cd player

[tfill101]

what's the best cd player to use w/b&w 805 signature speakers?

[Kevin P]

That's like asking "what's the best car to drive?"

Try being more specific. What's your budget? What other gear do you have besides the 805s? What's your musical taste? Are you looking for a single disc transport, or a changer? Are you using (or planning to use) a DAC?

[JonMarsh]

Why a CD player, particularly? (as opposed to say, an SACD player, or network system player capable of ripping and playing CD's through an appropriate DAC?

You really need to provide more info, as Kevin points out, or no one can give any focused inputs to your question. Associated electronics and budget are fairly critical. Properly setup, on the B&W's you can easily hear the difference between a $1K CD player and a good transport with outboard DAC like an NAD M51.

[jim1961]

If what your really after is better sound, rather than investing in more/better electronics, you might consider acoustically treating your room first. More bang for the buck (if DIY). If your not a DIY guy and dont want to spend 6-12 months learning room acoustics, then a transport/DAC combo will get better results than a all-in-one player.

The weakest links in sound reproduction are:

1) The Listening Room (by far)
2) Speakers
3) Source

In that order.

Just to drive the point home, the graph illustrates my FR response at the listening position before and after treatment. And believe it or not, my untreated graph is better than many untreated rooms.

[JonMarsh]

+1 on what Jim said! :T

[madmac]

Speaker placement is another biggie!. Almost a big as room treatment.