I have this player for two years. This is my 4-th cd player (yamaha CDX496, Technics SL-PS 670D, Onkyo DX 7711), but this one plays really nice. CD has got many HI-FI functions. I use this player with AV receiver Onkyo TX-SR 606 and floorstanding speakers Jamo C 805.

After 12 years, my faithful Yamaha DVD S795 started losing its ability to play all but the best CDs. I listened to the top of the line Marantz, Onkyo, and OPPO players, as well as NAD and some $tratospheric units at my local B&W dealer. If I had wanted a surround player, I would have probably gone with the OPPO, but I wanted only CD.

My immediate response to the unit was the brassy sound of trumpets. I had not heard this zing in old Maynard Ferguson recordings. The best change is the lack of directionality of my B&W 803 Matrix S2 speakers. With the Sony and Yamaha I had used for years, and with NAD and other middling players, I was surprised that such a good sounding speaker from B&W could be as directional as the electrostatics I had for 25 years.

With the DX-7555, the speakers were totally different by a large margin.They don't sound incredibly better in every respect, just a little here and there, except for no longer being directional. I am going to have to modify my review of these speakers. That is the best thing I could say about the Onkyo.

At first, the sound was too bright and brittle. After a few days, I was really disappointed in the harshness of the tweeters with the Onkyo, despite having better overall definition than with the Yamaha S795 player, which is actually quite good. This harshness was only on very bright recordings.

It turns out that the remote has features not on the player itself. There are different settings for the roll off of high frequencies. I almost did not buy this unit because this feature was not something I believed in. On the 803s, the roll off has to be softer; however, on my DM 14s, the extra crispy setting adds a little to the top of the slightly muted woven tweeter. It also makes the trumpets zing on the 803s.

I am truly a convert to this hefty little CD palyer and all of its features, but mostly the finely articulated sound. Pink Floyd still sounds fuller with the Yamaha. Nothing is perfect.

I originally bought this unit due to a recommendation in Stereophile. I was good out of the box, yet it lacked spaciousness. The first improvement was reached by adding simple Kimber PBJs. This helped with the overall transparency. Second I replaced the stock powercable. First by using a C7 Audioquest NRG 1.5, but finally settling on an IEC Audioquest NRG 2. This required that I added an IEC input vs. the stock cable.

This said I am thrilled with the different filter settings and the phase settings. I am using the reverse phase and Slow filter.

Having done all this this deck compares favorialy with my Rega Turntable run through a Bellari preamp.

Every time I now listen I hear spacious, well defined instruments. The sound is very natural and not digital as many other CD players I have had.

Pros

Reasonably priced
Well build
Filter and Phase settings

Cons

No SACD


Others used

Marantz, Denon, Sony, Pioneer