I bought this cd-player from Audio Emotions. I had a few good ones before but nothing quite like it, superb machine with one dark spot, a very annoying solid steel r/control.
What I did after I added a Vertex Kinabalu marble plate under supported with three cones, a digital interface from analogue output then added a DAC in the Box both made by Audio-Alchemy, these purchased from a recording studio in Italy in 1990. All simple tools have been plugged in a Classe' Audio Pre Amp from Canada (Threshold), Quad power amp and I forgive me...3way Canton Speakers ...the output is Class A grade. I am writing this because have not much money to spend but looking around in 2nd/h market I have managed to make Smetana come live in my Studio, John Lennon playing next to me, Michael Stearns going around the building

The Audio Analogue Paganini cd player blows away my Oppo 83 blue ray player. I have the std. 500.00 oppo, but it is also a fine player. The AA has much better bass and detail without sounding harsh at all. Outstanding on jazz and classical.This is my 5th cd player and the best I have heard. I noticed an immediate improvement all the way around sound sound.Also muilt like a tank all metal and stainless.This is my first review but had to write it as I am very, very happy so far with the player.

I'm from Jakarta-Indonesia, I read from many reviews that this CD-player was one of the best player for the middle class so I bought this CD player since 2004. In this last 3 years, I have some troubles with this system, last trouble was the player can not read the disc ("no disc" showed on the panel). Because the dealer has already replaced by the new Dealer and the "new dealer" didn't want to take over the responsibility for repairing my player, so I don't know where I can solve this problem ? I hope you can help me by telling me where is the nearest service center/Dealer.
Thanks.

All. Magic of music comes from. Like the slightly warm and bold rather cold, slightly harsh and over analytic. Very detailed.

If you like it cold it will make it hot.

First was the burn-in 150 hours. Then... a. The best player under 2000 Euro ? Paganini of Audio Analogue. I expected -at least- with the name Paganini, to excel with violin recordings. Yes. Classical music is a pleasure to listen. Harsh free, bold, grain free. As I like it. Soundstage depth, heigth: better that I expected. b. For about double the money -if not exactly- there is Musical Fidelity A5. A true magical experience. Plus add the gorgeous dynamics, right weight of sound, huge soundstage, life-like presentation of harmonic boldness. Extended and polite. Name it, its there. c. Give me more money and your ear's taste and I may brought Ayre and new Cary tubed 308 players. Both are fine. The four players above have something in common: They play music. Not bim-bam-hss-ding-dong effects and distortion from mid-priced in-player power supplies. No economy here. They are totaly high-end players (all of them) and deserve even a x10 the price of the player speaker or amp , too. Then the music that comes out is a matter of taste. I prefer Musical Fidelity A5 as my absolute reference until I reach the 6000 Euro price. After A5 I prefer the Paganini. Im listening 80 per cent classical music, jazz and a good,big 20 per cent hard rock even metal (from Led Zeppelin and King Crimson to Iron Maiden somethimes). Listen to rock without hi-fi artifacts. The speed of the bass is coming more from your speakers, cables, amps and after them ...CD. Paganini simply present it good, not stunning.

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Many

Music that draws your soul into the soundstage. Grain, edge, harshness or less resolution, less detail than other at the price point ? Not here.

It has the price of a hi-fi gear but it is absolutely for hi-end combo gears and one of the greatest bargains in hi-end cds. Need highest end cabling.

I own Musical Fidelity A5. Im the happiest man on earth when it plays classical music, jazz or rock with the magic and clarity of A5 specific. If someone told me I must buy a CD about the half price of A5 named with my favorite's violinist of all , Paganini , I will be expected at least to play violins with honor ! ! So, here it is . My reference for low-costing CDs. Don't hear about 'not for rockers'. The Paganini is for those who don't want to panish the ears with sharpness and hi-fi artifacts and lost their soul in the magic of music. Its not the ' nice , but Im sleeping, non fatigue but rounding nature ' cd player. If you told me, go and buy something more expensive than A5 I could buy Ayre or Cary 308 new CD player. For less there is one option for maximum enjoyment of jazz/classic/rock/hard rock music lovers like Im. The paganini or at least primo. Now ... what for an amp ? Heh, my absolute favorite, Blue Circle NSCS new solid-state amp that sounds like the most detailed warm tube amp ever. Also Audio Analogue is a pefrect mate for Pathos Classic One MkII. Cables ? Mate Paganini with Acoustic Zen or Cardas Reference cable or (great) the Varial RCA from Zu Cables. They send the sound to another stratosphere and it deserve this. Don't forget to listen to Paganini 24 caprice from Telarc. ! It unlock's the player's secret stages, hehehehe.

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Musical Fidelity A5 (for many aspects, the best Ive heared), Ayre, Cary 308(I don't own the last 2 but listened to them). All of them are presenting music like it should be.

