Introduction

If you were born in the 20^th Century, you probably remember when audio compact discs (CDs) were the most popular format for listening to music, whether it was on a home stereo system, a portable system or in your car audio system. By about 2010, having a large collection of physical CDs was often seen as a relic of the past. But in 2025, there are many signs that compact discs are back!

The CD format reigned supreme for about 10-15 years starting in about 1991. As a result of this, many music lovers built large CD collections over a period of many years. Starting about fifteen years ago, many people gradually lost interest in the CD format, and sold or donated their CDs and eventually disposed of their CD players. This was driven by competition from portable devices like iPods and later by online music streaming.

Compact Discs Are Back!

So, what has changed? A number of factors seem to be driving renewed interest in buying and collecting CDs and buying the hardware needed to listen them. People who are old enough to remember when CDs were predominant are often motivated by nostalgia. Younger folks who have no personal memories of CDs are discovering the fun of having a physical collection of music that may be completely new to them.

Vinyl albums have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity for several years, but that seems to be starting to wane. Vinyl albums are expensive, they require more care and they are prone to damage and deterioration over time. Good quality turntables and phono cartridges can be quite expensive. Unless you have an automatic or semi-automatic turntable, you need to pay attention to when your album side is done playing so you can manually lift the tone arm.

Many people, regardless of their age, are unhappy with the limitations of online music streaming. These include the monthly cost, lower sound quality due to compression, incomplete music catalogs, the possibility of albums or artists being removed from your service and the requirement for internet connectivity.

Having a music collection in a physical format that you own is another attraction. Compact discs have cover art, song lists, and often will have a small booklet with lyrics or other notes. This gives you a similar experience as looking at your vinyl album sleeve and jacket while you listen to an album.

Compact discs usually sound better than online streaming or vinyl albums, with much less effort on your part. Both new and used CDs are usually far less expensive than new or used vinyl albums, and they certainly take up less space. Compact discs require little care, and are pretty resistant to damage.

CD playback equipment can be much less expensive than good quality vinyl record playback equipment. There is also far less of a sound quality gap between entry-level and high-end CD playback equipment than there is between entry-level and high-end vinyl record playback equipment.

I would argue that someone just entering (or re-entering) the stereo music hobby would be much better off collecting CDs rather than collecting vinyl albums.

Compact Disc History

Digital Compact Discs (CDs) were jointly developed by Phillips and Sony starting in 1979, with the first consumer audio CD players going on sale in Japan in late 1982. Audio CDs quickly gained popularity as CD players became better and less expensive, and more compact disc titles became available.

By 1991, CDs outsold all other audio formats (such as cassette tapes and vinyl albums) combined in the United States. CD sales peaked in 2000 and began to slowly decline over the next twenty years.

Compact Disc Player History

Home compact disc players first became widely available in the United States in early 1983. The first players were quite expensive, and they had a number of design weaknesses. There were also not that many compact disc titles available at first. Many of the first CD titles were hurried re-releases of popular vinyl albums that had been originally mixed and mastered for vinyl albums. As a result, some early CDs did not sound very good at all, and some early adopters were permanently convinced that CDs were not an improvement over vinyl albums.

Checking the October 1983 Audio Magazine “Annual Equipment Guide” issue, there were 32 different CD players from 25 manufacturers listed. Those first-generation CD players had MSRPs from $589.89 up to $8,500.00, with the majority of models around the $1,000 level. In 1983, $1,000.00 was the equivalent of about $3,200.00 in 2025.

Music CDs typically sold for around $18-$20 in 1983 which is the equivalent of about $58-$64 in 2025. This meant that jumping on the CD bandwagon with a new CD player and acquiring a decent collection of CDs to listen to was an expensive proposition, at least in the early years.

This situation improved over the next several years as CD player prices decreased (except at the high-end) and music CD prices very gradually went down.

Where Can I Find Compact Discs?

There are so many possibilities here! You can still buy new CDs both online and in a few physical stores. But since CDs are relatively small and quite durable, there are a LOT of used CDs in great physical condition available in many different places.

Here are some common venues:

• Garage sales, yard sales and estate sales
• Used record stores
• Thrift and charity stores
• Facebook Marketplace, Offer Up, Craigslist
• eBay
• Discogs

The universal frustration/problem is finding CDs that you actually want for a reasonable price.

