ACCUSTIC ARTS PLAYER II - REVIEW
The Absolute Pinnacle of CD Playback? You bet!
The 2013 dystopian Sci-Fi film Transcendence, which features Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall, opens with a man placing a computer keyboard under a door as a makeshift doorstop. The ‘internet of all things’ has gone ‘kerplunk’—crashed with a thud—and Information Technology (IT) is defunct and computers obsolete. Got traditional HiFi, a CD player, a turntable? Would albums, eight-track tapes, cassettes, and CDs once again be…king? How many dystopian films paint this as a possibility?
As mentioned in my previous review of the PS Audio Transport/DAC combo ($12,500), between the years of 1983 and 2020 there were 15.1 billion CDs sold in the US alone. And while a good number of them may well be in landfills, one imagines that a good deal more are still available for playback. This alone should be enough to contradict the naysayers who posit that CDs and CD players are dead. Do you remember when albums and turntables were dead? Yeah, me too.
What I have learned over the past several months in the course of evaluating a range of CD players (reviews forthcoming), is that CD players have, oddly enough, followed the life, death and rebirth cycle of, well, turntables. Suffice to say that technology and technologists have breathed fresh life and vigor and new capabilities into CD players while the various new mechanisms—transports, DACs, decoding/upsampling modalities, etc—make them, well, better! This might be called ‘The Great CD Renaissance’. Maybe.
This brings me to the review of what may be, to date, the CD player destined to be at the very forefront of this renaissance. This is the Accustic Arts Player II CD player ($22,500) and it is imbued with the gathered wisdom of the technologists and of burgeoning technologies. How good is the Accustic Arts Player II CD player really?
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the components actually sound and not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
SOUND
Formidable. Within a single chassis the Accustic Arts Player II simultaneously challenges any and all Top-Of-The-Line (TOTL) CD players and DAC/Streamer combos with the ROON Nucleus+ as primary streamer, is no small task.
Have technologists and technology given CD players and, in particular, the Accustic Arts Player II, an analog voice which possesses all the naturalness, richness, transparency, and resolution once believed to belong in the province of either/or—analog or digital? The short answer is yes and beautifully so.
This is not my first experience with Accustic Arts. I had owned at one time, long ago, its Transport and DAC components, designation unremembered, and I lament to this day ever selling them. If you’ve been on the audiophile merry-go-round, then you know exactly what I mean.
The Accustic Arts Player II brings a whole-cloth naturalness that is easily discerned and yet remains hard to fathom. As one’s shoulders fall and tension ebbs away one instinctively searches for the turntable responsible. But there is no turntable. And when called for there is an aliveness born of transparency, resolution, and a ‘vacuuming up’ of detail that lays a performance naked and startling when called for. Further, there was no streaming combination that bested the Accustic Arts Player II in CD player mode for the careful resolution of voices, that made clear lyrics that had been guessed at or simply overlooked or unavailable (see below)!
Words and phrases that are often used to describe this phenomenon are ‘palpability’ or ‘as if transported to venue’ or a ‘you-are-there’ experience. The Player II’s CD playback as well as its streaming abilities will touch heart and soul and provide for one of the most immersive and engaging experiences I have ever had with a CD player. I have owned many TOTL CD players and DAC/Transport combos over the years and have experienced a good and growing number of today’s ever evolving models but, to date, the Accustic Arts Player II has no equal. No equal.
My quickly growing cache of CDs speaks clearly to its abilities, and my preference to listen to it and less so to streaming media is another powerful indicator of where my interests now lie or where they have been taken. The proof for you will be in the playing and the listening.
However, if I were to stop there, I would do disservice to its truly exceptional DAC and decoding/upsampling capabilities. Its CD playback bettered the ROON Nucleus Plus/Tambaqui streaming combo. However, the Player II’s DAC going toe-to-toe with the Mola Mola Tambaqui with both using the ROON Nucleus Plus gave advantage to the Tambaqui. One imagines a TOTL frontend streamer—Grimm Audio MU1, INNUOS STATEMENT, Aurender W20SE, etc—if aligned to the Accustic Arts Player II would provide a much different outcome in regard to streaming.
The Accustic Arts Player II’s volumetric cube—its soundstage—is vast with cavernous depth, great width, and substantial height. Layering, separation and positioning are, well, outstanding. Further, the Player II boasts exceptional transparency and resolution which lifts copious detail, microscopic and otherwise from beneath the noise floor, all of which combine to conjure up an organic whole. The best analogy would be a crossover-less speaker’s ability to bring top to bottom, organic coherency—whole-cloth.
The Accustic Arts Player II was paired with the Roon Nucleus Plus, LTA Z10e HPA /Integrated, and the Viva Audio Egoista STX HPA (review coming). The headphones used were the STAX SR-009S, Meze Empyreans, Meze LIRIC, ZMF Véríté, ZMF Atticus, ZMF Atrium, and Rosson Audio RAD-0. Wires. Cabling throughout were Audience’s Front Row Cables (review coming) and power was RSX Power8 with the RSX BEYOND AC Power Cord and the TORUS RM20.
NOTE: The same tracks that were used to review the PS Audio SACD Transport/DAC combo were used for the Accustic Arts Player II to discern their respective rendering abilities. Again, there was no in-house streaming combination that bested the Accustic Arts Player II in CD player mode for the careful resolution of voices, making clear lyrics that had, to date, been guessed at!
