k fonseka

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Australia - sony dea

Summary:
I am suprised that some describe this player as bright. It sounds very analogue on filter setting 1. Which mimics the wadia and pioneer legato digital filters with minimised ripple response and some high frequency roll down. It is one of the very few players i can listen for a long time without getting a headache. this was bougt at a run out sale at a big discount. (demo model)

Strengths:
different filters, superb sound and unmatched build quality

Weaknesses:
No remote power off

Similar Products Used:
too many to list

Price Paid:  $210.00 from Richer Sounds UK

Summary:
The Sony CDP-XB930 is a midrange priced CD player at £300 RRP, and comes complete with hi tech gadgets and editorial tools. The main unit is built extremely well, the case meets teh normal 430mm width, but only goes about 250mm deep, which can be awkward when mixed with larger amps. The front fascia is a big bulk, and has a lot of buttons. The transport is in the middle with the display on the right. The transport uses a fixed pick up so that the lens does not move - opnly the CD & motor. This drawer is very vunerable and would be costly to replace/repair as the laser and other gubins are inside. The unit has lots and lots of great feeatures, it can do CD Text (although I only have one CD with this - Travis The Invisible Band, and most other Sony releases). The rear panel has coaxial and optical digital outs and the usual RCA sockets. The included remote is well designed and a joy to use, the main unit is also easy to use with solid buttons and a neat jog dial for track changing. The editing feature consist of a fader, various play modes, a fantastic repeat mode (press it and it will mark the start, press it again and it will repeat the time between the presses as it was playing). You can change the line out levelby 0 to -20dB. The display is bright and clear, the program facility is also great - with 24 track memory. The major feature is a fantastic filter selector, you can choose from 4 filters to change the type of sound (not dramaticily though) from smooth to deep and warm to clear and detailed. It comes with a 1 year warranty and has a great manual ( with about 7 languages). When I hooked it up to a Kenwood amp I was very surprised, it was a step up, the Mission 701 speakers sounded fuller now, and more lively. It also appears louder, I used to play with it at half volume set on, but now I listen at only about 10 o'clock. It can dig up detail and produces great strong bass. Treble is also great - the guiatrs on the Travis album are sparkling with authenticity, the cymbals and alsorts of sine wave are all transparent and clear. However the midrange is sort of laid back - with Pablo Honey from Radiohead the vocals are somwhat laid back - this has been critised for the Mission speakers though. I am going to upgrade to some bigger speakers - maybe the 702e's. Anyway, if anyone wants a UK bargain, get yourself down to Richer Sound and bag one of these for only £170. Check some magazines - they are sometimes shown as £150 in this case take the mag down to save extra money:) If anyone needs more info on the CD player or speaker email me.
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Sony are a very reliable brand - I still have and use a Sony Betamax recorder from the 80's.
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Used with:
Kenwood KAF-3030R
Mission 701 speakers
Gale speaker wire and Cambridge Audio phono leads.

Strengths:
It's Sony so it'll last forever. Great operation, build quality, sound qaulity. Everything great! Come in shiny silver or classy black.

Weaknesses:
Vunerable CD drawer. No standby mode. Too small damit!

Similar Products Used:
None- bar Pioneer midi system (£500) PlayStation 2 & LG micro (£110)

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Practical HiFi Warrington

Summary:
This Cd Player is tremendous value for money , make no mistakes about it , what you get for your money is a big chunk of high end cd player for peanuts.

I use this player attached to a Cyrus 3i /PSXR amp , with Mission M74 Floorstanders , I read the reviews in the Hi Fi press about this CD Player , and the very good reviews that led me to consider this CD were wrong , It is not just excellent for the money as quoted by what hifi , it is perfect...

I have the UK Special Edition , which is supposed to be an improvement to the standard model, how true this is I do not know.

I have read the comments of others , and disagree with the bright sound , what we have to consider is the fact that many of the CDs on the market are sold for general use and the actual quality of the CD is put to the test when you put it to work in a player like this..... if you put in for example Carol King - Tapestry Album which is a great transfer onto CD the quality of this player shines through , if you put in Elton John - Made in England it sounds awful..

