Cheap

harsh, thin and forward

TERIBLE! I bought this thing used to use in my back-room system, and BOY, what a dissapointment! It is rather harsh on the ears, and while the detail IS REALLY THERE, it is presented in such a way as to make you NOT WANT to hear it.... It''s like playing bad music louder, what''s needed is not more detail, but rather better sounding reproduction. I picked up a used Rega planet for $100 more, and it is 10000% better. So much for this foray into mass market japanese crap! Not to take anything away from all you who ''simply love'' the sound of this player, but seriously, guys, spending a little bit more will get you MUCH better sound! Arcam, Rotel are better choices (hell, even Adcom is better sounding than this player!)

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None are this bad, really

Sound, build.

Ya the drawer is tad clumsy/noisy

This is my first real CD player. I bought it re-furbed from ubid.com for $170. It arrived, as far as I can tell, in perfect condition. No scratches or dents or anything. The manual had a slightly warped page but thats it. I hooked it up to my Denon AVR-2800 via DH-LABS BL-series II interconnects and then onto my other ubid.com specials, my Infinity Composistion Overture 2's. Very nice combo! I love the detail of this CD player. Changing 4 disks while another is playing is a nice feature. When the unit is changing disks, it can be a little loud, but that doesnt bother me enough not to give this 5 *'s.

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Pioneer DVD player, Sony Discman

Separation, warmth, tonality, plays anything

when hooked to a Denon receiver it starts playing whenever the system is turned on

First off I'd just like to say that it really irritates me when people bash a product so they can sound like an "Audiophile". They've heard a big name and use it as much as possible to seem educated in home audio. The facts of the matter are, the DCM 460 is a very, very good carousel changer, and an absolutely fantastic one for the price. I've done several A/B tests with my unit on friends systems, and the 460 has more warmth and tonal quality than anything in it's price range and well beyond. It anhialated the best from marantz and Sony ES, and had every bit as much separation and clarity as the DVP-S7000, but with a warmer, more comfortable sound. I know many people thing a CD player is a CD player b/c all it's doing is passing a digital bitstream on to the receiver, but my friends and I can all attest to the fact that this just isn't the case. As far as the drawer goes, mine has never been "clunky", and while it is somewhat slow, it's always seemed very solid, smooth and methodical to me. Gives me the impression that it'll never have a problem with it's operation.
I have heard a couple of better CD players....
One was a theta and one was a Linn transport/DAC combo.
But neither of those sounded all that much better, not enough for me to spend 3-10,000 dollars on for sure. I don't even use the digital out on my unit, I just put the 3600DTS on direct and let the changer's DAC be the only processing. In my opinion the DCM 460/560 are the best CD changers on the planet for the money, and close to the top whatever the cost.

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Marantz, Carver, Sony ES and DVP-S7000, way too many others

none

all that ronald and others below noted - it's bright and annoying

I agree with Ronald and others below. As long as you don't delude yourself into thinking you've found high end digital with this product (and some apparently are), then fine buy it for $450 or whatever it costs; but to say this player is exemplifies all that high end digital has to offer is preposterous. I love that "Old Milwaukee" analogy!

I was waiting for the price of super audio to become reasonable, when my Sony ES bit the dust and I was forced to buy a new CD unit much sooner than I had wanted to. The mission was to buy something that would be an acceptable listening experience until the end of the year when the audio industry lowered $'s on super audio.

The $400 Denon turned out to be nice surprise for the money. It is certainly NOT in the same field as its higher priced competitors, but then again, it is not supposed to be either. Yes, the drawer is mediocre and the display window is cluttered, but it's a darn good signal source for $400. Very good separation....nice depth to the sound stage...and very, very acceptable reproduction from low range up through to the super tweeters. I then started using a Bedini Ultra Clarifier, and the sound improved dramatically for most of my cd's. The clarifier lifted the Denon to a whole new level.

I would think that this Denon is a strong competitor at this price point, and deserves an audition if the budget is $400.
Bedini Class A Amp
Adcom GFP750 Preamp
Shahinian Obelisks with Shahinian Double Eagle Subwoofer
M1000 interconnects & M2.2 speaker cables

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Sony ES

Price, Detailed sound, ease of use

None for the price

Bright? Grainy? Compressed? I don't understand. This is an excellent player with excellent sound. I don't know if it is a system matching problem or what, but I've heard this player, and its cheaper cousin, in several systems, and would say that its only weakness is that it doesn't have the smoothness of far more expensive players, but compares very favorably to anything in its price range. What do you expect??????

Solid player.

None, really.

I just want to address the "drawer" issue. I've had a 460 for about a year and had absolutely no problems. I bought it refurbished for a couple hundred bucks.

One night, after too much beer, I got stupid and decided to shut the drawer with my foot. But I basically lost my balance and stomped on the drawer while it was open. It got jammed and wouldn't shut by itself.

Of course, I realized what a moron I was and freaked. After gently straightening the drawer, it settled back in and now works perfectly.

In other words, it may seem like lightweight junk, but it's pretty damn durable and can handle even idiots who have too much Guinness occasionally.

5 disk changer, random play

Sound is not as rich as expected

This replaced an old Sony 335 that refused to play one of every five CDs loaded. I am somewhat pleased so far with this unit. The sound seems a little distant, but acceptable. Really have to crank my Denon 2800 to get the sound I want. The transport does not seem overly noisy and have not had problems playing any CD. Actually, the noise level of the transport is lower than my old Sony. Really like the random feature, which was on my old Sony, but not the Yamaha. Bought refurbished for $160 at Ubid. A gamble on my part, but seems to be working out. Probably won't go that route again. Will give 5 for value, but only four overall.

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Yamaha, Sony

convenient 5disc player that also is also cdr compatible warm smooth sound

noisy tray

after having owned this player for less than 12 months i had to have the laser replaced which was done promptly in two weeks and since then i have not had any problems, i also knocked the drawer after one too many beverages one evening and had to have the tray replaced the new one is so much quieter than it was , even when it was new, i am using audioquest ruby interconnects which really improves the sound and have just purchased denon4800 amp and cable talk silver speaker cable which walks over my 8yr old denon350 and monster cable i know it is not an audiophile cd player and i would get a better sound from a single cd player but when you want convenience you have to compromise somewhere and overall i would buy the same player again!i must agree though that denons customer service is simply non-existent when it comes to answering e-mail i gave up after sending four to ask then if they were going to make any amps in a brushed alumniun before i brought the 4800 in black as i really wanted silver, not one reply DENON GET YOUR SH-T TOGETHER!!!!!!!will let you know opinion on 4800

Sound Quality, Features, Value

Yeah, the drawer is a little noisey

Had a nice Yamaha unit for 2 years until the reader went out 1 month after warranty expired - aarrggh!

The sound quality and clarity is as good or better than the Yamaha. Blows my Sony away as expected.

Bought this unit as a floor model. Has worked perfectly for 2.5 yrs.

For $285.00, I can't find a better unit in terms sound quality, features, and overall value.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Sony