Price Paid:  $600.00 from Radiocentralen, Umeå

Summary:
I bought this CD in 1993 for 4500 SEK (Around $600) and it's been playing on a daily basis. For a few years with an Audio Alchemy DDE v1.0, but recently as a standalone player.
Recently I purchased a clock from Net Audio in the Uk (www.net-audio.co.uk) and installed it my self (good detailed instructions on the website, and emails from the founder/owner of the company convinced me that it was doable).
I have never had a better upgrade! The best $100 I spent on my audiosystem...
I recently tested Cambridge C640, Marantz SA7001 and Rega Apollo (and Arcam cd72) - and the only player that I thought was better was the Rega Apollo but it's a bit pricey...
TIP - buy a RCD 965 (LE or discreete if you can find one..) on ebay, install a clock and be amazed.

Strengths:
It focuses on the music, not on the details. (Kind of listening to a Linn system - it may not always be "correct" but you just want to play some more music..)

Weaknesses:
Well - it's old and I'm not sure if you can find spare parts....

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer PD-S802, 901,904, Marantz SA7001, Rega Apollo, Arcam cd72

Johnno88

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $699.00 from Vince Ross Audio Per

Summary:
Price shown above is Australian $.
Purchased the 965BX new in 1992 to use in my then system of Naim 42/Snaps/110 amp & Naim IBL speakers. It sounded great right from the start. However, the Naim system, though musical & exciting to listen to, began to be a bit overbearing. About a year ago I started to replace my system starting with the speakers then the amp & now the CD player.
The Rotel proved to be an excellent musical player
& very reliable. I never got tired of listening to it with its good alround performance with jazz, blues, rock & (my wifes) classical CDs. Thanks Rotel for 14 years of listening pleasure.
It was a hard task finding a player to replace it. Ended up listening to Rotel 1072, Rega Apollo, Marantz 17, Shanling T80, Jungson SACD & the Consonance CD120 Linear. The CD 120 Linear proved to be the best for my tastes & system.


If you can find a good cheap 2nd hand 965BX buy it

Current system:
Consonance CD120 Linear
Analogue Audio Puccini SE (ebay buy)
Vandersteen 1C speakers
Vandenhull Thunderline i/cs
DH Labs T14 spkr cables.

Strengths:
Highs, midrange & lows are all good for the age & cost. Non fatiguing with all kinds of music. A bargain at the time of its release.

Weaknesses:
Maybe not as detailed as current players, But not much else.

Similar Products Used:
See above

neil_andrew_terry

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $200.00 from 2nd hand

Summary:
I got the 965 in june 1993 second hand and have been using it as my main source ever since.At the time it was the best cd player around and I think it still has the capability to show up many players costing much more. I tend to listen to music through headphones alot and my sennheiser 565´s do the job wonderfully(I´d also recommend these to anyone !)The player has had a considerable ammount of use and still surprises me with it´s warm, vinyl like sound.I am thinking of upgading the player to the new Rotel cd 02 due to the fact that some cds dont play and skip. Don´t know why this happens, but there it is !!!I would consider adding a trichord 3. if I thought it was easy to do !

Strengths:
realistic sound stage,warm tone,smooth bass and treble.

Weaknesses:
Timing is a bit slow, refuses to play certain cds.remote control doesn´t work.

Similar Products Used:
marantz cd6000. rega cd player-

frenchmann

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $330.00

Summary:
This player really sparkles. in it's time there was nothing better for less than a thousand pounds, and although these days it's been surpassed, it still nocks the spots of most budget players, and even some midrangers. I originally auditioned mine in 1993 along with a marantz (think it was the 52 at the time). there was no comparison. recently i upgraded the clock and the sound improved slightly. if you planning to spend anything less than £300 on a CD player, i'd recommend buying one of these on ebay (you can pick them up for £50) simply because it'll sound better HONEST!

Strengths:
sound stage, refined but very detailed, smooth sounding, can be listened to for hours. vocals and strings sound lush.

Weaknesses:
some would say it's laid back. that's what i like about it :)

Price Paid:  $50.00

Summary:
I picked this player up on the cheap to replace an old marantz and to be honest the sound in standard form is a tad poor. Quite detailed BUT... ...Detached one note bloomy bass... ...Hard glass like mid range... but not bad for £50. So seeing as how it was an interim player i thought i'd do some mods, not really caring is i fried it. First change op amps, i tried burr brown opa134(nice and fast bass, glare gone,shut in top end) opa604(same as 134 but top end a little obvious) and opa627(fast, detailed and smooth...real texture....ace!). Next mod was trichord clock2, not quite the revelation that new op amps did but still...more detail and sound stage depth, less "smear" if i could use that term, more texture to instruments and last mod was to remove the muting tranny's from the output stage, again more detail.

Strengths:
Now my player is a nice listen, i have no plans to buy anouther. Even my bloody expensive Meridian amp doesnt show it up.

Weaknesses:
Poor as standard although may work in a warm budget system.

Similar Products Used:
Has been fun to mod and now sounds good.