The music coming out of your iPod doesn’t sound as good as it would coming from a CD. Period.

That doesn’t mean you have to spend $1,000 to squeeze the best possible audio out of your songs, does it?

Hence, we learn the plight of the audiophile. How good can music sound? How high can the quality get? How much should you spend?

The Marantz SA8003 was a treat. It puts out clear, rich bass notes, great midrange sound, and surprisingly clean treble with just a hint of imperfection at the highest tones. But we asked the company why anyone should pay $1,000 or more (the SA8003 is one of their midprice models) for a CD player.

After all, it’s a laser hitting a disc. What makes their lasers any better than Sony’s or even Coby for the matter.

Here’s the complete, unedited response from Kevin Zarow, vice president of marketing for Marantz — you decide:

“There is a noticeable difference between a $200 CD player and an “audiophile quality” $1,000 Super Audio CD (SACD) player like the Marantz SA8003 “" and it’s something that even casual listeners will be able to hear immediately. The much higher fidelity SACD player actually enables you to hear subtle things in your favorite music that you’ve probably never heard before, like more realistic vocals, deeper, richer bass notes, as well as a wider, more three dimensional sound stage. Beyond that, the build quality between players is significant. A player such as the Marantz will weigh a lot more, due to a more robust chassis, designed to reduce vibration which by the way, improves sound. The power supplies, DACs and CD drive mechanism will all be much higher grade and great attention will be paid to the signal path to insure that you hear the music in its purest form and not the electronics.”

The SA8003 also has a USB port if you really get lonely for MP3s and music files. The optical output also

Pros: The SA8003 is an audiophile-quality CD player with crisp, clear sound, and rich bass. It also has a USB port for playing MP3s.

Cons: You really have to want it to spend $1,000 on a CD player, since your DVD player, video game console, and computer can all play CDs.

The final word: Speaking strictly from a quality perspective, the SA8003 is great. Remember though, this is just a CD player and it’s only going to sound as good as the speakers and amplifier you already have.

Don’t miss John Guilfoil’s “Five ways to listen to music without an iPod” story, in The Boston Globe.

The Discgear Selector 100FX is a handy solution for keep track of your loose CD’s and DVD’s.

We’re in an age where CD-R’s are less than a dime a dozen and DVD and Blu-ray/HD-DVD -R’s are starting to show up more commonly. The Selector 100FX takes care of that by letting you throw everyone in one bin, label them and pick out what you need individually.

All you have to do is slide the lever over to the CD you want and it’s ready when you open the case.

The 100FX has a tubular design, doesn’t take up much space, (14.75″ x 5.5″ x 6.25″) so there’s no worrying about your precious desktop space.

There has never been a way to put 100 CD’s together more easily. I was very impressed with this Discgear selection.

Nelly Furtado is set to release a collection of live performances from her 2007 Get Loose World Tour. A DVD will feature 17 songs from her set list (including a cover of Gnarls Barcley’s “Crazy” previously not released in the U.S.) and a half hour of documentary footage. The music CD version will consist of 11 songs.

The Grammy winner was the top selling female artist for 2006-2007, according to Geffen Records, her label. Her third album, Loose, has been certified gold or platinum in 31 countries with sales reaching seven million.

“For the last eight years I’d never really traveled with a full production of lights, visuals and dancers,” said Furtado who was backed by four dancers and a six-piece band for her “Get Loose,” “but this tour I had all of it, which was a real treat.”

DVD Tracks:

1. Afraid
2. Say It Right
3. Turn Off The Light
4. Powerless
5. Do It / Wait For You
6. Showtime
7. Crazy
8. In God’s Hands
9. Try
10. All Good Things (Come to An End)
11. Give It To Me
12. I’m Like A Bird
13. Glow / Heart Of Glass
14. Forca
15. Promiscuous
16. Party / No Hay Igual
17. Maneater

The DVD and CD will hit stores December 4, Geffen said.