Phillips Classical AAD Disc of Concerto de Aranjuez - Jaquin Rodrigo sounds like you are there and you can feel the emotion of the guitar and when the Pepe Romero plays you can sense the emotion , the 1998 DDD version performed by the same artists sounds dull and lifeless.

If you want to appreciate the true value of this player , pair it up with a good amp and interconnect , put in the Buena Vista Social Club CD , sit down and listen and you will witness what this player is all about...

So this player slices in one clean sweep all of the data of the cd and presents it how it was intended and does not add garnish so if you feed it crap it spits it back out at you with no mercy...on the other side,give it something decent and it delivers the goods..the clocking which delivers the digital signal to the converter is bang on so the sound is smooth as silk ..it is hard to imagine that you are listening to a CD.. it gives the warmth of Vynil..

I think that the Filter switch is a waste of time and maybe a wrong move by Sony , I leave mine off.

And yes I agree you need to run this player in , mine started to improve after leaving it running on repeat for 24 hrs , after this it was perfect....

Strengths:
Solid Engineering , perfect clocking ,value for money

Weaknesses:
Filter switch

Similar Products Used:
lots of CD players.....

Summary:
Good player but the arcam does it all better. Anyone who tells you it sounds better than the last of the 7se models with the newer remote and 2 digital outputs is a liar. The arcam is considerably more detailed, has better timing and sounds better right through the sonic range. The sony never offends and is a nice sweet sounding player, but anyone who tells you that the arcam sound is "warmed up" or "coloured" is just used to their slightly blander sounding sony.
Great transport, very slick and well built, but hey the dac is what its all about and the arcams is better, significantly better.

Strengths:
Great transport mechanism, very slick and fun to use. Good detailed sound.

Weaknesses:
Slightly toned down sound. Strength of competition. No longer available.

Similar Products Used:
Arcam 7se, Marantz 6000ose, nad 540.

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Richer Sounds

Summary:
I had a system which matched beautifully, using an Audiolab 8000A, Mission 751F speakers/stands and a Sony CDP-XE530 with the output op-amps replaced with OP285 parts and bipolar output capacitors. Then we moved to a bigger house.

The speakers were too small and I got some Dynaudio Audience 60 floorstanders. Suddenly the CDP-XE530 sounded ill defined and badly detailed, as if the Mission speakers had been over lively making up for the deficiency. So I began a new CD player hunt.

The Arcam Alpha 7SE was sold to me as the best sound for the money, it has the most over emphasised bass I've ever heard and with Dynaudio floorstanders the house shook at low volumes. High treble sounded totally unreal and trumpets (I play) sounded over rich. Separation was very good but the colouration was awful. I took it back and got a Cambridge D500SE.

The Cambridge D500Se sounded phenomenally detailed and easily challenged a £400 Arcam Diva D72 player but was half the money. I took one home in silver with a blue display, the second time I turned it on to show my wife how good it was - it break down. I took it back to the shop.

The salesmen were very helpful at Richer Sounds Swindon & showed me possible matches for my system from NAD, Rotel and Marantz but I wanted a Sony and got a CPD-XB930.

The Sony took a while to warm up and then began to sound good. The digital filter settings actualy make a huge difference on my setup, I think hi-fi magazine reviewers must need their hearing checked out. Perhaps they can't hear high tones anymore.

Filter setting 1 is most transparent and clear, filter 2 is drier and even more detail without the treble bias. Standard filter is dull and filter 3 is too heavy.

Set to filter 1 for classical and 2 for rock this player, with its stabiliser, is actually fantastic value for money.

I would like to say that Arcam, Cambridge and Rotel models all had the detail, separation and quality to work well in another system BUT the Sony filter switch makes a massive difference to the perceived sound of my system. Special mention must be made of the Cambridge D500SE's sound, although it died on me. BUT no other player sounded real on cymbals/snare drum sounds compared to the Sony filter 1/2 setting. I checked this out by Sennheiser monitor headphones attached to my Audiolab to make sure.

Imagine all the people who hear this player turned on for 5 minutes on standard filter and never know how good it sounds.....

Strengths:
Fine detail, good flexibility with the digital filter switch to match better

Weaknesses:
Lack of absolute bass resolution

Similar Products Used:
Arcam Alpha 7SE, Rotel RCD951, Cambridge D500SE, Marantz CD6000 OSE, Sony CDP-XE530