Summary:
I am in the process of purchasing the more expensive CEC TL 5100 belt drive player from Audio Advisor. As such, my 3100 has joined my Sennheiser 580s headphones in the bedroom as my "late night system."

I have enjoyed music through this player and can recommend it to anyone who wants good sound at a low price. My unit has worked flawlessly since I purchased it 8 months ago from Audio Advisor. My only complaints concern the somewhat noisy drive system (audible when playig music at rather low levels), and the cheapest remote this side of . . . The remote does work flawlessly; it simply isn't very well built.

On sound quality grounds, I have little to complain about. Voices are handled exceedingly well, and this player recreates the ambiance of the recording venue quite respectably. Dynamics come across convincingly, if not realistically.

Like I said, a nice player for the price. I suspect that it would also do ncely as an affordable transport for those of you with inexpensive DACs like the MSB Link or one of the Musical Fidelity models.

Good listening, and keep it realistic!!!

Strengths:
Well built for the price; solid, stable sound; fine detail retrival, clean midrange. For the price, as good as anything in its class

Weaknesses:
Flimsy remote; lacks the resolution of players in the 800-1200 range (to be expected)

Summary:
OK I was looking for a good cdplayer with about a 500 dollar budget, all the chain electonic stores had garbage. I took my search to high end stores where for 500 bucs my options where very limited. It also had to be a transport because I have an Adcom-gda700 and a jitter reducer by theta. I know I'm asking for a lot for 500 bucs but what the hell. I auditioned cdplayer/transports from NAD and MARANTZ (listening was done using each players internal d.a.c) to my ear the nad had an airy sound to it and the marantz seemed harsh in the highs. I was pointed to the CEC-3100 which was 450.00 . The highs weren't harsh the bass was very good and the instrument seperation was excellent . The unit has good weight to it 13lbs,the front buttons have a flimsy feel to them but the draw opens and closes well, It slides in and out firm and doesn't rattle. The display is easily read and clear to understand . The remote is easy to use and is well laid out. The units color is black brushed alumminum with gold feet,on the back you get a detachable power cord(very thick),analog outs,digital coax out and a aes/ebu out. I shoped around and was able to order it from audio advisor for 360.00 I didn't hook it up to my seperate da and jitter reducer yet but it will most likely sound even better than it already does.(note also checked out the AMC players,to me the CEC-3100 sounded better and also had a better build quality.)