I came across the Cambridge Audio D500 while looking for the CD4SE (now discontinued). It has incredible detail which does not get blurred in loud or complex orchestral passages, and a wonderful, natural sound which does not color the instruments harmonics (something that I don't think could be said for the Rega Planet!). As good or better resolution than the Arcam Alpha 7 and Marantz CD17, which cost hundreds more. Also, like the Arcam, it has a modular DAC which can be upgraded to future Cambridge DACs, as well as digital out for an external DAC. Transport built by Sony (also like the Arcam). As a matter of fact, the biggest difference that I could discover between this and the Arcam was the $250 more I would have had to pay for the Arcam.
If I were to quibble at all about this player, I'd say that I don't like the remote (I'm using the integrated remote that came with my C500 - see my comments on that pre amp). Also, when auditioning the D500 at the audio store, hooking it up to a $5000 DAC did improve the sound quality (but not resolution) - proof that something better does exist.

Overall, I'd say that this is the best CD player I've heard for less than $1500, and an absolute steal at the price (I paid $390!). It's a 4.5 star rating for the price is no object category, and a solid 5 stars at this price point.

I've had this player for 6 weeks and the sound is phenomenal! It beats machines priced at four times as much. I've paired it with a Musical Fidelity A220 amp which is a sweet sounding, smooth amp. Speakers are Paradigm Eclipse Bipolar. I use Millersound interconnects. The sound is effortless and pure. The stage is deep and instruments are placed in a three-dimensional field. The combination of components appears to be made for each other because the sound reproduced is so pristine that I spend hours listening to music just for the pleasure of the sound. Do yourself a favour and listen to this player. Don't let the price fool you because Cambridge has built a reputation of building audiophile quality components that the average man can afford.

Together with my Cambridge A500 amp and my System Audio 1130 speakers, I have a wonderful detailled sound, specially in the mid- and high range. The only things I miss on this CD-player is that the CD-tray will close when I press PLAY. I have to first press CLOSE... But that's only a little thing!

Great sound for price

I was pleasantly surprised by the sound and price of the Cambridge D500. The solo voices and instruments sound clean and centered. There is a nice "airy" quality to the music that extends well beyond and behind the speakers. I think it would take a lot more money to find a CD player that sounds significantly better than this. I am using Martin Logan Aerius i speakers, Aragon 4004 mkII amp, Aragon Aurum preamp, DH Labs BL-1 interconnects and T-14 speaker cables.

Level of detail is amazing, warm and more engaging than my previous CDP.

The LCD (but I don't listen to it) and the power cord (read below).

I've only had this home for today but have listened to it constantly...bear that in mind as you read this.

Wow...what a difference a good CD player makes. Level of detail I can hear floors me with some CDs, less with others. Most DDD discs really make it shine.

Yeah, the LCD is a little dim...but I *like* the minimalist controls and design. It works for me, I understand how it might not for some. I'm an "end-to-end" listener so lack of fancy programming is irrelevant for me.

Now, to the power cord. I read the previous reviews with a bit of skepticism. But, I found a 14ga IEC cord at work and took it home to try after I had listened to the stock one a bit. Well, I don't know about the soundstage and imaging and all, but I CAN vouch for the increase in bass response and dynamics. It sounds like a different machine with the bigger cord. I think I have some shielded cords at work...I'm gonna try one of them too.

For the price I paid and the apparent sonic improvement I have realized from it...wow...this has GOT to be a value.

I'm currently building a new system and this was the first step there. This D500se will be paired with Cambridge A500 amp...can't wait for that.

Similar Products Used:

Technics SL-PG450

open, airy, natural

jog shuttle

Well, I have had this cd player as part of my system for almost three months. This cd player is very natural. Singers sound like singers and plosives and silibants are kept in the realm of reality. It has gotten warmer over time and I really enjoy it. It sounds better than many other cd players that I have heard that cost much much more. Since I am on a budget, this was the perfect cd player for me. I highly recommend this unit. My only complaint is the shuttle. It makes accessing different tracks manually a chore and I don't always know where I have placed the remote which I prefer to the shuttle.
My system in the study:

Cambridge Audio CD player D500, pre-amp C500, Amp P500
Dual 5500 turntable
Platinum Audio Studio 1 speakers
XLO cables
Magenta CD enhancer
Bybee charger

Similar Products Used:

NAD, AMC, CD4SE, CD6

Actually allows me to connect with the music. Less importantly - detail & drive.

