This is a mistake, and a fairly expensive one if it leads you to ignore one of the most consistent and musically satisfying sources available for a well sorted system. A good CD player, bought used at a sensible price, is one of the most reliable upgrades you can make. The format has had thirty years of engineering invested in it. The best implementations of it are very good indeed. And the music you buy on CD is yours permanently, with no subscription, no streaming library changes and no internet connection required to play it.
The case for the format
CD stores audio at 16-bit resolution with a sample rate of 44,100Hz, a standard established in 1980 and known as Redbook. At the time it was introduced, some audiophiles argued it was insufficient. Several decades of engineering have demonstrated that 16-bit/44.1kHz is capable of genuinely excellent sound when the mastering is good and the playback chain is well implemented. The theoretical dynamic range of 16-bit audio is 96dB. Most music uses a fraction of that. The bandwidth extends to 22kHz, which covers everything in human hearing with room to spare.
The format is not the limiting factor in CD playback. The limiting factors are the quality of the disc transport mechanism, the quality of the digital to analogue conversion, and the quality of the mastering on the disc itself. Address the first two with a good player and choose pressings carefully, and CD is a serious format that competes with anything.
The mastering point matters and deserves a moment. The same album on CD and on streaming is often a different master, and the CD version is frequently the better one. The streaming version may have been remastered for loudness, compressed to compete on playlist platforms, and delivered at a lower dynamic range than the original pressing. A CD bought when the album was first released often carries a more dynamic and musically honest transfer than any streaming version of the same recording. This is not a universal truth but it is true often enough to be worth knowing.
What makes a CD player good
Three things determine how a CD player performs: the transport mechanism, the digital to analogue conversion, and the power supply that serves both.
The transport reads the disc and extracts the digital data. A better transport extracts the data more accurately and with less jitter, the timing errors that are the primary source of digital distortion. The relationship between transport quality and sound quality is real and consistent. Cheap transports in budget players cut corners on the servo mechanism, the laser assembly and the vibration isolation of the disc. Good transports address all of these. Manufacturers like Naim and Rega have invested significantly in transport quality over the years, and their players reflect this in the listening.
The DAC converts the digital output of the transport into an analogue signal. Everything said about separate DACs in our DAC guide applies here too: power supply quality, conversion circuit design and output stage engineering all matter. In a quality integrated CD player, the DAC is designed specifically to work with the transport in the same box, which is an advantage over a mismatched external combination. The best integrated CD players treat the transport and DAC as a single system rather than two separate components sharing a case.
The power supply is what ties it together. A well regulated, quiet power supply prevents noise from the transport mechanism coupling into the DAC, and prevents noise from the digital conversion circuitry coupling into the analogue output stage. The best CD players use separate power supplies for the transport and the audio circuitry, sometimes in the same box and occasionally in two separate units connected by a cable.
CD player versus CD transport
An alternative approach is to separate the transport from the DAC entirely. A CD transport reads the disc and passes the digital signal to a separate external DAC via a coaxial or optical connection. The DAC handles the conversion. This means you can choose the best available transport and the best available DAC independently, and upgrade either without replacing both.
Whether this is better than a high quality integrated player depends on the specific components in question. A well engineered integrated player from a manufacturer who has put serious thought into the interaction between transport and DAC can outperform a mismatched transport and DAC combination at the same combined price. A carefully chosen pairing of a quality transport and a serious external DAC will outperform most integrated players. The separate approach also means that as DAC technology improves, you can upgrade the conversion without replacing a transport mechanism that still works perfectly.
On the used market, quality CD transports from Naim, Rega and Cambridge Audio appear occasionally and are worth knowing about if you already own or are considering a quality external DAC.
Brands worth knowing on the used market
Naim made some of the most musically engaging CD players ever produced. The CD5, CD5i and CD5si are three generations of the same fundamental design, each better than the last, and all of them still sound excellent. Naim's approach to CD playback emphasised timing and rhythmic accuracy over outright detail, and the result is music that pulls you in from the first track rather than impressing you with its specification. The CDX2 is a more serious machine and appears on the used market at prices that feel implausible given what it does. All Naim CD players accept an optional external power supply that improves the sound considerably.
Rega have made CD players since the Apollo in 2004, and the same philosophy that governs their turntables applies: a rigid mechanism, carefully chosen components, and a focus on the musical result rather than the specification sheet. The Apollo-R and the Saturn-R are well regarded on the used market. The Isis is the statement machine and represents a significant engineering effort at a price that commands respect even secondhand.
Cambridge Audio have built genuinely capable CD players across a wide range of price points. The Azur 851C is a serious machine with a balanced output and a particularly good DAC section. Used examples are easy to find and sensibly priced. The current CXC transport, used with a separate DAC, is also an intelligent choice for someone who wants to extract the most from an existing DAC investment.
Audiolab make the 6000CDT transport and the 8300CD, both of which offer honest performance at realistic prices. The 8300CD in particular is a well-regarded integrated player that appears regularly on the used market at prices well below its new cost.
