SACD, DVD-A, & CD Players & Transports & Media Players
Class A+
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Ayre Acoustics DX-5 "Universal A/V Engine": $9950 Based around the Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player, the multichannel-capable DX-5 plays CDs, SACDs, DVD-A, DVD-V, and Blu-ray discs, while its USB port handles resolutions up to 24-bit/192kHz. It uses a new Ayre power supply, Ayre's zero-feedback, fully balanced audio circuitry, opto-isolators to prevent noise from entering the audio signal, and the latest iteration of Ayre's minimum-phase digital reconstruction filter. The DX-5 sounded lush and warm with CDs and SACDs, but somewhat soft overall; with DVD-As, the sound was just as smooth, but with better imaging precision, spaciousness, three-dimensionality, and bass punch, said MF. Measured performance, especially via its asynchronous USB port, was outstanding, said JA. Compared to the dCS Debussy, the DX-5 had a warmer midrange but sacrificed speed, precision, and bass weight, said MF. Compared to the Oppo BDP-83, the Ayre had an equally rich sound, but with greater transparency and dynamics, said KR, adding that despite his skepticism, "Ayre really achieved sonic improvements in the HDMI output over the stock Oppo output that sits on the same back panel. Best audio HDMI sound so far." Black finish adds $250. (Vol.33 No.12, Vol.34 No.1 Read Review Online) |
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Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP: $5950 ✩ "An impressive hunk of audio jewelry," the C-5xe is a music-only, two-channel-only disc player that uses a Pioneer universal transport, a Burr-Brown DSD1792 DAC chip, and a Sony CXD2753R SACD decoder. No video output of any kind. In combining musical integrity with true audiophile precision, the C-5xe was not only a "fabulous CD player" but a revelation with hi-rez media, finally introducing WP to the higher aspirations of SACD and DVD-Audio. 'so this is what all the fuss has been about," he marveled. "The Ayre C-5xe has proved to be the best-sounding product I've heard all year." JA agreed: "A nicely engineered piece of kit!" and he bought one for his system. Even ST was impressed: "Excellent sound, flawless operation." AD, however, was less enthusiastic, preferring Ayre's CX-7e on CD "a lot better." WP disagreed, noting that the CX-7e lacked the C-5xe's rhythmic drive and huge soundstage. Directly comparing the C-5xe with the Muse Polyhymnia, WP felt the Ayre traded the Muse's slam and impact for greater breath and coherence. JA's most recent measurements confirmed a superbly low noise floor and equally superb rejection of jitter. Stereophile's "Joint Product of 2005." The Ayre's playback of high-resolution recordings offered a slightly less congested lower midrange than "Red Book" CDs played through the Meridian 808i.2, but in a head-to-head CD comparison, the Ayre couldn’t match the Meridian's expansive soundstages and clearly defined images. Current production incorporates Ayre's Minimum Phase (MP) filter, implemented with a field-programmable gate array, for 16x oversampling of the digital audio data. The C-5xeMP sounded more focused and more relaxed while imparting a "deep sense of "rightness"," said Wes. Existing C-5xe players can be upgraded to MP status for $200. (Vol.28 No.7, Vol.29 No.5, Vol.30 No.10, Vol.32 Nos.2 & 4; MP upgrade, Vol.32 No.7 Read Review Online) |
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Boulder 1021: $25,000 ✩ Not your dad's dumb CD player," the upsampling Boulder 1021 has 24-bit DACs running at 352.8kHz and uses a PC running the Linux operating system to manage its internal disc database. When a CD is loaded, the Boulder displays the disc's metadata on its large front-panel screen. Additionally, the 1021 can play data discs carrying high-resolution audio files. Playing CDs, JA was impressed by the Boulder's combination of low-frequency weight, upper-bass definition, and grain-free highs. With hi-rez files, the Boulder "was stunning: open, airy, grain-free, with a sharply defined soundstage and an excellent sense of the recorded acoustic." Current version can play files from NAS drives. (Vol.32 No.7 Read Review Online) |
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Bryston BDP-1: $2195 Simple in function and purist in design, the plug’n’play BDP-1 digital audio player is basically a Linux computer optimized for streaming audio files. Based on the user-friendly Auraliti L-1000, the BDP-1 plays digital files from external flash drives or portable hard drives plugged into one of its four USB 2.0 ports; it adds an AES/EBU output to the Auraliti's S/PDIF and has a front-panel display and keypad to control playback. Once properly set up and configured and used with Bryston's BDA-1 DAC, the BDP-1 produced open highs, a rich midrange, stunning dynamic range, and three-dimensional imaging, said LG. JA, too, was impressed: "Bryston's BDP-1 proved to be an excellent-performing digital source, with a low-jitter, bit-accurate data output capable of operating at sample rates up to 192kHz." BR-2 remote control adds $375. (Vol.34 No.6 Read Review Online) |
