Price Paid:  $320.00 from esoteric ear- housto

Summary:
I have owned this player for 6 years and, over time, have upgraded the surrounding components. It really is a great machine.

Recently, I wanted to update the oldest part of my system (the DX-2), and brought home several units to demo including the Arcam FMJ 23. I was very surprised that the DX-2 still sounded as good or better than many more modern and considerably more expensive players. This really is a great player, although it does look quite cheap! Wish CAL was still in business.

system

preamp and amp- bryston
cables- tara labs
speakers- legacy audio

Strengths:
excellent sound. simple remote. reliable.

Weaknesses:
looks cheap. company no longer around.

Price Paid:  $550.00 from KORATO,Belgrade

Summary:
Good velue for the money

Strengths:
solid construction,warm-analog sound with lot of details,work with any source of material(including CD-R).Non sensitive for vibrations.Very good and usefull remote.

Weaknesses:
none at this price

Similar Products Used:
NAD C540

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Harvey

Summary:
Took the thing home all exited that I'd be getting a high-end CD player, and it sounded worse than my previous Onkyo $200 player. Also, the remote didn't work from the getgo. Returned it within a week--Harvey was cool about the return. Later bought the Marantz $500 player used for half the price. No comparison, the Marantz is clear detailed and lifelike.

Strengths:
Can't think of any.

Weaknesses:
Blurry sound, remote doesn't work

Similar Products Used:
Marantz CD67

Price Paid:  $650.00

Summary:
I bought the unit in 1997 when I was trying to find a sub-$1000 player that didn't sound harsh or strident. I'm still a big fan of analog, and wanted something that sounded kind of like my Rega Planar 3, and not like the cheaper, harsh-sounding Sony I was using at the time. A significant amount of time auditioning the alternatives led to the narrowing of the choice to three candidates: the DX-2 (the ICON Mk 2 was a bit too expensive for me then), the Rega Planet and the Creek (forgot the model #). Although, sonically, they were quite similar - with perhaps the creek and rega offering a slightly warmer, more analog-like sound, I found that the DX-2 was the only player of the three that would play all the disks I auditioned. The other two would skip and simply refuse to play some tracks.

So, the DX-2 came home, and was placed on the top shelf of my rack. Admittedly, the player looks cheaper than it is, but on the other hand, the DX-2 has performed reliably and solidly for nearly four years now. As a side note, when I first brought the player home, I auditioned a number of interconnects, and found that a pair of MIT Terminator 2's served to keep the highs smooth and the mids detailed - the way I like them.

Recently, I made a significant upgrade in my amplification and speakers - from a Carver C-1 and M1.0t driving Boston Acoustics T-1000's to a Linn Kolektor driving a pair of Linn Ninkas actively through two LK-85 power amps. I was initially apprehensive that the increased resolution of the new system would show weakness in the DX-2. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the same detailed and smooth sound that I heard before was still there, except that the Linn gear let me hear more of what I liked.

Sure, there are better sounding players out there: the Linn players, for instance, would show an improvement in detail, smoothness, sense of 'air' and overall musicality. For the price, however, I think the DX-2 offers excellent performance, and does so in a reliable package. I have no immediate plans to upgrade this unit, and I'm sure it will perform well for me for the next couple of years, at least (I think it'll take that long to save for a Linn player).

I'd give the player 4.5 stars overall if I could. 5 is overkill because there are better units out there, but you have to pay a lot more to get them.

Strengths:
detailed, natural non-strident sound and solid construction

Weaknesses:
styling doesn't match the sound

Similar Products Used:
arcam, creek, rega, rotel, sony

Price Paid:  $380.00 from ebay

Summary:
This is my first attempt at hi-end audio. I reviewed the comments here first and then purchased the unit off ebay. The detail on this thing is amazing! I could actually hear people talking before the song started on my S.T.P. CD like 5 seconds before the song started!! Never heard that on the Kenwood. This player is awesome! Nothing complicated, very easy to use. I don't have any problems with the display as noted in other reviews. My only complaint is a good one. I had CDs that were scrathced and played fine on my old CD player. But this one pickes up everything, including scratches, dirt exct. It will skip or get stuck if you do not take care of your CDs. My next upgrade will be a NAD reciever.

Strengths:
Build quality, sound, detail, price

Similar Products Used:
Kenwood 5 disc changer