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TechRadar
Ruth Hamilton

9 of the coolest new CD players in 2026 — from a B&O masterpiece that costs more than a house deposit to ‘the turducken of hi-fi’

Three CD players.

Physical media is making a comeback, and if you fancy dusting off your CD collection, you're spoiled for choice when it comes to what to play it on. Your megablaster or discman — if it's survived over the decades (I regret to inform you, it is decades) — won't cut it, I'm afraid. Below, I've rounded up nine of the most intriguing, innovative, and downright cool CD players, including ones that have hit the market in recent months.

There's a 2-in-1 CD player and turntable that we dubbed "the turducken of hi-fi". Yamaha has a 5-disc CD changer that'll let you party like it's 2002. While not quite on the market yet, we've got our eye on this Kickstarter campaign for a transparent player that lets you showcase your CD like a piece of art.

My personal favorite is the Bang & Olufsen Beosound 9000, a labor-of-love, limited run reimagining of its classic 1996 CD player, which uses actual components from the original products. The originals were sourced at house sales, warehouses, and auctions, painstakingly disassembled, the components re-engineered, and given a new lease of life in the updated model. Really, who can put a price on that kind of craftsmanship? (Each one is $55,000).

Scroll down for a closer look at the coolest CD players around — click the More Details button to find out more about each one, then vote for your personal favorite in the quiz at the bottom, and leave a note in the comments if there are any suggestions I've missed.

Disc spinners

Read more: Fosi Audio Merak CD player review

View at Fosi Audio

Pros

  • Direct, insightful and quite eloquent sound
  • CD ripping function
  • Analog and digital outputs

Cons

  • Antsy at the top end and slightly lightweight at the bottom
  • Not as portable as it looks
  • Convoluted user interface

Read more: Hideo Kojima is celebrating his love of physical discs with a new limited edition version of my favorite mini CD player

View at km5

Read more: The world’s first ‘concentric’ turntable and CD player combo is the turducken of hi-fi

View at Mixx

Read more: Bang & Olufsen's limited-run vertical 6-disc CD player makes physical music fun again

View at Bang & Olufsen

Read more: Yamaha just unveiled a 5-disc CD changer like it’s 2002

View at Yamaha

Read more: Forget vinyl LPs – the Hegel Viking will take your CD collection to Valhalla

View at Hegel

Read more: This transparent CD player puts the inner workings on full display like a work of art — it's the perfect showpiece for physical media fans

View at KickStarter

Read more: This retro-inspired portable CD player looks super-sleek, has audiophile credentials including a headphones amp for spicier cans, lasts 12 hours, and offers Bluetooth, 3.5mm, 4.4mm and Coax output too

View at Shanling

Read more: High-end hi-fi company YBA has made what it claims is the world's first transportable' CD player for SACDs — it's got the audiophiles in the office very excited, but it's not exactly a handheld model to slip in your jacket pocket

View at YBA

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