Finding what you want locally lets you avoid the cost and time of shipping. But you are in competition with other local buyers, collectors and even flippers. Your local thrift stores are often quite picked over.

Depending on where you live, you may find a lot of CDs that are from artists and genres that you may have absolutely no interest in. For example, if you live in a more rural area, you are usually going find more country music. Of course, maybe country music is what you are looking for!

Despite this, you can still find good CDs that you want if you are persistent (and you get a little lucky). You have to go check your local stores multiple times on a regular basis, and you need to spend an appropriate amount of time carefully going through what they have. If you lose patience after a few minutes, you are much less likely to find what you are hoping to.

Personally, I am always on the lookout for 1950s-1960s Jazz CDs (especially Blue Note CDs). These are usually quite rare in thrift stores, but sometimes I will find several at a time. This is probably because someone recently donated a bunch that were part of a collection.

What Should I Use to Play CDs?

There are many different possibilities, depending on your budget, your available space, any existing equipment you may have and your personal preferences.

As far as basic home CD playback equipment, these are the main choices:

• Used DVD or Blu-ray player
• New DVD or Blu-ray player
• Used CD player
• New CD player
• Vintage CD player
• Used SACD player
• New SACD player
• Used Universal player
• Used CD Changer
• New CD Changer
• Used CD Jukebox

Audio CD, SACD, DVD, HD-DVD, DVD-Audio, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are all the same 120mm physical size, and newer format players are backwards compatible with standard Red Book audio CDs.

This means that newer format players can almost always play “old fashioned” audio CDs just fine. For example, if you have an old DVD player (that works properly), you can definitely play audio CDs on it.

Depending on what types of audio outputs the DVD player has, you may (or may not) be able to connect it to a particular stereo amplifier. But we will talk more about that in a bit.

Audio Output Types

All CD-capable players will have some combination of these five types of audio outputs:

• HDMI
• Digital coaxial
• Digital optical TOSLINK
• Analog RCA stereo
• Analog balanced XLR stereo

HDMI outputs can pass both video and digital audio signals in one cable, and they are generally preferred when connecting a DVD or Blu-ray player to a television or audio-video receiver (AVR). Unfortunately, very few two-channel stereo receivers or amplifiers have HDMI inputs. If you buy a DVD or Blu-ray player that only has an HDMI output, you won’t be able to directly connect it to most stereo systems.

Digital coaxial outputs pass two channels of digital stereo on one cable. Many new and recent vintage two-channel stereo receivers and amplifiers do have a digital coaxial input. Older vintage (older than about the year 2000) two-channel stereo receivers and amplifiers usually do NOT have a digital coaxial input. You will need an actual digital coaxial cable to connect your player to your stereo amplifier. Don’t try to use an analog RCA cable instead. It may work, but it probably won’t.

Digital optical TOSLINK outputs also pass two channels of digital stereo on one optical cable. Many new and recent vintage two-channel stereo receivers and amplifiers do have a digital optical input. Older vintage (older than about the year 2000) two-channel stereo receivers and amplifiers usually do NOT have a digital optical input. You will need an actual digital optical cable to connect your player to your stereo amplifier.

Analog RCA stereo outputs pass an analog (not digital) signal that is split into a left and right channel, each on its own color-coded cable. The left channel is white and the right channel is red. Nearly all two-channel stereo receivers and amplifiers (new and vintage) have at least one set of analog RCA stereo inputs.

Analog balanced XLR stereo outputs pass a balanced analog signal that is split into a left and right channel, each on its own cable with a large XLR connector. Very few (mostly quite expensive) amplifiers have balanced XLR stereo inputs.

Where Is Your DAC?

A digital to analog converter (DAC) is required somewhere in the signal path between your compact disc (which is read as digital information) and your speakers (which are analog).

If your player has an analog RCA output, that means that the player has a built-in DAC for that output, which you will be using. This may or may not be a good thing, depending the age, specifications and overall quality of that built-in DAC.

If your player has a digital output (whether it is coaxial or optical) then there is not a built-in DAC for that audio output, since it is still a digital signal. In this case, your player is only a CD transport, and the DAC is in another component. This could be an external DAC, or a DAC in your amplifier or receiver.

