bappy

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.94 of 5, 16.00 votes

Price Paid:  $7500.00 from Medsys, Dhaka dealer

Summary:
This review is for Audio Aero reference CD Player (Signature Edition). Most probably this is the best player in the World, absolutely gorgeous. Do not want to bore people by explaining the sound, bass etc.etc. If you have money go and buy it, and then you will thank me that you did. Someone in this forum wrote that raymeo and DCS the only two player is better than audio aero, may be so with their older model, but with this new one they are not, as I have listen to Raymeo side by side with Reference and it bits Raymeo with every expect. Life is much better now with Aero, believe I can not sleep well as always thinking that I missing some time of listening. I have just purchased so burn in period is not over and only God knows what will happened after that. Suggestion: need to use very high quality interconnect and speaker cable, and also need to change the power cord as well.

Strengths:
Sweet, smooth, beautiful music only nothing else.

Weaknesses:
Did not like the remote control unit, do not know why.

Similar Products Used:
DCS, Raymeo, Balance Audio, Audio Aero Older Models.

magisterludi

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $6500.00 from dealer demo

Summary:
This review is for the final incarnation of the Capitole;Capitole Mark II SE.This unit revitalized my 500+ collection of Redbook cd's.I would not have believed how good most cd's can actually sound;I mean 50% of my cd's are now ,absolutely amazing.Generally speaking it provides a liquid smooth,harmonious 3D soundstage that is realistic in size and holds the different instruments locked in space,allowing detail that is beyond compare.And as excellent as it is in that respect,for me, the best part of this player is the inner reolution that it allows in a very life like manner.Truely live in the room on so many recordings which has added joy of music back into the listening experience.The best piece of audio gear that I have ever purchased.I highly recommend an audition to anyone with a high rez system! My System: Capitole MkII SE Rogue Audio Magnum 120 Amps Von Schweikert VR4jr Speakers Sony SCD333ES SACD 5 play Sony 555ES Tuner Virtual Dynamics Master Power Cords Stealth PGS-XL Interconnects Analysis Plus Crystal Oval 8 speaker cord

Strengths:
Stunning inner resolution! Overall sound quality on every different type of music.Black Diamond Racing cones for stability.Has performed flawlessly for 10 months now.Excellent,fast,realistic bass.This unit was set up with 4 analogue inputs to be used as a preamp.And again it performs excellent.In fact when playing an inexpensive Sony SACD 333es cdp thru the Capitole,SACD's sound better than most cd's played thru the Capitole.

Weaknesses:
Cost.So far there have been about 10 cd's that the software reads in a very unuseual manner.(that is only 2% of my cd collection. Plan on buying a very good power cord,this unit deserves it and you will be rewarded!

Similar Products Used:
Meridian,Rotel,Sony,Technics,Pioneer.

robmill

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.78 of 5, 9.00 votes

Price Paid:  $3500.00 from UK hifi dealer

Summary:
After living with a Naim CDS2 for about 2 years I thought it was time for a radical change. And what a change. The Capitol came in to my system and really changed everything. I now had soundstaging and heard things in the music that I had never heard before. It has a very warm but very analytical sound and also very very musical. Not as good as my VPI but then the VPI is another story. The bass response is close to the best I have heard from CD player. For the money I'm surprised it doesn't sell a lot more. A while later I ended up changing the Capitol to a Prima plus the Whest Audio DAP.10 which worked out a lot cheaper and sounded even better. The new combination is streets ahead of the Capitol and anything I heard up to about £5000 in every area. I recommend the Whest and hope I can review it at some point. Would I recommend a Capitol, yes if you can't get a DAP.10!

Strengths:
Smooth, analytical sound Not far off the best Build quality

Weaknesses:
Nothing really

Similar Products Used:
Naim CDS2 Audio Research CD Wadia Audio Aero Prima + Whest DAP.10

samoj1

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $7500.00 from UBIQ Ljubljana

Summary:
Audio Aero Capitole Mk II is the only CD player I've heard which can be compared to the best analog front ends. It's the first time since I sold turntable some 15years ago that I listen to music with long forgotten emotional involvement. Amazing achivement!

Strengths:
Plays music like no other CD player can!

Weaknesses:
changing tubes every year or so

Similar Products Used:
more than 30 CD players in 15 years...

Price Paid:  $0.00 from used

Summary:
CD player does not get better with on-board Anagram chip, which really upconverts signal to 24bits/192khz. Amazing sound on ANY kind of music.

Strengths:
Musicality, Wide Stereo Image, Precision, Flexibility (Digital Inputs, Analog Inputs, chip-based preamp)

Weaknesses:
Poor distribution network in France, much better in the UK.

Similar Products Used:
Linn CD12 (too expensive), AudioResearch CD3 (dull on classical), AudioMeca Enkiathus (less flexible).