Summary:
There is one thing wrong with this player, and it may be the best thing about it. It uses the transport from Pioneers 100 CD jukebox($5,000, or so I was told by a rep from Pioneer)and as such only holds 100 CDs. I believe it is the best sounding of all the muti disk players made so far due to this transport. I compared it with a shop reference transport(Meridian)at one of Hawaii's best high-end audio shops(thanks Tom)using the same high quality coax cables and I found it to be a very good good sounding transport. We did not run it through a Merid518, AA DTI Pro32, etc. anti jitter device so as to hear the true sound of the transport. I thought it sounded a little more detailed yet thin sounding than the Meridian. Tom said some would prefer the sound of the 109, but we both prefered the sound of the Meridian over the 109. With a 518 in use the 109 is just wonderful sounding and the difference becomes less.As a CD player, new out of the box it will hurt your ears, however after 100 hours burnin the DACS starts to sound OK. Not as smooth as a KCD20 by any means, but it will work as a CD Player in this price range...OK...Mid Fi you might say.
However, it's the coax out to use as a transport with a better DAC and a 518 or Digital Lens that really make this something to think about. I picked up three when Sam Sung used them to lure customers in and put the last 4 in stock onsale below cost thinking that the newer replacement would be better as well as less expensive. No way...replacement was junk! I called around and talked to some techs and decided to pick them all up for a very good price...almost 3 for 1...what a deal. Rodney Gold turned me on the Roland Pro AP 700 and I use that as a DAC with a AA DTI Pro32(till I get a 518 and another DAC)and AA DST powered digital cables and run everything on a balanced A/C line. It sounds very good. For the money I paid for this setup (got a deal on the AP-700 too...thanks Rodney) it sounds more than good, it sounds GREAT! Most people have a hard time telling if its my Kinnergetics KCD20 with X mod playing(it sounds better...much)or the 109. That's saying something, and is what I had hoped to end up with. I still rather use the KCD20X to demo new CDs, but then they end up in the 109s.
Put the 109s on random play and you will fall in love with multi disk CD players and NEVER want to go back to handling CDs again! I just love kicking back and never having to get up to change CDs and all the programing you can do, such as pick a type of music (group)to listen to, etc.
Due to the performance relative to the price(retail), I will give the 109 five stars for sure. Too bad they stopped making them, or at least didn't make a better more expensive one. I for one would be happy to pay the difference if the performance was there.
John^^

Summary:
There is one thing wrong with this player, and it may be the best thing about it. It uses the transport from Pioneers 100 CD jukebox($5,000, or so I was told by a rep from Pioneer)and as such only holds 100 CDs. I believe it is the best sounding of all the muti disk players made so far due to this transport. I compared it with a shop reference transport(Meridian)at one of Hawaii's best high-end audio shops(thanks Tom)using the same high quality coax cables and I found it to be a very good good sounding transport. We did not run it through a Merid518, AA DTI Pro32, etc. anti jitter device so as to hear the true sound of the transport. I thought it sounded a little more detailed yet thin sounding than the Meridian. Tom said some would prefer the sound of the 109, but we both prefered the sound of the Meridian over the 109. With a 518 in use the 109 is just wonderful sounding and the difference becomes less.As a CD player, new out of the box it will hurt your ears, however after 100 hours burnin the DACS starts to sound OK. Not as smooth as a KCD20 by any means, but it will work as a CD Player in this price range...OK...Mid Fi you might say.
However, it's the coax out to use as a transport with a better DAC and a 518 or Digital Lens that really make this something to think about. I picked up three when Sam Sung used them to lure customers in and put the last 4 in stock onsale below cost thinking that the newer replacement would be better as well as less expensive. No way...replacement was junk! I called around and talked to some techs and decided to pick them all up for a very good price...almost 3 for 1...what a deal. Rodney Gold turned me on the Roland Pro AP 700 and I use that as a DAC with a AA DTI Pro32(till I get a 518 and another DAC)and AA DST powered digital cables and run everything on a balanced A/C line. It sounds very good. For the money I paid for this setup (got a deal on the AP-700 too...thanks Rodney) it sounds more than good, it sounds GREAT! Most people have a hard time telling if its my Kinnergetics KCD20 with X mod playing(it sounds better...much)or the 109. That's saying something, and is what I had hoped to end up with. I still rather use the KCD20X to demo new CDs, but then they end up in the 109s.
Put the 109s on random play and you will fall in love with multi disk CD players and NEVER want to go back to handling CDs again! I just love kicking back and never having to get up to change CDs and all the programing you can do, such as pick a type of music (group)to listen to, etc.
Due to the performance relative to the price(retail), I will give the 109 five stars for sure. Too bad they stopped making them, or at least didn't make a better more expensive one. I for one would be happy to pay the difference if the performance was there.
John^^