Best Hi-Fi CD Players: Our Picks
The compact disc has quietly outlasted most predictions of its demise. For a lot of listeners it remains the most satisfying way to own and play music: a fixed, uncompressed 16-bit/44.1kHz master that does not depend on your broadband, a subscription, or the current mood of a streaming platform. A well-engineered CD player reads every bit of that Red Book data cleanly, then converts it with a level of care that a laptop drive or a budget all-in-one cannot match.
What separates one player from the next comes down to a handful of things: the quality of the transport and laser reading the disc, the DAC handling digital-to-analogue conversion, the analogue output stage, and the clocking that keeps timing errors (jitter) to a minimum. Some players are a pure transport and DAC in a compact box. Others fold in SACD, hi-res file playback, or full network streaming. And a few strip everything back to do one job, Red Book CD, as well as it can be done.
Below are five players we rate across very different budgets and priorities:
- Pro-Ject CD Box S3
- Arcam CD5
- Atoll CD100 EVO
- Technics SL-G700 M2
- Hegel Viking
1. Pro-Ject CD Box S3
The Pro-Ject CD Box S3 is the compact starting point here. It is a half-width component in a full aluminium case, with a slot-in mechanism and a small 1.54-inch display. Despite the size, it is a true Red Book player: the drive is optimised for bit-accurate 1:1 playback rather than the compromise reading you get from a DVD or Blu-ray deck pressed into CD duty.
Inside sits a modern DAC chip capable of 32-bit/384kHz conversion, feeding an RCA line-level output. What makes it flexible is the S/PDIF coaxial digital output, which lets you bypass the internal DAC entirely and feed a separate high-end DAC later. That makes the CD Box S3 as useful as a pure transport in a growing system as it is a complete player in a compact one. It is a sensible choice for a desktop rig, a second system, or anyone who wants proper CD replay without a full-size box.
Buy Pro-Ject CD Box S3 at Premium Sound — £399
2. Arcam CD5
The Arcam CD5 is a traditional full-size player from a British brand with a long CD pedigree, going back to the Delta 70 in 1986. It plays CD, CD-R and CD-RW, and adds hi-res file playback for FLAC and WAV files from USB storage, so it covers ripped discs and downloads as well as silver discs.
Conversion is handled by an ESS ES9018 DAC, and the frequency response is quoted at 20Hz to 20kHz within 0.05dB, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 93dB (115dB weighted). The construction is more substantial than the price suggests, with aluminium panels on the front, top, sides and rear, and it weighs 6kg. Outputs cover a stereo RCA pair plus coaxial and optical digital, giving you the option to use its DAC or an external one. At this level it is a straightforward, well-built player for someone who wants a conventional full-width component and a little file flexibility on the side.
Buy Arcam CD5 at Premium Sound — £699
3. Atoll CD100 EVO
The Atoll CD100 EVO is handmade in Normandy and takes a more purist, analogue-minded approach to the money. It uses a latest-generation TEAC transport and a Burr-Brown PCM1796 DAC running at 24-bit/192kHz, but the character comes from the output stage: differential circuits built from discrete components and biased in Class A, rather than a general-purpose op-amp. That tends to give a fuller, more relaxed presentation.
Power supply design is a big part of the story, with ten regulated supplies and separate transformers for the digital and audio stages, which is unusual at this price. It also has digital inputs (coaxial, optical and asynchronous USB-B), so it can serve as a standalone DAC for a computer or streamer, and the Evo platform accepts an optional 24-bit/192kHz DAC board for further expansion. An OLED display with CD-Text rounds it off. This is the pick for a listener who values tone and body, and wants a player that can grow into a wider digital hub.
Buy Atoll CD100 EVO at Premium Sound — £1,300
4. Technics SL-G700 M2
The Technics SL-G700 M2 is the most versatile machine on the list, combining a Super Audio CD player with a full hi-res network streamer in one chassis. It plays SACD, CD, CD-R and CD-RW, with a dedicated Pure Disc Playback mode that shuts down non-essential circuitry to lower internal noise during disc replay.
Digital conversion uses a dual ESS ES9026PRO arrangement in a dual-mono configuration, paired with Technics’ coherent processing to reduce phase and amplitude errors up to 192kHz PCM. It handles full MQA decoding, WAV and AIFF to 384kHz/32-bit, FLAC and ALAC to 384kHz/24-bit, and DSD to 11.2MHz. On the network side you get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, Tidal and more, plus a USB-B input and a front-panel headphone output. The chassis is split into four isolated sections with a die-cast aluminium tray and a Multi-Stage Silent Power Supply. If you want one box to cover discs, high-resolution files and streaming without stacking separates, this is the one.
Buy Technics SL-G700 M2 at Premium Sound — £2,899
5. Hegel Viking
The Hegel Viking goes in the opposite direction to the Technics. It is a reference player designed to do one thing only: play standard Red Book CDs as faithfully as possible. There is no SACD, no streaming, and no upsampling. Hegel leave the 16-bit/44.1kHz signal exactly as it sits on the disc, on the basis that the DAC performs at its best when it is not being asked to reprocess anything.
It uses a dedicated laser and CD drive with a slot-in mechanism, controlled alongside the DAC by Hegel’s Master Clock system. A low-phase-noise quartz crystal and the company’s SoundEngine technology keep jitter to a minimum, and the discrete, fully balanced analogue stage uses Hegel’s Line Driver output. Connectivity is generous for a source of this kind, with balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA outputs plus a true 75-ohm BNC digital output, an analogue output voltage of 2.5V RMS, and distortion below 0.0015%. The Viking replaces the much-loved Mohican and shares its cabinet lines with Hegel’s P30A and H30A amplifiers. This is the choice for the listener who treats CD replay as a serious source and will partner it with a high-end amplifier.
Buy Hegel Viking at Premium Sound — £4,500
Specifications compared
Given the spread of prices and features, we have split the comparison into two tables.
Compact and mid-range players
| Feature | Pro-Ject CD Box S3 | Arcam CD5 | Atoll CD100 EVO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | CD player / transport | CD player | CD player |
| DAC | 32-bit/384kHz chip | ESS ES9018 | Burr-Brown PCM1796 (24-bit/192kHz) |
| Disc formats | CD | CD, CD-R, CD-RW | CD, CD-R, CD-RW |
| Hi-res file playback | No (transport) | FLAC/WAV via USB | Via optional DAC board |
| Digital inputs | None | USB (file storage) | Coaxial, optical, USB-B |
| Analogue output | RCA | RCA | RCA |
| Digital output | Coaxial S/PDIF | Coaxial, optical | Coaxial, optical |
| Streaming | No | No | No |
| Weight | 1.33kg | 6kg | 6kg |
Reference and one-box players
| Feature | Technics SL-G700 M2 | Hegel Viking |
|---|---|---|
| Type | SACD player and streamer | CD player (Red Book only) |
| DAC | Dual ESS ES9026PRO (dual-mono) | Dedicated onboard DAC, no upsampling |
| Disc formats | SACD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW | CD (Red Book) |
| Hi-res / file playback | DSD to 11.2MHz, PCM to 384kHz, full MQA | None |
| Streaming | Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Bluetooth, Tidal, Spotify Connect | None |
| Analogue output | RCA and XLR | RCA and XLR |
| Digital output | Via digital inputs / USB-B | BNC (75 ohm) |
| Headphone output | Yes (front panel) | No |
| Weight | See publishing note | 7.3kg |