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Cary Audio Design CD-306 SACD Professional Version: $7995 ✩ The handsome, front-loading Cary offers HDCD decoding and switchable upsampling ratio, and includes a handy digital input for use with a network music player. It excelled at preserving a recording's sense of space, and had a smooth, natural, seamless sound. At the highest upsampling ratio, CDs were reproduced with a similar seamlessness and benefited from improved bass clarity and impact. "It's on the expensive side," concluded JA, "but you get a well-engineered, solidly built, superb-sounding player with close to state-of-the-art measured performance." Mikey was impressed by the Cary's lightning-fast attack, astonishing resolution, and breathtaking transparency. Though fast and exciting, the Cary couldn’t approach the 10x-more expensive dCS Scarlatti's "harmonically richer, more dimensional, microdynamically superior, more relaxed, more detailed sound," said MF. (Vol.31 No.11, Vol.32 Nos.2 & 8, see also MF's review of the 303T in Vol.33 No.9 Read Review Online) |
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Cary Audio Design Classic CD-303T SACD Professional Version: $6495 Made in Hong Kong, the impressively built CD-303T is an unusually versatile, fully balanced SACD/CD/HDCD player-DAC combo with multiple digital inputs and outputs. It can upsample CDs to as high as 768kHz, offers a choice of solid-state or tubed output, and provides 24-bit/192kHz resolution from its USB input. It uses four Burr-Brown PCM 1792u 24-bit chips and a Sony transport remanufactured by Cary to include a new aluminum disc tray. Though it lacked top-end air and bottom-end control, the CD-303T had a warm, full, relaxed sound with outstanding texture and three-dimensionality, said MF. JA was puzzled by its low-level linearity error when playing CDs, however. (Vol.33 No.9 Read Review Online) |
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dCS Scarlatti: $82,246/system as reviewed ✩ This complex, sophisticated four-box system includes the dual-laser SACD/CD Scarlatti Transport ($32,999), with DSD datastream output via IEEE1394 FireWire interface; the Scarlatti DAC ($23,999), with dCS-patented Ring DAC topology and switchable reconstruction filters; the Scarlatti Master Clock ($9999), with eight independently buffered outputs; and the Scarlatti Upsampler ($12,999), with switchable filters that upsample data to high-sample-rate PCM or DSD. USB input operates in the much preferred asynchronous mode; version shipping August 2012 included 24/192 LPCM and DSD over USB. With both SACDs and CDs, the Scarlatti stack produced sound that was effortless, transparent, tonally neutral, and dimensional, said MF. "The dCS Scarlatti is the best-sounding, most satisfying digital playback system I've heard." JA noted "state-of-the-art" measured performance. (Vol.32 No.8 Read Review Online) |
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dCS Puccini: $18,999 The Puccini, the least-expensive model in the new dCS line, is a one-box SACD/CD player with both balanced and unbalanced analog outputs; it has pairs of digital inputs and outputs, and can be partnered with the external Puccini U-Clock ($5499), which offers 24-bit/192kHz support as of the summer of 2011 and adds a USB input. (DSD over USB is scheduled for the summer of 2012.) The Puccini employs dCS's Ring DAC and the bombproof UMK5 Esoteric transport mechanism, while the U-Clock's USB port uses a Texas Instruments TAS 1020B USB receiver chip operating in asynchronous mode. With its convincing low frequencies, outstanding midrange clarity, "righteous sense of musical flow," and state-of-the-art measured performance, the Puccini produced a sound that allowed JA to almost forget he was listening to recordings. The V1.2 firmware upgrade eliminates the low-level, low-frequency idle tone JA discovered with SACD playback, and adds three new low-pass filters for CD playback and external 44.1kHz-sampled data: Classic, which has the same linear-phase characteristic as the Puccini's earlier DSD filter; Long, said to have better anti-imaging performance than Classic; and Asym, free from pre-ringing but with a larger degree of post-ringing on transients. JA heard no substantial difference between the Classic and Long filters, but with the Asym filter engaged there was a greater ease to the overall sound and images were more dimensional. "Highly recommended." (Vol.32 No.12, Vol.33 No.10 Read Review Online) |