Perfect for jazz and chamber music!

A bit on the soft side for rock'n roll.

Very good sounding - as in round, sweet and comfortable. There are no hard edges whatsoever. This may also lead some to feel that it is a bit dull and unenthusiastic. It is not a player for you if you just play rock'n roll, but for jazz and classical music it is very good in deed! The controls are not very thought through. They have generally high quality, but it is nearly impossible to see what button does what without full light on in the room. The remote is better in this account, but gives a very cheap feeling. My player is modified with heavy damping materials inside. This gives less vibration and (hopefully) better sound, since the servos get less to do.

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Philips CD960, Denon DVD-2900

Balance, long term satisfaction

No display off. Very cheap remote.

This for the central loading mkII. Paganini is a middle of the road sounding player in a very nice way. It will not annoy nor will it be showy. A good match with Puccini amps. It has detail, it's not overly warm, but not bright either. Personally I have great confidence in the quality of Audio Analogue products. I didn't find sorbothane feet good, Finite Elemente Ceraballs are much better= a must for Paganini. Without any doubt mkII is different from its predesessor and follower Paganini.

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Pioneer s801, Copland 288

- great warm sound with super vocals - looks wonderful

- slight hum - bad plastic remote control - clunky drawer mechanism

I've bought this fine CD-Player in June 2002, so it's the MKII-Version with a completely new design. After the burn-in period the player sounds wonderful. I often listen to italian music like Pino Daniele, Gigi D'Alessio and these vocals are very fine reproduced. I also tried some standard pop music and the Paganini MKII is very fine for dynamics, too. As others reviewers have mentioned below to change the powercord, I tried it too, but must say, that I have not heard a remarkable difference with the HMS cord. But you should buy a good interconnet (Goertz Micro Purl Copper!) to give an improvement. On the other side, the cheapy plastic remote control is bad, so are the metallic buttons on the player which are very small and do not have a precise press point. You will also hear a slight hum since you connect it with power. So my dealer put inside an absorber plate and now the hum is not so noisy anymore. If you push "open", you will notice a very clunky driver mechanism too, altough it's a good Philips one. Overall I love the sound of this CD-Player an recommend it to everyone who loves warm music, which goes very close to analogue sound. If you can turn a blid eye to the negatives, buy it! Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut II Tape: Kenwood KX 9050 Integrated: Audio Analogue Puccini SE MK II Speaker: Sonus Faber Concertino Home Interconnects: Goertz Micro Purl Copper (0.5 meter) Cable: Kimber Kable 4 PR

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Kenwood and some other low price stuff

Deep, rich bass. Warm, liquid tonality. Extraordinary detail.

None that I have discovered

Setup:
ADCOM GFA-555 Amp (200 watts)
AGI 511 pre-amp (no longer made)
Vandersteen 2Ci speakers
DH Labs Silver Sonic BL-1 interconnects
Phoenix Gold ZPMR4 Bi-wires

This player just keeps on giving. I have had a chance to A/B test it against the Rotel, Arcam, and CAL listed above and found it more satisfying in every respect. Deeper, richer bass, rounder notes, just a great big sound. Each of these players was impressive and should be enough to satisfy any sane listener, but the Paganini just kicks.

Given the "perfect" sound reproduction I was hearing on my initial audition disk (Patricia Barber [20-bit recording, terrific sound]), I was skeptical regarding this player's ability to swing. I put in some older Johnny Hodges...phenomenal, just a great sound. Beautiful, clean sounding sax and swinging rhthym section. For something a little dirtier, I tried some Steely Dan from the Pretzel Logic disk. It rocked with teh best of them. Biting guitar and hard-hitting bass. Just for the record (gee, a pun), the Paganini's reproduction of Mozarts Violin Concertos 207, 211, 218 was rich and thrilling.

I couldn't be happier and am on my way down to the shop to return my demo unit and buy one for myself.

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Rotel 991, Arcam Alpha 8SE, California Audio Lab CL-15

Close your eyes and shake hands with the artist

Remote not up to par with the deck

The build quality is impecable, newly designed for 2001, and while not as fancy with the revolver style layout is much more logical and easier to read.

The new Paganini CD player features true 96kHz/24bit D/A convertion via an Analog Devices AD1855 DAC. The power supply uses a toroidal transformer, one secondary of which is totally dedicated to the analog circuits that are fully separate from the digital supplies.

The deck is first of all, a smooth and sweet performer, with no digital harshness detectable. It does wonderfully in offering a very deep scene, deep and trasparant. It is wider and "taller" than anything I tested, including Cary tube and Audionet cd players at three times price. It was comparable to the electrocompaniet in the same range (3x).

If you're looking for player with a taste of hi-end smoothness, soundstaging and grainless sound your search is over.

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Audionet KIND-V, Cary CD-301, Electrocompaniet EMC-1