, I love this setup..

Alternatively I ll be hooking an ext drive to my ar her c7's usb port snd streaming via network yo Google chromecast.
Click to expand...
Hey, which DVD Player are you using?

everythingeek said:
I'm using Panasonic BDT380, nothing fancy but it does the job and can play DSD via USB if that's your thing, it doesn't support SACD Play back. The only SACD I have is Rage Against The Machine and I play it via Kodi on my shield pro.

I have ripped most of my CDs and use Kodi to listen it sounds significantly better than any streaming service.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the inputs, guys, and apologies for a delayed response. Have been super caught-up.

A few updates from my side. I identified the following (relatively reasonable) options:
  1. Option 1: A Sony BDP-S560 Blu-Ray player being sold locally for ~₹7500.
    • This is in great condition and a decent setup with a digital out.
    • Simple, quick playback with no fuss.
    • I'm sure I can get the price down a bit too.
    • Headless playback is not the best in this case, however.
  2. Option 2: Volumio Premium on Raspberry Pi with an Apple SuperDrive.
    • This is a pretty great option but requires a paid subscription (~€60/year) for Audio CD playback functionality.
    • And I, unfortunately, missed their lifetime plan offer by a month.
    • While I have the hardware, it does not make sense to pay a recurring fee just for the one feature I want.
    • Also unclear is whether I can operate this without a display and just with my phone/remote.
  3. Option 3: Xbox.
    1. Both One and Series consoles play Audio CDs. However, Series did away with the optical out.
    2. Fortunately, I already have the original Xbox One (VCR) and an Xbox One X.
    3. The problem with this option is that headless playback is not an option and controllers are not the best way to control music.
    4. Fortunately, I already happen to have an 8bitdo Xbox Media Remote. Unfortunately, this still requires a display.
Considering all pros and cons, I am currently leaning towards Option 3. I know it's not headless but I already have the player/console and I'm considering buying a cheap monitor to get around its limitations. So if I can get a cheap/used but good 1080P+ monitor with an HDMI input, I might go that route.

What do you guys think? Anyone tried anything similar?
 
prakhargr8 said:
Hey, which DVD Player are you using?
Click to expand...

I am using an LG dvd player...

I would suggest you to setup something similar as me
Download flac files (you know well, where you can find them)
Get a used router that has usb port to attach usb drive..
Plug in your USB with flac files..
Access it via network on your phone using vlc player and stream to your amplifier via WiFi (either get a chromecast audio which is the best option or plug your phone into your amp
 
JMak said:
I am using an LG dvd player...

I would suggest you to setup something similar as me
Download flac files (you know well, where you can find them)
Get a used router that has usb port to attach usb drive..
Plug in your USB with flac files..
Access it via network on your phone using vlc player and stream to your amplifier via WiFi (either get a chromecast audio which is the best option or plug your phone into your amp
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion. However, I already have a streaming setup with Roon for all my FLAC files, Qobuz and Tidal.

I'm specifically looking to play my physical media collection of Audio CDs (without ripping them). Hope that makes sense.

In that context, have you tried anything besides the LG DVD player?
 
Yes, recently purchased a Sony muosc system RV777d, and it works well as well, but somehow didn't like the audio when connected to my fosi was too full but then I haven't been able to set it up as yet owing to time and space constraints...

But tbh I am still. Looking for something flat like a dedicated cd/mp3 player (if it has dvd functions too great, would mean a longer lasting laser lense)
 
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