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Krell Cipher: $12,000 Outwardly similar to Krell's Evolution 505, the Cipher weighs 29 lbs and measures 17.3" W by 6" H by 17.3" D. Its aircraft-grade aluminum case is available in silver or black, and has rounded edges and slotted sides for a graceful appearance. Like the 505 and other components in the Evolution series, the Cipher incorporates Krell's proprietary CAST current-drive circuitry. Whereas the 505 had a single stereo D/A converter, the Cipher uses a pair of 24-bit/192kHz DACs, which deliver higher current to the analog stages and expand the dynamic range by 3dB. The Cipher excelled at "revealing the finest subtleties of a musical passage, untangling the knottiest complexities, and showering light on the tonal colors of a voice, an instrument, or an ensemble," said FK. JA noted superb measured performance. (Vol.35 No.5 Read Review Online) |
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Luxman D-05: $5000 Made in Japan and built like a tank, the D-05 measures 18" W by 6" H by 17" D and weighs 32 lbs. It plays CDs, SACDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs, but not MP3 CD-Rs. Analog output is via high-quality, gold-plated RCA jacks or Neutrik balanced XLR jacks, while a rear-panel S/PDIF RCA jack provides direct access to the D-05's DAC stage. The DAC uses a Burr-Brown PCM1792A chip, upsamples to 24 bits, and accepts external inputs up to 96kHz. JM described the sound as "both listenable and sophisticated." Compared to Ayre's CX-7eMP, the Luxman had a richer, fuller midrange and deeper soundstage, but lacked articulation and focus. (Vol.35 No.4 Read Review Online) |
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Meridian Digital Media System: $7000–$10,500 depending on options ✩ Originally branded as Sooloos, this hard-drive–based networked music system includes the Source:One system controller with 24-bit/192kHz converters sourced from RME, two-channel analog and digital outputs, and four-port Ethernet switch; the Store/Twinstore hard drive with mirrored storage for the contents of over 2000 CDs (encoded in the lossless FLAC format); and the Control:One, a 17" LCD touchscreen display/interface with CD drive. Additionally, Sooloos's ControlPC software can be used to control the system and manage hard-drive data. Setup and use were simple and intuitive. "Using the Sooloos got me more deeply involved with my music library than at any time since I began collecting many years ago," commended JI. "If you have thousands of albums on a music server, there is simply no better way to manage them," he adds. Linked to the Meridian Reference 861 pre-pro via its S/PDIF output, the Sooloos produced dynamic, involving performances. "When used as a digital source for a quality DAC, the Sooloos was as good as any other CD source I've tried," praised KR. JI notes as of February 2009 that almost a year after he first set up the Sooloos, it still holds its own against iTunes and other server products that have appeared in the last 12 months. As of summer 2009, the Control:One touchscreen interface became the Control 10 and has a handy S/PDIF out, which means you can use the DAC of your choice. All of the Control 10's networking hardware is contained in its slim base; it offers a wealth of connectors, including S/PDIF and Meridian SpeakerLink outputs, DC power in, and an Ethernet port, and allows the importing of hi-rez audio and WAV files. In addition, many of the Sooloos's stock features have been made more intuitive while reducing the number of interim steps for faster management of your music library. The Control 15 ($7500), the latest version of the Sooloos touchscreen, comes with a 500G internal hard drive, while the Media Drive 600 ($5000), the current RAID 1 housing component, has room for a mirrored pair of 2TB hard disks. The Control 15 lacks a DAC but is now compatible with virtually all non-DRM file types, and its S/PDIF output supports resolutions up to 24-bit/96kHz. JI: "I still don’t think there's a better overall music-server system for the music lover and audiophile who wants to do away with the clutter of CDs and iTunes" and agrees with MF that the Control 15 was fully competitive with the cost-no-object MSB disc transport. (Vol.31 No.9, Vol.32 No.10, Vol.35 No.7 Read Review Online) |
