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Review NaN of
Price Paid:
$1907.00
from Sound Plus Summary: My initial thoughts, on upgrading my Marantz CC3000 CD player, were to purchase an Arcam CD93 player, since I had the Arcam A85 integrated amp. But since the dealer did not have a CD93 in stock yet, I went on my quest to find another player.
After numerous auditions, I settled for the Music Hall Maverick CD player with 24/96 upsampling. When this player started to act up, after only 1 week in service, my quest for a replacement player continued. Eventually, it led me back to the Arcam dealer and what a good fortune that was! From listening to the last Arcam CD92,that they had left, I finally found the CD player I was looking for.
Out of the box, the CD92 was more than I could hope for. After about 35 hours of burn in, the player got even better. The sound produced by the player is extremely articulate with excellent midrange clarity and extended high frequencies. The soundstage and dynamics is second to none. The bass may be somewhat light in comparison to other players, especially those with upsampling, but is adequate for my type of listening.
If the new CD93 has a better sound, then go for it. However, if you happen upon a CD92, whether it be second hand or not, I don't think you would be making a mistake in getting it. Strengths: - Beautiful midrange
- Excellent highs (almost too good - a bit on the ear piercing side)
- Fantastic soundstage
- Great dynamics (one has to turn the volume down to allow for those high dynamic transient music passages)
- No problems in reading any CDs I have thrown at it.
- Very user friendly Weaknesses: - Bass not up to par with upsampled CD players.
- Remote could use a few less buttons although I rather have one too many than one too few.
- A bit pricey, but for a UK made product, probably should be expected.
- The red HDCD indicator light is way too bright but can be solved with a piece of black tape. Similar Products Used: - Owned Sony CDP345, Marantz CC3000 (garbage) and Music Hall Maverick (sounds great but doesn't work all the time)
- Auditioned Musical Fidelity A3.2, Creek CD50MK2, Linn Gemki, Unison Research Unico CD, Audio Analogue Paganini
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