The DAC in an inexpensive, newer component might be much better than the DAC in an expensive, but much older component. But the opposite might also be true.

I will say that there are endless, often tiresome debates about the merits and sound-quality of different DACs. There are obviously differences between different brands, models and vintages of DACs, but this is not something I would lose sleep over for your first system.

Different Player Types -Comparison

All of these different types of players have strengths and weaknesses that I will cover next.

Used DVD or Blu-ray player

Many people already own a DVD or Blu-ray player that may be connected to a television or home theater system (or used to be). Lots of folks still have DVD or Blu-ray players that are gathering dust somewhere in their home.

If you don’t have one of these, they are very easy to find in thrift stores, garage sales, FB marketplace, etc. They usually sell for less than $20, often less than $10. If you buy one used, it is much better if it comes with the remote. Without the remote, you probably won’t be able to control all of the functions and settings for the player.

Not all of these players are well-suited to playing audio CDs. Not because they can’t actually play an audio CD, but because of what type of audio outputs they have compared to the audio inputs on whatever you want to connect them to.

It is critically important that you have at least one set of compatible audio outputs and audio inputs between your player and your amplifier. For example, if you buy a used Blu-ray player that only has an HDMI output and a digital coaxial audio output, you will not be able to connect it directly to an amplifier that only has analog RCA inputs.

Used DVD and Blu-ray players are often very slow to boot up and also quite slow to read the table of contents (TOC) of an audio CD. They commonly have less information on their built-in displays (or no display at all), so you can’t tell which audio track is playing or how much time is left.

Used DVD and Blu-ray players often have few built-in buttons or controls, and they usually rely on the remote control for most functionality. They also do not have headphone outputs or physical audio level controls.

Finally, used entry-level DVD and Blu-ray players are frequently made mostly of black plastic, so they are very light in weight and don’t look like they belong with your other audio equipment, which may or may not be important to you.

New DVD or Blu-ray player

A new DVD or Blu-ray player will have the same strengths and weaknesses as a used DVD or Blu-ray player. It will obviously be new (and complete) rather than used, so you can return it if it fails during the return period or while it is under the factory warranty.

A new DVD or Blu-ray player can be found for very little money for lower-end, non-brand-name models. You can also spend quite a bit more money on a dwindling number of high-end, brand name Blu-ray players. Personally, I would not do that if your main use case is listening to audio CDs rather than watching movies. I would be looking at a new or recent-vintage dedicated CD player rather than a high-end Blu-ray player instead.

Vintage CD Player

I consider any used single CD player that was built before the year 2000 to be a “vintage” CD player. In my mind, the component and build quality of vintage CD players was in a golden age between about 1987 and 1992. This was because the larger manufacturers were in an intense competition with each other at the high-end of the market, catering to customers who were willing to spend a LOT of money on a premium CD player.

This is a 1990-vintage Carver TL-3300 CD Player. I have one of these in my Carver stack, and it is currently my favorite vintage CD player.

After 1992, single CD players became more of a commodity item. The technology improved, but the focus was on component miniaturization and cost reduction. Newer “vintage” CD players will be lightweight and mostly made of plastic rather than metal, but they are also more likely to be working flawlessly for a longer period.

Vintage single CD players (especially higher-end models) have many attractive and useful features. They start up instantly, their CD drawers open and close very quickly, they read the TOC of a CD in a fraction of a second, and they are very responsive as you fast-forward though or skip music tracks.

Most models have very detailed and useful visual LED or LCD displays that show track numbers, time information (in different contexts) and a plethora of physical buttons for different functionality. Higher-end models usually have a ¼” headphone output jack with its own level control, which lets you listen to a CD with wired headphones without needing an amplifier or speakers.

Many higher-end vintage CD players will have two sets of analog RCA outputs (one fixed level and one variable level). The variable level output lets you match the output level of other source components (so you don’t have to adjust the volume level on your amplifier when you change sources). Higher-end vintage CD players will usually have digital outputs, (coaxial, optical or both), so you can use the player as a CD transport.

Finally, higher-end vintage CD players will be heavy and have very nice component and build quality. They will look like they were quite expensive when they were new, which they often were.