Marantz have a long history in CD playback and their higher-end players, particularly the CD-12 and the SA-KI Ruby, are reference-quality machines. The SA-KI Ruby is a SACD player as well as a standard CD player and represents extraordinary engineering at used prices. Earlier Marantz SACD players, including the SA-11 series, are also worth considering if SACD is of interest.
Musical Fidelity produced several respected CD players and CD transports over the years. The Nu-Vista 3D is a period piece that still sounds extraordinary. More practically, the A5 CD and A3.5 CD are well engineered machines at accessible used prices.
What to check when buying used
The laser mechanism is the most important thing to assess in any used CD player. Lasers age and eventually wear out or fail. A player that skips, struggles to read certain discs, or takes an unusually long time to read the disc after the drawer closes is showing early signs of laser problems. This is not automatically a reason to walk away: laser replacements are available for many popular players and a competent technician can often restore a player to full function. But it is a negotiating point and the cost of a laser replacement should be factored into the purchase price.
Check the drawer mechanism. CD player drawers use a small motor and a belt or gear train to open and close. These age and can become sluggish or unreliable. A drawer that opens and closes smoothly and positively is a good sign. One that hesitates, grinds or requires assistance is a warning.
Listen for mechanical noise. A good CD player should be almost inaudible during playback. Any humming, clicking or bearing noise from the transport mechanism is worth investigating before you buy.
On older players with valve output stages, check the valves are original or known replacements and that the player has been serviced within the last decade. Valve output stages are rare in CD players but they do exist, and the servicing requirements are similar to valve amplifiers.
Is it worth it in 2026
If you have a collection of CDs, a good player is simply the right tool for the job and the used market offers excellent machines at prices that would have been unthinkable when they were new. A used Naim CD5si or Rega Saturn-R bought today costs a fraction of its original price and sounds better than most new players at twice the money.
If you are starting from scratch, the honest answer is that streaming is more convenient and offers access to more music. But CD is not competing with streaming on convenience. It is competing on the specific listening experience of sitting with a physical disc, reading the liner notes, and hearing a recording that you own without conditions. For that experience, a good CD player bought used is still the right choice.
Browse our current CD player stock at 2ndhandhifi.co.uk
For the dedicated enthusiast
A few things about CD playback that rarely come up in standard buying guides.
Jitter from the transport. The primary source of distortion in digital audio playback is jitter: timing errors in the clock that drives the conversion process. In a CD player, jitter originates in the disc transport itself. The laser reads data from a rotating disc, and any variation in disc speed or vibration of the mechanism introduces timing errors into the data stream. A well-engineered transport minimises this with a stiff, well isolated mechanism and a servo system that corrects for disc eccentricity and vibration. When a CD player is connected to an external DAC via a coaxial or optical output, the jitter from the transport is passed to the DAC along with the audio data, which is why the quality of the transport matters even when the conversion is handled externally. Better external DACs include jitter reduction or reclocking circuits that clean the incoming signal before conversion.
The laser mechanism in detail. The laser in a CD player is a semiconductor laser that degrades over time as the semiconductor junction ages. The rate of degradation depends on use, temperature and the quality of the original component. Most CD lasers last many thousands of hours before performance degrades noticeably, but they do eventually need replacement. The symptom of a degrading laser is usually an increasing difficulty reading discs, particularly older pressings that have developed small scratches or surface oxidation. A fresh laser restores the player to factory performance. Replacement lasers are available for most popular players from specialist suppliers, and the replacement procedure is straightforward for a competent technician. When assessing an older player, asking whether the laser has ever been replaced is a useful question. A player with a recently replaced laser is essentially a new player mechanically.
SACD. Super Audio CD is a higher resolution format that uses a different recording and playback technology to standard CD. SACD discs store audio in DSD format at a sample rate of 2.8MHz, substantially higher than standard Redbook. Most SACD discs are hybrid discs that also carry a standard CD layer, so they play on any CD player. SACD playback requires a compatible player, and the format never achieved the widespread adoption that its technical merits warranted. As a result, used SACD players are available at very accessible prices despite being capable of genuinely excellent sound. The software catalogue is smaller than CD but includes some outstanding recordings, particularly classical and jazz, that were specifically mastered for the format. Marantz, Sony and Denon all made serious SACD players that are worth considering on the used market.
Belt drive transports. Most CD transports use a direct drive mechanism in which a motor drives the disc spindle directly. A small number of manufacturers, including Audiomeca and certain boutique builders, used belt drive between the motor and the spindle, arguing that the belt isolates the disc from motor vibration in the same way a belt drive turntable isolates the platter. The sonic argument is similar to the turntable case: motor noise is absorbed by the belt rather than transmitted to the spinning disc. Belt drive CD transports are rare, interesting and tend to require more servicing than conventional mechanisms as the belt ages, but they represent an interesting approach to the fundamental engineering problem of spinning a disc quietly and accurately.