The display (the universe complaint) and limited functionality

I tried the Bel Canto DAC 1.1 hung off my DV-525, the Musical Fidelity A3CD and the Cambridge Audio D500SE in my system.

My system is as follows:
interconnect: Audio Magic Excalibur
integrated amp: Musical Fidelity A300 dual mono
speaker cable: AudioQuest Type 4+ double biwire
speakers: Triangle Zephyr XS (2-way floorstanders)

The Bel Canto DAC was a chameleon. It would take on the basic sound of the several transports I tried. I tried it with both Toslink and coax cables, but found that it was only the sonic equivalent of changing cables.

The A3CD caught the sustain and decay, but missed the attack of the notes. Result: soft, slow, and lifeless. It was a very clean and refined sound, but robbed music of it's vitality.

In goes the D500SE... Result: The system sprang to life and I was able to connect with the music. The D500 has wonderful detail, drive, and portrayal of emotion. It may sound a little rough at times, but I've found that this may actually help convey the music. Bands don't always play largo.

The D500SE doesn't give me the complete "I am there" experience. A piano piece doesn't have the full weight of what a true piano would in my listening room. However, the D500SE is extremely musical and conveys the harmonic texture of the piano notes. It doesn't sound like a real band has taken up residence in my house, but like a very, very good audio system.

It seems to have a lively presentation. This may be in part due to it's slightly higher than standard output voltage, but I've tried to compensate for this in my listening tests. The lively, musical presentation is very engaging. I generally don't dance, but this is one player that has managed pull me out of my chair and onto the floor.

Considering the competition it has bettered in my system I feel this player to be a definite 5 (Bargain, Giant killer).

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity A3CD, Bel Canto DAC 1.1

Very good sound for the money. Sony transport.

Shuttle control

This review pertains to the D500 Special Edition. I've had it for almost three weeks.

First, let me address some of the critiques made of this unit in previous units:

Aesthetics: I got the silver one. I think it exudes more class than the black one.

Display: For the silver model, the display background is a very deep sky blue, the numerals are black. The blue display on the silver face plate looks pretty cool to me. And it's very easy to read, even in bright daylight.

Takes a few seconds to start playing: That's actually a function of the Crystal DACs this player uses. The DACs take a while to "figure out" what type of data stream they are listening to (they were designed with 24/96 and 192 HDCD in mind).

No On/Off switch on remote: The Crystal DACs this thing uses work much better warm. It draws virtually no power when not playing, so just keep it on all the time. You also get the benefit of not having to wait for the DAC to figure out what stream you're playing.

Skipping: I've probably pushed 50 or more of my CDs through this thing so far and it hasn't skipped yet. I've also fed it 5 or 10 of my CD-R's and it read them flawlessly as well.

I'm very pleased with this unit. I can't compare it to a non-SE D500, but it sounds very natural and open to me. It was brittle sounding out of the box, but it becomes more tame with burn-in. Bass is deep and well-presented. The highs are smooth and full.

One of the things about this unit is that it doesn't call much attention to itself. CDs are such a picky medium that it seems every player aspiring to high-end does one or two things well and you have to live with the other faults. This player doesn't really do anything BAD. I don't know if it is the BEST at anything, but I prefer that it's near-best and far-from-worst at everything. Bass is good, mids are good, highs are good, detail is good, soundstage is good, etc. For less than $400, that makes it one GREAT player.

This is also a pretty high-quality player. The front panel may look plastic, but it's not. Check out the feet, they aren't just hard plastic, and they have "pads" on the bottom that appear to be filled with jel or similar isolating material. The inside looks beutiful and is all copper shielded.

I listed the Sony transport as an advantage, because In my experience Sony transports are bullet-proof, fast, and can read anything. I don't like waiting forever for the laser to move from track 1 to 12, and Sony transports move quickly. As I said, I've had no problems reading any discs and didn't expect any.