On the negative side, older vintage CD players are more likely to have some problems, since they are 30-40 years old. Belts can fail, limit switches can get dirty, and lasers can weaken or fail. Some problems can be easily fixed, but some problems are extremely difficult to fix because new parts are impossible to get.

Vintage CD players will have vintage DACs, which is a big negative for some people. Of course, if your vintage CD player has a digital output, you can bypass that problem and use a newer, possibly better DAC.

Used Non-Vintage CD Player

I consider any used CD player that was built after the year 2000 to be a “non-vintage” CD player. These will be less expensive than a brand-new CD player, but they will have most of the features of current new CD players.

A ten-, fifteen-, or twenty-year-old CD player will have far fewer age-related issues and will have a longer remaining useful life than a true “vintage” CD player that was made before the year 2000.

A used non-vintage CD player is a good choice for many people, since it will be affordable, have many useful features for playing CDs and will be more reliable than many vintage CD players.

New CD Player

These are quite similar to used non-vintage CD players, with the obvious difference that they are new (with all the accessories and manuals) rather than used. They are returnable and will be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

The main downside of a new CD player is the relatively high cost compared to many other choices. Currently, the least-expensive single CD player on Crutchfield is the Yamaha CD-S303 for $379.99. This is a good quality player (I have one) that is actually not that expensive when adjusted for inflation compared to a typical early 1990s CD player. But it certainly seems expensive compared to a $10 DVD player from a thrift store!

The Yamaha CD-S303 has all three of the most common audio output options, including analog RCA, a digital coaxial and a digital optical port. Remember, if you use the analog RCA outputs, you will be using the built-in DAC (which is actually a good quality 24-bit/192KHz Burr-Brown DAC). If you use either of the digital outputs, then the CD-S303 is just a CD transport, and you will be using the DAC of whatever you connected the CD player to.

New SACD Player

Super Audio CDs (SACD) were meant to supplant and replace Compact Discs. They were first available in 1999. Unfortunately, SACDs never became very popular and there are far fewer SACD disc titles available compared to regular CDs. It is also harder to find used SACD discs, since people who are interested in them tend to keep them longer.

New SACD players are quite expensive and there are not many available choices on the market. You can still buy new SACDs and there is a small trickle of new releases, many of which are remastered releases of popular older albums.

Currently, the least-expensive SACD player on Crutchfield is the Denon DCD-1700NE for $1499.00. The most expensive SACD player on Crutchfield is the McIntosh MCD350, which is $6,000.00.

If you have a high-end system and a large enough budget, you will probably want or already have a SACD player. If you want to listen to SACDs and have a more limited budget, you should look at a used SACD player or a used DVD or Blu-ray player (some of which can play SACDs).

If you only plan on listening to regular CDs, a new SACD player is probably not worth the extra expense.

Used SACD Player

Multiple equipment manufacturers released quite few SACD player models from about 2000 to the present. The peak of this effort was from about 2003 until 2008. Used SACD players are more difficult to find than standard CD players, but they are out there.

Used SACD players are much more affordable than new ones. If you can find a good used SACD player for a decent price, it can be a great choice.

I recently stumbled upon a used Yamaha CD-S1000 Natural Sound Super Audio CD Player at the 2025 Vintage Voltage Expo in Denver. It is a large beast of a machine that weighs 33.1 lbs.

It was in pristine condition, with the original box, remote and manual. Needless to say, I grabbed it for a very good price, and I am very happy with it.

Used Universal Player

“Universal” players were available starting around 2003. They were originally designed to play SACDs, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video and Audio CDs. Later “Universal” players could also play Blu-ray movies starting in about 2007. The idea was that one player could play any format or type of CD-sized disc.

I still have a 2012-vintage Denon DBT-1713UD Universal Audio/Video Player that works perfectly fine for playing CDs, SACDs, DVDs, DVD-Audio and Blu-ray discs.

Th main reason to consider a universal player is if you want one player that can play nearly any format disc rather than multiple players.

Used CD Changer

CD Changers (5-disc platter models) starting appearing in 1987. Later, a few brands, such as Onkyo offered 6-disc platter models. Platter CD Changers became very popular during the 1990s and a lot of 1990s-vintage CD Changers are still around, which makes them easy to find and quite affordable.

