The sound is quite good - when the machine functions properly.

I paid $1300 for an SACD player that performed extremely erratically during its brief lifetime, often failing to read discs. Now, after just 13 months, it won’t read any discs at all. Honestly, I feel ripped off. This was my second CD-S1000 because the first had to be returned as defective. I really don’t think my expectations were unreasonable. For $1300, I expected a player that would provide me with at least a few years of listening pleasure. Instead, I got 13 months of frustration. Perhaps I just had lousy luck. Nevertheless, I would caution anyone who is considering the Yamaha CD-S1000 to think twice before pulling the trigger.

This is a fantastic CD player that truly outperforms in it's price category. It was one afternoon at a friend's house listening to some music that he told me about this player and was very enthusiastic about it. I, on the other hand wasn't thrilled in having to haul my sorry arse off the couch to drive down to the local "joint" to audition a CD player on strange gear to which I was unaccustomed. And neither did I have to, for on his rack among about 20 other pieces was this seemingly unassuming but very stylish silver aluminum block, staring back at me. At this time we were listening to a Meridian cd player with an original price tag of $5000. It's unflattering to say I've never been in love with its sound. It's my opinion that reviews are not the place for flattery, but rather honesty. And, it's the opinion of some anti-Yamaha audiophiles with very high end and expensive gear that the CD-S1000 will outperform their own boutique CDP even with separate DACs well into the $5000 range. The Rega Saturn, the Naim CD2X, the Quad 99, they are all good. Even the revered Sony SCPH-1001, very nice and inexpensive to boot. But, not one of these top the CD-S1000 in purity and detail retrieval. In a direct comparison on several speakers, it was not subtle- it was notable evident that the S1000 was a better player with a better DAC. It actually made the Sony SCPH-1001 sound congested and fuzzy in relation to the superior (albeit more expensive) Yamaha. Now, that isn't picking them apart, its just the level of performance the CD-S1000 brings to the table. Apart form this, I won't create any further disillusion using common audiophool prose, I'll let you take a listen and determine if it works in your system.

Four years ago I would shudder at the word "Yamaha", as I had allocated a strong mental association with that name and pro-audio. The thought of pro gear would bring images of big dry sounding woofer, one noted bass that rolls off at about 70Hz, screaming pain-inducing midrange and horn tweeters that sound like they were atuned to induce deafness through sonic coloration and white noise rather than anything baring resemblance to music, solid-scrape Bryston amps that can peel the enamel of your teeth at 50 paces. And I remain unwavered in my opinion as my ears make the choice. However, I became acquainted with Yamaha's gear just a few years ago, and while most of their cheaper products I dislike such as their receivers, there are a few separates and speakers that turned out to really set a benchmark and as worthy of the title "high-end". It's in my opinion that the CD-S1000 is one of these products. Highly recommended.