Finally, there are two weaknesses: 1) the shuttle control. It's great in the dark if you want to move just one track ahead. But if you want to program tracks 16, 8, 3, 12, and 5, in that order, it's a pain in the @ss!!. Of course, I usually use the remote, so it isn't much of a real problem for me. 2) The display, which is so easy to read in the day, is VERY bright. I'm serious. The blue background is as bright as a night light. This is a distraction for me when I listen in the dark.

That's it. Highly recommended if you've only got around $500 to spend. If I had $1000 to spend, I'd get the D300 (yes, _three_ hundred) for the Sony transport, and buy the MSB DAC Link III with the upsample upgrade card. Toss in a good optical cable and you're looking at a grand.

My Equipment:

NAD C350 Integrated Amp
NAD Tuner
NAD PP-1 Phono Pre-Amp
Revolver Turntable w/ Grado Cartridge
Magnepan MMG speakers
Energy e:XL-8 subwoofer
Kimber and Strait Wire interconnects
Audioquest speaker cable (MMGs)
Monster XP speaker cable (Subwoofer)

Similar Products Used:

NAD 520 and 540, Audio Alchemy DDS III, various Magnavox, Pioneer and Sony players

Broad, very 3 dimensional sound, silver "se" version looks great, amazing value.

Fairly noisy transport, no headphone socket, jog-dial

The sound of from player keeps getting better and better. After about 40 hours of playing it is wonderful. A bit tinny and tiresome at first. The high end sounded scratchy. Hearing it get better and better is a lot of fun. Other machine I listened to in the shop, Marantz, Teac etc, all sounded flat and lifeless compared to this machine....this player produces music that is very engaging....toe tappingly good. The noise from transport may be somewhat annoying if you listen to a large amount of very quiet music, especially if, for example, you are lying or sitting right next to it with the volume low. The transport is certainly quieter than the d300's I listend to. And the silent Marantz, my second choice, couldnt match the D500 for pure listening pleasure. The jog dial might grate if your trying to programme a special order of tracks form the Cd, no headphone socket, and you have to press close before you can press play. I just couldn't let these minor quibbles stop me from buying it. Nothing I have listened to compares to it in this price range. And the silver version looks very sharp! No gimmicks, just solid workmanship and a wonderful sound.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Rotel

Already been said by many before me.

THE POWER CORD NEEDS REPLACEMENT - READ THIS

In some of the reviews below some people returned there first one because it worked intermittantly. I do not know what their problem was, but I suspect the power cord.
When I first plug in the D500SE it flickered on and off like there was a short circuit. I narrowed it down to the fact that the power cord does not fit snug into the IEC connector. I pushed it in very firmly and the player then operated normally. It would still wiggle in the IEC, so it was still not a good fit.
This is not the only reason to replace the power cord. I demo'd the D500SE at home in a very high resolution system after a 100 hour burn-in. You may not notice these things as much in a budget setup. Well the D500SE sounded a little "HiFi" with a hint of electronic haze that is common in cheap CD players. The original Cambridge CD4 was an amazing CD player because it had no electronic haze and sold for next to nothing. The stereo image and focus was only fair at best compared to a high end player. The bass was also little splattered as well. This should not be, considering Cambridge's reputation.
Well, I took a standard black IEC power cord, the same as you have plugged into your computer and subsituted it with the one that came with the D500SE. Not only did it obviously fit more snug in the IEC plug in the back of the player, the performance of the player improved in every way. The stereo image and focus was very clear, the soundstage improved, and the bass became deeper and more tight. I tried a more expensive power cord and got even better results.
So my conclusion is you need to replace the power cord, the one that comes with it is a piece of junk. You do not have to spend a lot of money, even switching it with the one in your computer is an improvement; or got to the hardware store and get one. The standard cord in your computer is 18 AWG. You could get a !6AWG or even 14AWG cord (thicker).
Cambridge obviously does not manufacture these cords, so I will not penalize the player for this weakness. It rates 5 stars for the money, with a differenct cord.

Similar Products Used:

CD4, CD6, DACMagic, D300, original D500