Build Quality & Looks Sound quality

No power on/off on remote No optical out (unless you get the ADAM upgrade) Like all carousels it can be slow to go from disk to disk

Though CD carousel changers are not as popular as they once were, this unit is a solid-performing high-quality component to add to your rack. If you own the matching Parasound equipment (PSP-1500, TDQ-1600, etc.), then this fits in perfectly with tank-like build quality and great looks. It works as you would expect - very straight forward. Musically it sounds very good.

Simple to use, no frills

Very noisy operation, overpriced

After my Yamaha gave up its life I decided I would move up the scale a bit. Parasound has always seemed like a quality company, be it from reviews or word of mouth you seldom hear a bad word about them. So I decided that was the way I would go. I found a deal too good to be true and jumped on it. It arrived and I hurried to un-box it. I hooked it up only to find out it did not work. After waiting a whole week to get it I dred having to ship it back so I tore it down and repaired it myself. Nothing big just one tooth off on the transport. So I hooked it up again, tada it works. Tray only opens enough to see two discs this is normal but annoying because after three seconds it closes automatically, Very annoying! Player has shuffle control but only via the cheap remote no button on the player. No optical out without purchase of very expensive add on module, but no toslink (good or bad if thats what you got thats what you need). Sound is good but no better than the old Yamaha. Needlees to say the Parasound will be going up for sale and Ill be purchasing another Yamaha.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha CDC-845

People who buy changers are usually divided into those who want pure convenience and those who want quality + upgradability while not sacrificing convenience. I found the Yamaha CDC765 to be the ultimate changer in convenience. It has all the playback features that the Parasound lacks. However, it is not upgradable and there is only an optical output for digital. The Parasound C/DC1500 uses BurrBrown's hybrid 1/18 bit DAC. The outputs of the standard model are 1 set of stereo RCA and 1 coax digital. All gold plated Tiffany RCA type plugs.
Sound: Crisp musical highs but too bright and scratchy on vocals. In comparison to the similarly priced Adcom GCD-700, it has worse sound overall. In fact, I prefer the smooth sound of the Yamaha. Connecting the Parasound using the digital coax the sound becomes much better. It sounds similar to the Adcom in terms of overall sound quality. The sound is definitely much better than the Yamaha through toslink.

Built Quality: The Adcom unit while costed twice as much seems to be less durable than the Yamaha CDC765. There are many complaints of errors and break downs throughout the net about this unit. The Parasound on the other hand is built like a rock. It seems much heavier and durable than the Adcom. If I have to pick a transport CD changer, this would definitely be my choice.

Conclusion: If you want great sound without using external DAC then you may want to go for the Adcom GCD-700 (also consider the durability). If you're looking for the best changer transport under $1000, the Parasound C/DC1500 is the ultimate choice. You can get the Adcom or Parasound for about $500 in the net. Used prices are much lower than the retail prices.

If you want a truly nice CD and your wife insists you get a changer ("so I can listen to Julio and Carly at the same time")there are not a lot of choices. The 1500 certainly fills the bill. The quality of construction is impressive. The controls make sense and the remote is not too difficult to figure out (no, I don't bother with manuels). I have this in line with a Parasounc amp and preamp connected to some PSB speakers. It sounds wonderful! I listen to a lot of classical and good ole R&R. I would recommend this changer to anyone-even those who don't need more than one disc at a time.