Price Paid:  $895.00 from Kromer

Summary:
Just an update on my last posting. I have replaced the Kenwood receiver with a Denon avr4802r and it sounded excellent (in Pure Direct mode). However I did find that bass definition was rather poor, sloppy. I recently upgraded the power cord provided by Audio Refinement to an NRG-2 by Audioquest and ... WOW ... I could not believe my ears, was this the same music I was listening to? ... yes it was!

All I can say is that if you do own this CD player you owe it to yourself to replace that awfull powercord that comes with it. You will find accurate bass with slam (if your subwoofer can reproduce it) as well as an openess never before heard from this CD player (I'm not refering to that annoying in-your-face type of brightness that you get from other CD players in the Cambridge Audio/Nad/Rotel class). So much for those crying about this CD player not managing bass accurately, CHANGE TTHE POWER CORD and you'll stop crying. Vocals also became more natural and effortless. And throughout all these changes, this CD player was left as smooth and musical as it was before.

Not only did I notice an immediate improvement, but so did my wife who is not as critical. All in all I have just realized what an awesome product this is. A sonic masterpiece in its price class, worthy of its name (Audio Refinement). I hope that in the future I can afford to try some of the YBA line of products, because if this is their bottom line, I KNOW I will not be dissapointed by their real line. I know that for the money spent, I got more than I could have asked for.

Strengths:
Awesome sound, surpassed my expectations

Weaknesses:
none that I found but then I have never heard CD players over $2000

Similar Products Used:
see below

Price Paid:  $860.00 from Kromer Radio

Summary:
I purchased the AR CD Complete alpha recently, upgrading from a nice sounding Cambridge Audio 640C. For those who don't know, this player is manufactured in Taiwan and the first model I got was a disapointment. It failed to read ANY CD's. I returned it to the retailer and was loaned a display model until a new one arrives. This one works great, hats off to it. No problems so far.
In terms of reading speed this is definitely one of the fastest CD players I have seen in the under $1500 market.

Let me take a moment to assure you that I am not the most critical audiophile out there. I enjoy MUSIC and I firmly believe that I can enjoy a good piece on any system be it $600 or $5000. There are considerable diferences in playback between the two extremes and those can be taken into account systematically, but they should not be used to take away from the nuance of the musical piece. At higher cost, I find that it is simply EASIER to sink into the music because it is all laid out for you very clearly. Cheaper means more difficult to do the same.

Now, with all that in mind, here is my impression of this player:
Its sonic qualities surpass those of the CA 640C considerably. Imaging is very good and soundstaging is excellent provided that high-end interconnects/ speaker cables/ amps/ preamps/ speakers are used. If you compromise on any of these you will not hear the full potential of this player. I use a Kenwood 6060 A/V receiver and it definitely takes away from the sound, but I have also heard it paired with the integrated amp in the AR Complete alpha series and Martin Logan Clarity's and although the integrated amp puts out a mere 50W/channel the sound is very clean and can easily fill a medium sized room with the volume turned to half only. However, a separate amp/preamp is desireable to get the best sound out of it. I use a pair of Mordaunt Short 914's with Monster Sigma Retro gold speaker cables and Audioquest Coral interconnects and the results are surprisingly pleasant, given that I use a mid-end A/V receiver at present.
Break in takes about 30 hours preceeded by an additional 2 hour recommended warm-in period.
In my opinion this player is worth every penny ... you pay for what you get. But you get no more than that, don't be disillusioned if it doesn't make it into the $2000 range.

Strengths:
clarity and finesse
sturdy front pannel
floating transistor
skip forward/rewind, slow forward/rewind, repeat and timer available
coaxial/analog outputs
very easy to install/set up
nice blend of black with silver accents on front pannel

Weaknesses:
remote has to be purchased separately (USD 55)

Similar Products Used:
Panasonic F65
Cambridge Audio 640C
Sony Super Audio Cd player (can't remember the number) beat the AR player but costs almost double

Price Paid:  $995.00 from Sound Mind Audio, Au

Summary:
This is the new Alpha Comlpete. This is definatly one of the best under $1500.
Very musical and smooth. Great improvement over the Sony ES it is replacing. Fit and finish are outstanding, as good as I have seen at ANY price. Also, the buying experience at Sound Mind Audio was one of the best
I have ever had.

Strengths:
Very musical.
Outstanding fit and finish.

Weaknesses:
None yet.

Price Paid:  $800.00

Summary:
This CD player will give you your moneys worth. Very detailed, plays
all of the music equally. When I compared this unit to a lesser CD
player, I found out what that meant. For some reason all my music
sounds great on both CD players except for Sada. But Sada
sounds great on the CD Complete.

I did notice the unit sounds better on the mids to highs and is a little
base shy. The unit I compared it with had more base, but lacked
detail the entire freq range. What I wasn't able to find was a CD
player around the same price range that came in sivler and sounded
as good or better. Not saying they don't exist, I just didn't find one.

I use this unit as a second source for a multizone preamp and I couldn't
be happier.

Strengths:
Great build. Great value. Almost a perfect visual match for my silver
Anthem AVM20.

Weaknesses:
Will get back to you on this one.
My dealer has a call in about a particular
problem. As an engineery and after looking
at AR's product line, I can see how this
problem may have occurred. From what my
dealer told me, I am very impressed with
how AR is going after the issue. Not a
bad company to buy from.

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba DVD players and Marantz CD players.
I really didn't see anything in this price
range in silver.

While researching a problem I was allowed
to take home a Marantz CD player.

Price Paid:  $900.00 from chioce hi fi

Summary:
this cd player is open. thin. in the bass warmish but lacks real punch dont get me wrong ilove the sound UPRGRADE ASAP WITH A TRICHORD CLOCK 2 FOR £49 BARGIN USE A TWELVE VOLT BATTERY ((NOT CAR TYPE))RUN THE CLOCK OFF THAT THIS PLAYER WITH A CHANGE CAPS IN THE DAC, SECTION. AND THE VOLTAGE. NOW THIS PLAYER IS IN £2000 WORTH OF CD PLAYER BEFORE UPGRADE IT WAS ALL MOST AS GOOD AS A MERIDAIN 200 TRANSPORT AND 263 DAC, SINCE THESE MODS IT BLOWS THE MERIDAIN OUT OF THE WATER TONS MORE DETAIL SPACE VERY GOOD DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND TURN A GOOD CD PLAYER TO AMAZEING ONE I WOULD SAY MERIDAIN 508 WATCH OUT

Strengths:
TRIHORD CLOCK

Weaknesses:
UN MODIFIED NEEDS CLOCK RUN OFF SEPARATE POWER SUPPLY

Similar Products Used:
MERIDAIN TRANSPORT AND DAC £1500 POUNDS WORTH