Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
My Classe CD Player model 0.5 has been bought second hand and giving the fact that there a new models ( 0.3 / 1.5) and it is not possible to buy a new one, all my ratings belong to the second hand market. So, first I have to say that if you get the chance of buying the player for a price around $1000 - get it. Although I think, that the original price Classe asked, had been a bit overestimated, it will not be too difficult to get a used player for a reasonable price, because Classe has a good reputation as a high end producer in the inner audiophil circles, but it´s name is not so prominent as Levinson, Krell etc. The first time I listened to a Classe player was back in 1997. The system was all Classe, wired by synergistic cables. The sound just blew me away, but the prices asked were above my abilities. Right now my combination is Classe CDP 0.5, Classe DR6 se Preamp, Nytech/Ion Systems Obelisk 3 powering Unisono Ardente Speakers through MIT Terminator 4. Let´s beginn with the outfit. The Player is constructed very rigid and there is not the slightest thing to critisize here, if there wasn´t the cheap "sound & feeling" of the CD Loader. Don´t get me wrong, the transport itself is excellent, it´s only the loading procedure that doesn´t fit into the concept. Besides that, everything is excellent. The transport is very silent, no problems with CDRs. On the backside you find Cinch outputs and XLR sockets as well (I only use the Cinch terminal at the moment). The digital output is designed in AES/EBU, that means also XLR, but there should be no problem to get an adapter into common Cinch/Coaxial to deliver a digital signal into a consumer DA, although this might not be pure science especially regarding the wave resistance of the cable. The CDP 0.5 sounds very nice from the start on, but it is wise to leave the main power on and let it warm up before judging. I like the standby mode, because there is no LED feature telling you what you already know - the unit is off (I hate this light show, found especially on newer equipment). The only feature I miss is that it is not possible to look for "time remaining" of a CD track. The rest is all you need IMHO, skip, repeat (CD or track) and some basic custom programming. The player gets its power from a standard mains terminal, so that you are allowed to try alternative power cabels.

Strengths:
Now up to, what´s really important : The sound. Strenths can be found in all "audiophil regions". Resolution is TOP! I mention this, because not all Classe equipment is showing strength here. The details are absolutely excellent, but not with the typical Sony drawback, that the sound gets overanalytical and too crisp. The general felling is a really high end one, the unit sounds "expensive". If you are a fan of classical music, you must hear this player. Strings and piano get this wonderfull combination of definition and warmness. The lean back and relax factor is ultra high. This doesn´t mean, that there is too much of the warm character, which can smear sound to death (although the hardcore tube fraction will surely disagree with me in that point). The CDP 0.5 gets the right balance between analytical presentation and "tube tweaking". If you listen to live concerts, the singers act very stable and the stage is illuminated nearly holographically. What I like best, is the way resonat instruments and percussions are converted. Every Guitar string picked is worth a standing ovation, the swinging in and out of drums is excellent also. Female Vocals sound natural and precise a

Weaknesses:
Where there is light, there always has to be some darkness......unless you spend a lot of money... What I dislike is that the CDP 0.5 doesn´t seem to be the player of choice for everybody. If you only listen to rock and pop, there might be other components that will serve you better. If you like the "in your face" factor (disgusting here IMHO : Sony; much better but some people don´t like it as well : Krell), watch out for other vendors. The Classe has a lot of punch and microdynamics are excellent, that is not the point, but what it does not have is this forward stepping as some people might know from their Technics 1210 MKII turntable. The sound sometimes seems to be a little bit compressed and the last 2 % of macrodynamics get lost, although this saves you from sharp s in Vocals, overpresence and hectic nonmusicality. Players that fire up here, get nervous very fast, so it always is a thing of balancing and personal taste. But I´m sure that if you are looking for the ultimate disco feeling - buy something else. To be not misunderstood. I´m not the typical auiophil, sitting in front of his equipment and listening to the least interesting piece of detail that happens in hi

Summary:
I bought the classe 4 months ago, and i'm in love with it.good bass, clean sound, well built, HDCD compatible.
At 2700,00$ (can), the cdp.5 is a serious competitor.

Summary:
I bought my Classe CDP.5 after auditoning the Theta Miles and the CAL CL-15.I ended up buying the CAL CL-15 because of the price and I liked it but it did not measure up to my friends Classe CDP.5. The build quality is excellent and so I sold my CAL-15 and bought a CDP.5 on the used market. When I received it via UPS it was damaged (on-off switch broken}. I called Classe's customer service and was amazed that there is a (5) year warranty on all Classe products and that they would fix it free of charge. I was truly impressed with Classe products so a bought a Classe CA-100 amp and matching pre-amp CP-35 and have never been happier. I will be a Classe owner for ever, quality and service mean a alot to me and knowing this company is here to stay!

Summary:
This may very well be thye best kept secret in the high end. I auditioned the Class'e Cdp >5 in my reference system which consits of Conrad Johnson Premier 11a, CJ PV10a as preamp and the impeccable PSB Stratus Golds. All audtioning was done with Kimber Cable. I had previously been using a Maranty 63 with Audio Alchemy DDE 1.1 with DTI Pro all connected with XLO type 4 digital cable. The retail price being equivalent I started my listening using recording from Reference Recordings and the usual suspects. The immediate thing I noticied was the difference on HDCD recordings. I put on the latest SuperTramp album which is recored in HDCD and I was floored. More air, more depth, more of everything. So this went on disc after disc. I also noticed major improvement in recordings whick I thought were bad. I had been hearing dreadful jitter in those recordings. I now noticed on recording which I had previously dismissed as bad were actually very good. The Class'e strenght is bass, weight and transparency. It will make youyr system sound complete. Bass is deep and very tight, midrange is excellent and separation and soundstage first rate. Before I purchased this I put this player in to my dealers reference system which consisted of CAT SL1 mk111, CAT JS 1 monoblocks and Genesis 300 speakers running with all Discovery wire and sourced by Theta Jade transprt and Theta Generation v Dac. Total sytem cost 70,000. I was again floored when we substituted The Classe player for the Theta. What we heard was 90% of what the megabuck Theta equipment was doing for 80% less money. Diminishing returns were working big time. The CDP 5 sounded awsome in this mega buck reference syste. I immediatly purchased the unit. Anyone looking to spent megabucks on digital. dont. Go to your nearest Classe dealer and audition the player. I also suggest you take your checkbook as you will probably not want to leave without.

Summary:
Bought the Classe CD .5 player a few months ago -- it has exceeded my expectation. I use it with Classe's CAP-80 integrated amp and a pair of Totem Mani-2's. Highly recommended.