Sound,looks and price along with the units sturdy construction. HDCD decoding and it`s burr brown DAC`S put in a league of it`s own for budget cd players.

It cycles through all 5 cd`s when you turn it on.

Great sound very smooth,a much better cd player than the sony that i own.HDCD decoding sound is second to none, very open and clean with tight bass.It is a very attractive looking piece of equipment,i have mine mated with an HK520 AV receiver. This is the best sounding system that i have ever owned, all my friends aaaaare very impressed with the harmon kardon sound.

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Sony and pioneer.

Good mi-range

Sound quality in high's and low's but very acceptable for the price paid. Reliability.

Overall a decent Cd player but be sure to watch it closly for problems. I had to exchange it twice due to problems with skipping and errors within the first couple of days after purchase. I'am using this cd player to play back-ground music.

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Sony, Yamaha, Denon

Sound Quality: imaging, depth, perceived frequency range (we know all CD players measure full range), smoothness

Only mediocre error correction (skips on some badly scratched discs that play through on some other players Limited random play

This was an open box but warranted sample with 10% knocked off from the already sale-priced $199. Played through Carver preamp, Parasound amp and Carver "Amazing" loudspeakers, the sound exceeds what I thought possible from CD's -- even when playing non-HDCD discs. I've had CD players since they first were marketed, and always valued, compared to the "good old" LP days, their freedom from wow and flutter, minimal need for cleaning, and greater dynamic range. At first I'd thought those who found digital sound to be "cold" or "flat" misguided, but very time I'd upgraded my player (the fifth time, now) I've noticed a difference. Especially through the Carver speakers (which have a frequency range of 18 - 20,000 cps and superb imaging from their 5-foot ribbon speakers) I hear a HUGE difference with this HK changer from my now defunct Yamaha "naturual sound" model. Sound definition and depth are exemplary, high frequencies are crisper yet less harsh simultaneously, and bass full (possibly, a bit TOO full). Those who find its sound dull or soft may be hearing the limitations of their loudspeakers -- just my opinion, of course. I am concerned about some reports of reliability, and will be watching. The "random" play isn't fully random, and it is a bit annoying that it cycles through all discs when loading -- but none of that makes a difference when listening!

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Yamaha 765, various previous Magnavox, Phillips and Sony CD Player, including a few mid-"high end"

plays all my cd and cd-r material without fail. HDCD

grainier sound than the DEnon but it plays

I bought it to replace a Denon DCM-370 that only played half my cd' s one quarter of the time

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Denon Dcm-370

HDCD, STURDY BUILD AND SOUND

NONE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT AT THIS TIME

I purchased this unit as an upgrade from my Onkyo C370 six disc changer because of HDCD capability, I have about 30 HDCD disc's. I read the reviews here to help with my choice of CD changer since I was not able to audition it at a local retailer, but have long been a loyal and satisfied Harmon Kardon customer. I installed the Player and put in Mark Knofler - Sailing To Philadelphia HDCD, and immediately realized the improved sound. The same goes for my 16-bit disc's also, although not as dynamic as with the HDCD disc's. I am using a HK 3370 RECEIVER, JBL S38 SPEAKERS and a JBL PB10 SUBWOOFER and the sound is incredible over the entire spectrum. I have played every type of disc I have { old, new, CDR, CDRW, and some less than perfect condition) without experiencing any skipping or non-reading of disc. If this changes, I will repost. Yes it does cycle through all disc upon start up, but it only takes about 3 seconds longer than my Onkyo. To me this is a minor trade off for the sound quality. As far as the remote is concerned, it works fine and has the features needed to play your CD's. I will keep this review short by saying it is a quality player with very good sound reprodution and I would highly recommend this player. I might add, for the ones having problems with this unit, Harmon Kardon's service has never been anything less than excellent when I have needed it. Cambridge Soundworks gives a 45 day satisfaction guarantee on their products and will pay return shipping if you are not satisfied, so what do you have to lose, hear this unit for yourself!

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ONKYO, YAMAHA, SONY, MARANTZ

Bass is strong and HCCD encoding Memory of last disc played

Slightly Bright Treble and could have smoother midrange and vocal reproduction (Very Minor) The unit cycles through all 5 tracks once it is powered ( Annoying) No optical output, only digital! ( Just my preference in options)

I use this CD Player on my second system in the living room for background listening or small party gatherings. So, needless to say, I do not analyze the music on this machine as I would on my Audiophile system in my sound room! I am using a 1991 HK Integrated Amp (HK6500BLK) to power this unit. The amp is still cranking after all of these years, but the HK 8380 matches well with the amp. The bass is superb and the hi's are a little on the bright side. The midrange is okay, but not as pronounced as it is on my Cambridge D500SE. I believe the reproduction is a result of three things: the player, choice of interconnects, and speakers. I am using MIT Terminator 3s on this cd player; I running it through a pair Polk Audio RC 85 in-ceiling speakers. These speakers are two way which contributes to the performance of the midrange sound that I hear, but for the money it performs for purposes of listening to background music.

