Price Paid:  $750.00 from Thailand

Summary:
I brought this billon CD player for long time ago. (mihgt be in 2000) After that, It is only one CD player in my system. I never for the new one again! that wasn't the best player in the world but cause if I want the better one, I've to pay at lease more than twice of its price. it has very clear sound. Bass is sharp on first impact and no any booomy sound for the rest of bass range, the better cd player should just can show more power to control a very deep bass and more dynamic contrast in this range. for the midrange notthing to talk about the better cd could only show micro sound detail for a realistic ambiance and more dynamic contrast. for a high fequencies, you must have to use it with very hi-end system that you might want higher fequency respond or a little longer ambiance ot be hold in the air. all i can say just, it has all of good caracteristic of ideal cd player should be in a scale of very value compair with it price. (my CL-15 is last first hand from Thailand Dealer who want to clear it from their stock so I got it in very low price.

Strengths:
Sound quality in every details and every fequencies range at this price

Weaknesses:
useless display (I never turn the display light on cause even if iI turn on the display light, I still can read it from 4 meter.)

Similar Products Used:
many dvd player for movies but one for music (I try very hard to find ten better one cause I want to use this cd in my secound system but now, It still be my finest CD player.)

LoCKJaw

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00 from ebay

Summary:
This is a really wonderful player for the money. Since CAL has been bought out and shut down, great deals can be had on some very high quality gear. I actually purchased mine on EBAY for 600 bucks new in the box.

Yes it is very important to list the gear that you are running as some components match better with others for example, an overly crisp sound from a solid state preamp can be smoothed out with a good tube amp. Also the overall quality of the equipment is critically important, the weakest link in your system theory is sadly very true. I don't want to sound like an audio snob here, but if someone trashes a high end component and lists any receiver as thier source of amplification take it with a grain of salt. Oh, the dimentions of the room are also key. If the length is a multiple of the width (6 by 12 for example), your Krell amp is going to sound like a Crell amp. A good balance of absorbtion and reflection is key.

I am running B&W N805s, McIntosh MC275, Adcom GFP 750, internal Biwired, Balanced cables preamp to amp.

Strengths:
Wonderful value for the money. This player was around 1700 bucks when released. If you read reviews on it, comparisons are often made with very high end players that are twice or three times the price. Yes there are differences between the elite players and the CAL but in general they are very slight and to some degree a matter of listener preference. If you have the money and the slightest improvements in imaging, base extension and detail are critical then the extra 3-4 grand may be woth it. You really need Elite equipment to appreciate the difference. Also, you must compare various players in you home, never in the store where listening conditions are very different.

Oh, it has a digital input so you can use it as an external DAC, very cool.
I tried using my old Rotel player as a transport; it was not as good as the internal one in the CAL. (slight but I could tell the difference.)

Weaknesses:
The display is terrible!!!!!!!!!!
You simply can not see anything even a few feet away. The light that can be turned off an on with the remote makes visualization even worse.

Plastic remote with a 1700 dollar player...
Otherwise the remote works fine, just a little disappointing

No balanced outs (that is why this player is not 4 grand)

The transport really has a great deal of trouble with CDs that are scratched or dirty. I have some burned disks that work reasonably well again so long as they are clean. On disks that skip I use my old Rotel as the transport and it works fine.

Similar Products Used:
Note, I did not actually bring a Wadia home to AB the CAL. My opinions are based on listening to many high quality players over the years.

Price Paid:  $1400.00 from Moscow dealer

Summary:
In its balanced version, it sounds great with proper interconnect which proved very hard to find. It sounds detailed and dynamic (albeit a bit dry) with my old Monster 1000 MKIII interconnect. It showed better results with the old Straight Wire Gold interconnect.

Strengths:
Detailed and dynamic.

Weaknesses:
It can sound dry with some interconnect cables.

Similar Products Used:
Dynaco CDV-1, CAL CL-15 (unbalanced).

Price Paid:  $775.00 from Used

Summary:
I've had this unit for about 6 month and still can not identify any weakness. Just produce music the way it should. I think this is the last Non-SACD cd player I will ever own!

CAL CL-15
Jolida 502B w/KT88 output tubes
Maggie MMG (running parallel with a Paradigm PDR-10)
Magnan Vi interconnects
JPS Labs Superconductor Speaker cables
Blue Circle BC62 Power Cord

Strengths:
Great Sound, Solid Construction

Weaknesses:
None so far

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha775 to Dip24/96 to CreekOBH14, Sonic Frontiers(forgot the model#)

Price Paid:  $900.00 from Earphoria

Summary:
A very well-built machine available at a real-world price. It offers high quality Dacs, HDCD, and digital volume control. The sound is very natural and on excellent recordings, will portray all the fine detail contained on the disc. However, if the disc is of poor quality, it will not mask it like other "euphonic" machines.

Strengths:
Build quality is very good. The sound is very natural (dare I say analog-like) with none of the harsh, edgy digital sound often found with inexpensive digital gear. The great sound has to do with the high quality Burr-Brown 20 bit Dacs. The HDCD option is incredible sounding. Most of the HDCD discs sound very holographic and have enormous information due to the true 20 bit resolution of the HDCD chip and it makes non-HDCD discs sound good as well! Digital volume control sounds pretty good but I prefer the sound of a quality preamp. However, if you cannot afford a quality preamp, the digital volume control will suffice and you will not feel "short-changed"!

Weaknesses:
The digital volume control has no indicator (display) as to volume level. No digital out for an outboard D/A - but I question the value of adding an outboard D/A to a quality CD player anyway.

Similar Products Used:
Sony ES machines, Rega Planet, Micromega, EAD, Rotel