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Review 4 of 4
Price Paid:
$479.00
from BHPhotoVideo.com Summary:
I chose this player due to its excellent speficiations and reviews. It has a Wolfson WM8740 24-bit/192 kHz DAC (that is also found in the Cambridge Audio Azur 640C (v2)), an anti-resonant chassis and its low-jitter clock circuit that is said to be accurate to +/- 1.5ppm. The Absolute Sound says "in the two-channel realm, it held its own against the Lexicon RT-20, a $5000 multichannel universal-disc player."
My initial listing impressions of this player, compared to my three year old Marantz CC4300 CD changer, were that it conveyed more details and hall/venue information than the Marantz. The mid bass was more authoritative, faster and less bloated than the Marantz. It also producted more natural timbres with strings, horns and percussion.
But I let this player run for over 30 hours before performing a more serious AB comparison with the Marantz.
The Onkyo's soundstage is wider and deeper, with more precise and believable imaging. The imaging and channel balance are so precise and spot on that I had to reposition my speakers, using very precise measurements to the tune of a mere inch here and an inch there, so that the central image was aligned with the sweetspot. The hall and venue information the Onkyo conveys within the soundstage makes it sound pretty life-like. Overall the Onkyo's presentation is natural, linear and non-fatiguing.
That said, I found the Onkyo's treble and midrange presence somewhat soft and veiled compared to the Marantz. While the Onkyo is less fatiguiging, it was also less involving, and music lost its emotional impact. Buyer's remose started to kick in and I was strongly considering selling my unit.
Then I remembered the improvements I had gained on my Marantz player when I replaced its stock power cord with a DIY shielded cable.
While the stock power cord on the Onkyo is not detachable, the cord can be easily unplugged from the power supply board after opening the chassis cover. (A slight press on the release tab of the female plug is enough). By happy coincidence the two male pins on the power supply board accomodate a power cord with a C7 adapter, without soldering! (Some of the plastic on the C7 connecter would need to be shaved off to prevent forcing).
Replacing the stock cord with an AudioQuest NRG-1.5 made a world of difference, improving the treble, midrange and overall transparency. The music is very detailed, yet analog sounding and involving now. I am now thoroughly pleased!
Repeated AB comparison between the stock power cord and the AQ NRG-1.5 confirmed to me that the stock power cord prevented this player from showing its true capacbility.
Since I have this taken care of, the player just sounds wonderful and definitely a keeper! Strengths:
Transparency, excellent specs, ultra-low jitter, detail, linear response, realistic soundstage with precise imaging, non-fatiguing, authoritative controlled bass. Weaknesses:
Sounds un-involving and slightly veiled with the stock power cord. Yiou need to open the hood to replace the stock power cord. Moreover, the power transformer in this unit is not as large as hyped to be. The toroidal on the Cambridge Audio Azur 640C is much larger). Plus the stock power cord (a pair of insulated 18awg wire running in parallel) is probably an RFI magnet, and letting a lot of RF into the player.
This player also seems to be sensitive to the external power conditioning. It seems to sound best when plugged into an conditioner that has isolated banks for digital components. (In my case it is a Furman PST-8D). Similar Products Used:
Panasonic DVD-F87 universal CD/HDCD/MP3/DVD/DVD-A player. Marantz CC4300 CD changer.
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