Build, what a drawer!

Kinda cheap remote, Proceed brand being scutteld by Harman, makers of the worst brand in the history of audio: Harman Kardon

This is a great cd-player. Apart from the sound and build quality, what strikes me most is the fenomenal error correction. Never skips or hangs even on cd's that won't play on most machines. As for the knucklehead from Japan who posted the dumb-ass "review" below: thanx for your brilliant review, glad you could make it to this site. Please don't come again!

Speed, musical, dynamic, bass control

A bit digital

This unit is on loan to me for the moment as I am waiting for my Mark Levension 390S to arrive. Compared this unit to my old CDP which I just sold - the Electrocompaniet EMC1, the Proceed CDP has better imaging, dynamic, bass control, and sound faster than the EMC1, with extremely quiet background. However it sounds a bit more digital than the EMC1. If you are look for quick dynamic musical sound, this is the CDP to go for. I would say it beats the EMC1 in general. Now hoping my new 390S will sound better than the CDP !!

Similar Products Used:

EMC1

Build quality. Overall sound and musicality.

none for me

I searched for a replacement CD player for my Marantz CD-72 with a Forte Model 50 DAC. This combination sounded very good to me for a long time, but I got the itch for a change, so I auditioned a few different units including the Wadia 830, a Classe model, and the Proceed CDP. In my system the Wadia was far too harsh and bright. It gave my wife a headache in 20 minutes of listening. The Classe was also a bit on the "digital" sounding side. The Proceed had a much more rounded musical sound to it. Where the others had distinct sibilance on many vocals, the Proceed did not. I have become very satisfied with the quality and performance of the Proceed and the HDCD decoding is a bonus. My system consists of: 2 Forte Model 6a power amps Forte Model 40 preamp Apogee Duetta Signature speakers Paradigm Reference Servo 15 sub I had one problem with the Proceed after almost a year''s use, but Madrigal fixed it in about 4 weeks at no cost. My unit was purchased as a dealer demo, hence the significant savings off the list price of $3,495.00. At $2,100 it is a real bargain. I highly recommend it.

Similar Products Used:

Wadia 830, Classe, Marantz CD-72

Great sound; not to bright, not dull, backgrounds are quieter and I can hear deeper into the music almost without trying to. I''d probably say that it was a more relaxed presentation of the music. I listen to, jazz, new age, rock, etc. Not as much blurring of instruments. (don''t forget I was using a 15+ year old cd player and lots of thing change in 15+ years.)Hey if it ain''t broke, well you know the rest. Good design (industrial, if you like that sort of thing), manufactures warranty and dealer''s customer service.

Just the initial disappointment that first day.

I was sort of forced into this one. My Carver CD Player went belly up after 15+ years, the first one Carver produced, it had been repaired twice during the 15+ years, but now it was time for something new. I followed the classified''s at audiogon for several weeks. I also got the usual flyers from local dealers and then as if by plan, Gramophone had a floor sample close out sale. I got the floor sample at a great price. When I got it home it worked for 15 minutes and then started to replay section of the cd all by itself. Just like a record player with a skipping LP. I took it back the next day and off it went to Madrigal. Four weeks later the unit arrived with upated software, replaced drive parts and it works great. I changed out the manufactures 9 ft. power cord with one from Kimber and am settling in for extended listening sessions. I''ll follow up this intro. review in a couple of months and let you know my observations/impressions then. If you can afford this price range go for it. (full retail is around $3200 - $3500 for this unit). There is a difference at this price level and I can hear it. You will not be disappointed with this unit. Give it a try if you can and good listening.

as close to live music as you can get
bar none, deep bass, mid's, high's are
great

none

this is the best cd player for someone who
want te truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth as far as music is concern
also it make a great transport wheather i
use my accuphase amp,s and pre amp
or using my marantz -7000 a/v receiver
or lexicon processor. i can't think of
buying any more cd player's except
maybe super audio cd player

Similar Products Used:

rotel, sony es, pioneer,

Sound and sound...

Looks are not to everyone taste.

I recently bought the Proceed CDP, after hear it for a long time. Compared to ML 39, it is not as good, but it has a better value for money rating. It is very well built and has a strong engenieering content.

On the digital side, with dubble differencial DAC's, and a proprietary Madrigal Jitter control system similar to ML nº 39. More important, on the analogue side, it can be use as a preamplifier or with normal fixed output and has all the experience that a company like Madrigal who makes Proceed and Mark Levinson, can offer.

The Proceed CDP has a very solid, deep, tunefull bass, delivered with great speed and pace. A transparent, informative and fatiguing free midrange, and higs are extended and smooth. It can deliver a large soundstage with excellent depth beeing only a little cooler than Meridian 508.24. Compared to Sony SCD-1, the Proceed CDP is superior on a global basis, the Sony can have advantage only with selected SACD recordings. But who cares ? there are no SACD software avaiable, and CD is here to stay. Good recordings deserve a good machine. The Proceed CDP is on of the best CD players around and an excellent music maker. Strongly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Mark Levinson nº 39, Meridian 508.24, Sony SCD-1

I have a Pass Aleph 3 amp and wanted a cd player that could drive it directly. I also listened to the Levinson No. 39 and while I found it slightly warmer sounding and more detailed, I could not justify the difference in price ($6000 vs. $3500). The CDP sounds great and is such a significant upgrade from my previous input source that I find myself re-listening to my entire CD collection. Overall, this CP player is a tremendous value considering its build quality and ability to function as a digital pre-amp. For a digital-only system, one would need a very high quality pre-amp in order to justify not running the CDP directly into an amplifier.

Extremely detailed sound without brightness, excellent build quality, great features/ease of use

somewhat hard to find one...

I have owned the CDP for about 4 months, and it is living up to my expectations. It immediately improved the sound in my system, even though it is still mated with some inferior components..(I still have a 10yr old integrated!) I am now looking for an Amp that will keep up. I tried the CD players listed above, and really liked the Wadia 830 sound as well. The Proceed is much more intuitive to use , (no upside down loading, play/stop functions easier, etc.) and I thought the sound to be a bit more immediate/up front. The proceed puts you in the first 5 rows...the Wadia in the next five. Some people may prefer the wadia. Both are fantastic players. As mentioned in another review, these can be had in the $2000-2500 range as dealers are selling demos etc. Added with the fact that you don't need a pre-amplifier (a huge advantage, no interconnects either), that gives this product a true 5 star value rating.

Similar Products Used:

Wadia 830, Krell KAV-250cd

I was looking to replace my old cd player, a Sony ES with a new, close to "analog " sounding generation of digital gear and after six months of extensive auditioning ( Wadia , Mark Levinson , Krell ) I purchased the Proceed CDP.I could not find any sensible difference in musical enjoyment, soundstage, and transparency between the CDP and the actual "state of the art" in digital reproduction. It became obvious to me that the high end companies (eg Madrigal) are able to create state of the art products at down earth prices and if anybody want to spend more, in my opinion better to invest in a good turntable.

Best CD transport/player around for the price. Excellent build quality, ease of operation, and the sound is outstanding. Analog-like, with excellent transparency and imaging (esp. for HDCD encoded discs). Worth having even if you are considering an upgrade to DVD or higher resolution formats in the future. Many dealers are clearing these out in anticipation of Proceed's DVD line and they are relatively easily found used on the 'net.