Carrousel Style CD/DVD Changers With 300+ Capacity

When it comes to hi-fi, there are three types of people. The ones who buy an inexpensive hi-fi system and connect their MP3 player to it – that's a choice for comfort. Then you have the ones who buy expensive speakers and amplifiers and who use a regular CD player – that's a choice for quality. And then you have the people who use an MP3 player together with an expensive amplifier and speakers – that's money down the drain, at least in my opinion. But there are high-quality space-saving alternatives in the form of carrousel-style CD changers, from Pioneer or Sony for example. And some play DVDs too.

Why It's Clever

You might not agree with the above statement, but when you really listen to music through a good hi-fi system, you can hear the difference between a regular CD and a compressed MP3 file. I even hear the difference through my car speakers – not the cheapest ones, I admit.
So, if you value sound quality but don't want to forego the comfort of an iPod or other MP3 player, you should consider a high-capacity CD changer. This is also true if you just don't intend to spend more than a day digitizing your 250 or so CDs or DVDs.

Pioneer has the PD-F 1009, which holds an amazing 301 CDs. Just place them in the carrousel and select the one you want with your remote control. The carrousel spins around to select the requested disk, and the player loads it automatically in a few seconds. Switch it to random play, and you'll rediscover CDs that you haven't listened to in years.

Sony even takes it a step further, pushing the capacity to 400 CDs in the CDP-CX455, and even supporting DVD and Super Audio CD in the DVP-CX995V. You can then access your whole DVD collection as well, without even getting up.

What's also amazing is that these changers are no wider than your regular hi-fi equipment, so they match perfectly with the rest of your gear. Then you can get rid of your CD jewel cases and DVD boxes, which makes these products great space savers as well.

Summary

Comfort of an iPod or MP3 player together with CD player sound quality
No need to spend time copying all your music
Capacity of 300 to 400 disks
Models for DVDs also available
Space-saving.

Tips

Several manufacturers such as Yamaha, Cambridge Audio, and probably many others, also offer high-quality systems with high-capacity hard disks, storing the music in uncompressed form without any loss of quality. But these tend to be more high-end and expensive, and you still have to spend time copying all your music to the hard disk. On the positive side, they have fewer mechanical parts.

Want to get rid of the jewel boxes but still be able to read the booklets? Buy transparent sleeves, which are just as nice but take up much less space.

Finally, place all your gear behind frosted glass to get rid of the cables and dust, and you'll never have to open your hi-fi cabinet again.

Alternatives:

If you don't mind ripping all your CD's and copying them onto an iPod, you can consider these iPod docking stations with remote controls that let you access your whole music collection from your couch.

Where to buy

You can buy them on the Internet or from your local hi-fi dealer, several models of changers are available from the Amazon.com website. Here's a link to the Pioneer PD-F1009 of which I'm a happy owner myself.

Approx. price: $200–400.