Need a CD player with Spotify Connect
I'm looking for a front end for a system for my dad, which will be fed in to a pair of Meridian DSP speakers. Previously I had a seperate CD player and a Squeezebox Touch which was used to stream a library of FLACs, but he now finds that Spotify is much more convenient and the Squeezebox implementation of this is pretty flaky. The CD player has broken so I am hoping to simplify the setup with a single device.A combination of a CD player and streamer with Spotify Connect would be ideal (he has a large CD collection) but seems hard to come by. Any suggestions? I'd prefer to stay with an entry-level budget of around £200. Would the CD player digitally feed the Meridian speakers directly? Or is there a switching box between the CD and speakers? If there's a switching box - ideally with some digital inputs - then that opens up your options. For example, then a Chromecast Audio could take care of the Spotify side of things. Can't think of anything at that budget, nearest I know of is the Yamaha CD-NT670D which is £300. I was going to suggest the naim unitilite but that is well out of budget. What connections do the meridians have or are you using a preamp.
The Yamaha wxc50 is a good preamp with Spotify (£250 new), add a £50 second hand cd/dvd player with optical out (using wxc50 dac), but this will be a little over budget.
If the meridians have digital inputs then the rueful/raumfeld connector 2 is a good, reasonably priced streamer or go bargain budget with the Chromecast audio.
The Yamaha cd-nt670d will probably do the job but again over budget. First base here is to establish what else, if anything, is in the equipment chain because Meridian DSP speakers typically only have coax digital inputs. The Yamaha has no digital out. The Meridians are active with coaxial digital inputs only, so a preamp isn't an option. Seems odd that there are a few budget streaming boxes out there but hardly anything that has a CD player! The Yamaha looks interesting, I may look for a bargain on that. Any othersuggestions? As @Jules Tohpipi correctly pointed out, the Yamaha CDP has no digital out, so no good in this scenario. So the Chromecast Audio together with another (used?) CDP seems the best option given the budget.
Could also be worth posting on the SB forums to see if you can resolve the issues with the Spotty plugin. I'd go with a Teufel Connector used cd player. Arcam Alphas are plentiful on eBay.
If you can stretch the budget a touch you could get a Teufel for 120 and there is an Arcam cd82 on evay for 120. Missed that, thanks for pointing it out. Annoyingly the previous version (CDN301) did have a coaxial output and was being cleared by Richer Sounds at £169, none left though!
The Teufel Connector or Chromecash Audio don't have coax outs either, only optical. Loads of cheap streaming options are available but integrating it with a CD player seems to be a problem... Now, I know this is not a very elegant solution, but I saw this box on Amazon. It allows you to select between an optical and coax digital input (e.g. CD player and streamer), and has a coax output for the Meridian speakers. There's a manual slider switch to select between the digital inputs unfortunately, and it doesn't look pretty. So it might not be acceptable from that point of view.
EASYCEL 192K Multifunction Audio Converter, HDMI ARC: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
If feasible, it might be worth splitting out the two functions (CD and Spotify) at this stage. Not only would it be cheaper but also makes future hardware upgrades easier. For example, if Spotify were to follow Amazon's recent move of improving its streaming quality.
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