Strong vocals and stereo seperation. Good electric guitar presentation and very good at picking up silent detail portions of CDs.

Lousy mechanism (scan all CDs to get to desired CD)...but as one reviwer noted, have patients and the Burr-Brown DACs will treat you to dead-accrate audiophile sound.

Very musical CD changer. Sounds very much different from regular Sony and Onkyo (Integra series) Cd changer. Very very surpised of what I've been missing from my CDs. Reinvent your CD collect. Try this HK out -if you swear you don't hear more "air, left and right stereo channel seperation, and more controlled vocals" take it back for a full refund. This is the only way you can find out. However I do warn owners of this particular HK product that the OUTPUT from this CD changer is only 1 volt (compared to the standard 2 volt on most CD changers -such as Sony, Toshiba, Pioneer, etc, etc). This simply means you will have to turn the volume higher than usual. It's kinda like having a low sensitivity speaker where you have to drive it harder to make it sound louder. HK tells you this in their instruction manual (specifications). Otherwise, sound quality for the price is awesome. I've never auditioned anything over 400 dollars -never needed to anyways, because I couldn't afford such component -other than my ES reciever ($1000) and my Boston Acoustic VR950 tower speakers ($700). I did some comparing with my Pioneer DVD player (in stereo CD). The Pioneer DV-444 also has 192kh/ 24 bit Burr-Brown DACs. Also compared it side-by-side with my other Toshiba SK-700 DVD player. Overall, I liked the strong vocals and music presense of the Toshiba DVD player and that also goes for the HK 8380 disc changer. Very nice indeed, how DVD players can do multiple jobs and play standard 16-bit (regular) CDs with extreme accuracy and detail. Like most braggers, I also hate the mechinism in this HK -which would you rather have? Function or sound?

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Onkyo INTEGRA 7 CD changer. Sony Mega CD changers TEAC Japanese made Single CD player.

Excellent Sound Quality Harman/Kardon

Can be slow at point, but it''s a sacrifice for great sound

This is a great CD unit. I haven''t found any real big problems with it yet. Yes the tray can be slow and it might take a couple seconds to find a disc, but why be so impatient. Also I have found that by pushing play after changing the disc speeds up the play. It sounds great when you pop in a HDCD, even though I only have two. I love how it matches my AR310. I''m using the Digital Coaxial out and everything is crystal clear. Good choice of CD player

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Harman/Kardon AVR310 Sharp 27" TV (Needs to get replaced) Apex DVD player (Don''t be fooled, updated firmware and is awsome) Zenith VCR Wharfedale Opal 100 Front Towers Merak MC6H Center (Voice M

Sounds very good, HDCD, Burr-Brown chips

Must cycle through all 5 discs prior to playing, kind of big

This CD changer actually took me back to the early 1980''s when HK was the performance leader in cassette decks (at least in their price range). It actually sounds very good, without the harshness and uncertainty that other budget cd changers exhibit. The changer uses Burr-Brown DACs and also has HDCD decoding. I suspect that both features are what set it above the rest. Out of the box, I do have to say that the changer was a little harsh on the high end and exhibited excess mechanical noise when it played the discs. After about a week to 10 days, though, it was much smoother and the noise was gone. This ought to be a lesson to anyone buying new audio equipment...give it at least a few days to break in before you decide it sounds bad. The remote control is quite servicable. It controls everything on the changer and is laid out pretty well. The changer''s display is also nicely laid out and easy to read. It''s a blue fluorescent type display that shows the track numbers in calendar and numeric displays. The only significant drawback that I could find was that it insists on cycling through all five CDs before it will play. Also (and much less significant for me), this is a fairly large piece of equipment. It just barely fits in my rack. I''d say that for its price, which now is MUCH less than I paid, it''s an excellent performer. I use mine with this gear: Carver C3 Preamp Carver TX-8R Tuner (3)Carver TFM-15CB amps (bridged) AudioControl Phase Coupled Activator Harmon/Kardon HK-391 cassette Acoustat 1+1 speakers Adire Shiva sub in 8foot transmission line Transparent Audio cables Merrill modified AR XB turntable

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Denon, Teac, Sony CD players

Fantastic HDCD player. Really does bring some life to ordinary CDs as well. Fantastic DACs. Solid, heavy build. Very good playback for its price.

Checks all 5 discs on startup unless you hit eject. Mechanism not noisy when loading, but not whisper quiet as compared to some high end brands. No true random play.

I''m really really really happy with this player. Perhaps that because of the price I paid. If I hadn''t found a quality CD player for less than $150, then I would have likely just played CDs on my DVD player. Which would have been a pity; no DVD player I''ve heard plays CDs as well as this. I can honestly say, I''ve not heard a significantly better CD player.

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Apex 600A DVD player, Old 1987 Sony 5 Disc player