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MSB Platinum Data CD IV: $3995 Designed to match MSB's Diamond DAC IV, the Platinum Data CD IV transport is compatible with CDs or WAV files (up to 32-bit/384kHz) on DVD-R, and provides coaxial, TosLink, AES/EBU, and MSB Network outputs. It spins CDs at up to 40 times the real-time rate, then rereads each sector to ensure correct data retrieval; if it finds any differences, the MSB assumes that all reads were incorrect, and adjusts spin speed, tracking, and laser focus as many times as necessary to achieve a "perfect" result. While the MSB outclassed the Oppo BDP-83, offering greater detail, scale, and dynamics, JI was hard-pressed to pick a favorite between the MSB and his Meridian Sooloos server. Signature Transport Power Base adds $3495. (Vol.35 No.10 Read Review Online) |
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Oppo BDP-95: $999 $$$ Physically and electronically distinct from earlier Oppo BD players, the BDP-95 Universal Audiophile 3D Blu-ray Disc Player boasts a solid, hefty chassis and a substantial toroidal transformer built by Rotel. Most significant, however, are the player's two Sabre32 Reference ES9018 DAC chips: one for the 7.1-channel analog output, the other dedicated to the stereo output, thus improving the signal/noise ratio and allowing the BDP-95 to run fully balanced to its XLR outputs. In addition to its analog outputs, the Oppo provides an Ethernet LAN port, HDMI 1 and 2 outputs, two USB ports, and optical and coaxial digital outputs. Compared to the Sony SCD-XA5400ES, the BDP-95 was consistently more open and spacious, with better articulation of instruments and voices. KR: "Oppo Digital has made a leap forward with this model: a universal disc player that deserves consideration by serious audiophiles." He sums up "an outstanding value in a universal player. While not as generously built as the Sony XA-5400ES, the BDP-95 edges ahead with its more open and spacious soundstaging." FK feels the Oppo is outclassed by the Krell Cipher, however. (Vol.34 No.9 Read Review Online) |
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Playback Designs MPS-5 Reference: $17,000 Designed by Sony and Studer alum Andreas Koch and made in the US, the MPS-5 is a slim, single-box, fixed-output, two-channel SACD/CD player, upgradeable to multichannel by adding Playback Designs" outboard MPD-5 DAC. Its digital input/output section is carried in the chassis's upper section, while the lower section houses a modified TEAC Esoteric SACD/CD transport and the player's analog output circuitry. The MPS-5 includes Playback Designs" Frequency Arrival System, said to completely eliminate jitter from the audio signal. Once broken in, the MPS-5 produced a "masterfully neutral top-to-bottom tonal balance" with well-extended bass and open, airy highs, said MF. Compared to the dCS Scarlatti, the MPS-5 sounded "somewhat cooler and more analytical," but offered slightly better transparency and three-dimensionality. Although JA found the MPS-5's error correction "astounding," he was puzzled by its relatively high levels of background noise which appeared to reduce the player's intrinsic resolution on SACD closer to that typical of CD. Compared to the Marantz SA-KI-Pearl, the MPS-5 sounded, to MF, "faster, tighter, more resolving, better extended, and more expressive, particularly on the bottom." The MPS-5 traded the delicacy, richness, and atmospherics of the Ayre DX-5 for greater dynamics, blacker backgrounds, and more three-dimensionality, said MF. Compared with the Simaudio Moon Evolution 650D, the MPS-5 had similarly sharp transient attack but lacked clarity, texture, bass control, and focus, felt MF. 2012 producion has USB-X to handle DSD datastreams. (Vol.33 Nos.2, 7, & 12, Vol.34 No.11 Read Review Online) |
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Sony SCD-XA5400ES: $1499 $$$ ✩ Similar in appearance to earlier ES models, the SCD-XA5400ES uses an 8x-oversampling filter and a noise-shaping algorithm that result in a 2.8224MHz signal-sampling frequency, and offers multichannel digital output via HDMI. (Used with either the Arcam AV888 pre-pro or Kal's Meridian HD621/861, the Sony successfully output PCM and DSD via HDMI.) CD playback was "a revelation," with sound that was "detailed, spacious, and luscious," said KR. Compared to the SCD-XA9000ES, the new model sounded smoother overall without sacrificing top-to-bottom clarity or detail. "For the moment, I have yet to hear a better SACD/CD player," said Kal. Compared to the Yamaha Aventage BD-A1000, the Sony had a more dramatic and forward sound, but lacked the Yamaha's broad, deep soundstage and superior delineation of instruments and ambience, said KR. (Vol.32 Nos.5 & 11, Vol.34 No.5 Read Review Online) |
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