Price Paid:  $140.00 from a second hand shop i

Summary:
I am posting a review again, I did it once more than two years ago. I recently purchased a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.1 speakers (about ten times better and ten times more expensive than my previous Jamo boxes) and I was afraid that the CD player is going to turn out to be a weak point. And NO. Not even it didn't do so, but now I love it even much better than I previously did! It produces so natural and enjoyable sound that now I don't want to listen to any LPs until I get some really good turntable (my current turntable DID get much "worse" with the speaker change)
So, using a "10x magnifying glass" made things better, not worse.
Great piece of equipment for a very friendly price, I think.

Strengths:
Great sound, low price, what else can I say? :)

Weaknesses:
The tray sometimes refused to work, and once it really refused to come out (the driving belt wasn't tight enought) but I easily managed to repair it.

Price Paid:  $199.00 from Cambridge Soundworks

Summary:
I submit this review simply to place my review of a newly acquired, miserable Harman Kardon HD-720 in perspective. I have had the HD-710 since 1996. It is a brilliant musical player. The sound is sweet but not rolled off to the point where it sounds dull. It is very transparent, with a huge, multi-dimensional, almost live-sounding soundstage for serious music (I am a professional classical musician). The sound is as good as the best analogue equipment. It is a copmplete joy in every respect. The build is sturdy--no plastic at all (except the surface of the CD drawer that actually contacts the CD, and it does virtually everything one would wish.

Very occasionally, it takes a while to recognize CDRs but it always does. At the time of its availability, HK was still obviously more concerned with audiophile-quality sound than consumerist convenience. Some of the operational details have been skimmed over: it can't scan tracks back from track 1, the remote will only work if it is very precisely pointed at the infra-red sensor--since they were obviously thinking that serious listeners don't care, the display can't be dimmed--only on and off (though the manual claims otherwise and all units are the same in this regard).

These tiny operating blips aside, this player musically, puts NAD, Cambridge Audio, Rotel, Adcom, etc. to shame.

Strengths:
Brilliant, sweet, detailed, involving, easy, natural, musical sound. Sturdy build. Better than anything I know overall.

Weaknesses:
A few operational quirks that are easily ignored (see main body of review).

Similar Products Used:
Harman Kardon HD-720: "new version" of the HD-710--looks the same but sounds harsh, has lots of plastic, including fascia, and the scariest, flimsiest of CD drawers imaginable. Garbage.

NAD 521i: over-rated and cold-sounding, but great build.

Toshiba SD-1800 DVD/CD player: sweet, not too detailed, but easy on the ears. Not as flimsy as one would think. Surprising.

Teac CDP-1250: sounded lovely for three months, then died. Apparently built out of matchsticks and gum. Ugh!

Cambridge Audio 300SE: fascinating, if artifical, sound; horrifying transport, won't read CDRs even if you beg.

Magnavox CDB-482: from 1989, lasted until 2004. Venerable old thing, sweet, detaiuled, no error correction.

Price Paid:  $120.00

Summary:
I have bought this player used and without any serious listening because there were no quality speakers at the shop. When I took it home and turned it on, first I've noticed that the build quality is not perfect. But for the price it is good enough. Then I started to listen to it and realised that it sounds great! My system is not an expensive one (Jamo speakers and a Technics SU-8022 amp, maybe 20 years old, but it sounds much better than new Technics stuff). The whole system is light years away from being a perfect one, but I like its sound, and the H/K player was a really good choice for me. I really didn't like CDs before I had it, but H/K produces a really good sound from these low sampling rate discs. It sounds as good as analogue sources. I've bought it about two years ago and I still like its sound.

Strengths:
It looks quite good and sounds really nice.

Weaknesses:
The tray is noisy and the head is sensitive to dust.

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Q Audio

Summary:

I picked this player up used and feel that it is a good value, although it will be a weak link in any serious audio system.

Quality headphone output, attractive design.

The player is very prone to skipping, and is finicky about dirty discs and CD-R.

Overall, it has a pleasing sound, if somewhat watered-down sound. I can see how this player could sound bright if hooked up to a high-end system, but I think for an average stereo it will not be noticibly shrill.

This CD player, like most in its price range, lasted about 4 years, under heavy use.

Strengths:
Attractive design. Good bass, good soundstaging for the price.

Weaknesses:
A little thin sounding. Very touchy about dirty cd's and CD-R. Reliability.

Similar Products Used:
Rega Planet, Yamaha 5 disk changer, Adcom 750

Price Paid:  $275.00 from Scala HiFi

Summary:
According to the price it is an extremely reliable CD-player. Similar to my DVD player, which is a Denon DVD 1500G the treble and bass are more aggresive when using the HD 710 CD-Player.

Strengths:
Sounds brilliant and it doesn't have unnecesary functions and the usual HK Classic design

Weaknesses:
The CD-Player are extremely sensetive to dirty CDs.
Aggresive bass and treble.