One of the reasons they were popular was because you could have 5-6 hours of music without having to touch the player. Most CD changers also have the ability to swap out discs while one disc is still playing. Remember, this was before MP3s or online streaming was available.

Many “audiophiles” sneered at CD Changers because they thought they did not offer the same playback quality as a single-disc CD Player. This was enough of an issue that it was sometimes mentioned in contemporary stereo magazine print advertisements. Another complaint was that platter CD Changers were very large and boxy.

In reality, a high-quality platter CD Changer can sound just as good as a single-disc CD Player with similar components. Platter CD Changers do have more moving parts that can fail, but the most frequent issue with older players is one or more rubber belts that need to be replaced.

There is usually one belt that opens and closes the disc drawer and another belt that rotates the disc platter. Sometimes it is very easy to access and change a belt, but sometimes it takes a little more disassembly.

All CD Changers will have analog RCA outputs while higher-end and newer models will often have at least one (and sometimes two) digital outputs. Higher-end models will also have a ¼” headphone out jack with a level control.

New CD Changer

There are a few models of five-disc and six-disc platter CD Changers that are still being sold. Crutchfield currently sells three models, ranging in price from $349.00 to $549.95.

In all honesty, a brand-new CD Changer is not going to sound noticeably better or have a plethora of useful features that you can’t find in many vintage CD Changers (that are working properly). One thing you won’t find in a new CD Changer is a ¼” headphone out jack with a level control.

Buying a new unit that you can return and have a product warranty on will give many people more peace of mind though.

Used CD Jukebox

Large capacity CD Jukebox Changers became quite popular in the 1990s, with capacities as high as 400-discs! There are also “Jukebox” style changers that will play DVD, SACD or Blu-ray discs in addition to audio CDs. Sony and Pioneer were the two leading manufacturers in this area.

Instead of having five or six discs lying flat on a rotating platter, the discs are in vertical slots in a rotating platter. There is usually an arm mechanism that will grab the selected disc from the slot and move it to the spindle and laser mechanism at one of the back corners of the unit.

Jukebox style CD Changers are very large and bulky and they are especially tall. This means they won’t fit in many AV shelving units except on the top shelf.

All Jukebox style CD Changers will have analog RCA outputs while higher-end and newer models will often have at least one (and sometimes two) digital outputs.

What Type of Disc Player Do I Want?

There are certainly a lot of choices, and I may have overwhelmed you with too much information!

First, I would think about how much money you want to spend and what type of device you will be connecting your player to. Do you already have some sort of amplifier or do you need to buy one?

You need to make sure that you have at least one set of compatible audio output and input ports between the two devices so the audio signal can move from your player to your amplifier.

One of the least expensive combinations is a used DVD player that connects to a used audio video receiver (AVR) with either a set of stereo analog RCA cables or a digital cable (coaxial or optical). You should be able to find a DVD player and an AVR for less than $50 at many thrift stores. Having the remotes for both components is a big plus, since they can be very hard to use without a remote.

If you are able and willing to spend more money, you will have many more choices and you will have the luxury of considering other factors besides basic functionality.

The next step up from a used DVD player and a used AVR for many people is a used, non-vintage single disc CD player (or five-disc CD changer) and a used non-vintage integrated stereo amplifier. This will give you many convenience features for playing CDs and the beginnings of a flexible and upgradeable two-channel stereo system.

If you are building a system from scratch, you are also going to need a pair of speakers. The conventional choice is a pair of passive speakers (that connect to the speaker output terminals of your amplifier). Your speakers will have more effect on your playback quality than any other component, so you want to get “good” speakers.

Good speakers don’t have to be super expensive, but you probably won’t be very happy long-term with very inexpensive poor-quality speakers. Used, high-quality speakers from reputable brands are often a great and affordable choice. Speakers are very subjective, with different people preferring different brands and styles of speakers.

Final Words

The compact disc format is becoming much more popular for multiple reasons. CDs have many advantages over vinyl records, cassettes and online streaming. Collecting and listening to CDs (and buying the equipment you need) can be very affordable to get started, especially compared doing the same thing with vinyl records.

You can also spend more money to get more convenience and better-looking components that look like they belong with the rest of your system. The appearance of your components may be the last thing on your mind, but it is important to many people.