BASS
At the present time, my apartment is 250 feet, perhaps a little less or a little more, from the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra. It is, of course, where Eiji Oue’s Stravinsky album was recorded by Reference Recordings. This recording has been, for some time, my go to, to understand sub-bass and bass reach, resolution, and the detail liberating abilities of a given component. Further, the album as a whole has allowed for the determination of speed and cohesion of dynamic shifts, of transient speed, and staging. As I know it so well and use it consistently (along with a few other bass rich albums), determinations are made quickly regarding components.
Eiji Oue’s “V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey” (Stravinsky, Reference Recording) begins and there is rumble and anticipation, power and thunder that reaches deeply into the sub-bass depths and that takes no prisoners. This alone sets the Accustic Arts Player II far above even that of the PS Audio PerfectWave CD transport combo recently reviewed. And, again, no streaming/DAC combination available in-house came close to delivering a similar performance. The Player II has a weight that extends across the frequency spectrum providing gravitas, flesh and palpability, while never obscuring resolution or detail. And there was that ease again. The lowered shoulders, exhaled breath, de-furrowed brow often conjured by a good analog rig—turntable—as the Stravinsky album plays through. Obviously, it takes time to perfect a given format and the Player II is the result of just such a process.
MIDRANGE
Shirley Horn's “Beautiful Love” (You Won’t Forget Me, Verve) is yet another of my favorites for discerning the abilities of a given component from CDPs to DACs to amps to speakers. There are things that must be gotten right—timbre/tonality of Toots Thielemans’ harmonica, sibilance free articulation and deep microdynamic detail of lyric formation and articulation, phrasing, and delivery of Shirley’s voice. Else, this song is unable to engage or move or to evoke the 3D-realism it should. As “Beautiful Love” plays now, via the Player II, the timbral/tonal accuracy and richness of Toots Thielemans’ harmonica is spot on, rich, ethereal. Shirley’s voice is dimensional, crystal clear, nuanced, entirely free of sibilance, and lush with the microdynamic cues of words/lyrics, phrases formed and released into the world most naturally. All boxes marked would see the Accustic Arts Player II quickly adopted into one’s loving home. “Prayer to a Guardian Angel” from Voces8’s Lux album (Lux, Decca Music Group Ltd.), a recent favorite, is a glorious choral piece from this ensemble, in which tone, timbre, harmonies and technique are quite brilliant. Though it must be admitted there are sections where the lyrics have proved difficult to discern. In “Prayer to a Guardian Angel” the second line has, to date, been either entirely obscured or partially so, regardless of component ensemble. The Accustic Arts Player II, however, finally gave complete clarity to this second line and to its every word! A smile quickly formed that would not soon diminish. Of course, I had to repeat this experiment, which was again validated. Every word was clearly discerned in this line and each line thereafter. I have listened to this song for well over 18 months and this clarity was never the case before. And this from a CD player! Long live CDs!
TREBLE+
Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” (Time Out, Columbia-Legacy) plays via the silver disc with an energy, weight, texture, and frequency gravitas via the Accustic Arts Player II that, again, no in-house streaming combo has matched. The punch of Joe Morello’s bass drum boom comes with a tautness and energy and immediacy that says “true-that.” Meanwhile the cymbal licks, the hi-hat crashes, rise air-infused and detail rich with a clarity and resolution that, once again, the in-house streaming combos could not match. And Eugene Wright’s bass has never been clearer, more definitive, and better resolved. At this point, the Player II was just showing off with prodigious skill, as to why CD playback is alive, well and challenging ALL formats. The PS Audio SACD Transport/DAC combo got me started and excited about the possibilities of CD playback, but the Accustic Arts Player II has moved things to a quantum level above it. That the Player II’s DAC section is second only to the Mola Mola Tambaqui ($13,500), our Best of the Year for 2021 product, speaks volumes. In the review of the PS Audio SACD Transport/DAC combo, I likened its playback to, “Like triple chocolate cake and a Rutherglen Muscat (Campbells Merchant Prince) after a fine dinner.” The Accustic Arts Player II would then be a six course meal at the former El Bulli’s (Catalonia, Spain), with the appropriate wine, of course. Suffice to say, that the Accustic Arts Player II’s talents are…formidable.
The Wrappings and Accessories
The Accustic Arts Player II comes in a large, nondescript, brown box, that does not at all give away its rather expensive TOTL contents. The box’s purpose, one imagines, is singular—protect the internal contents at all cost. And this it achieves splendidly.
Its inner box is likewise free of graphic design elements and wears the selfsame brown nondescriptness. It does, however, hold the Player II via a combination of foam liners and foam braces that secure the nearly 50 lbs component well in place.
The accessories to the Accustic Arts Player II are:
A full-function, metal remote control
A standard power cord
An instruction manual
A pair of white gloves
It is an entirely no-frills wrapper/enclosure, outer and inner, with one overriding directive—protect its valuable internal component.
Design—Look and Feel
The Viva Egoista STX calls to mind an Italian super sports car. Its Canary Yellow body, its black front grill, molded chassis, exposed, top-mounted, dual 300Bs, 6C45Pi and 6H30PI values may even seem more exotic than the accoutrements of some sports cars. The Viva Egoista measures 16” x 7” x 16” and weighs in at a stout 46 lbs (410 x 185 x 410 mm and 21kg). Suffice to say that its appearance belies muscle, power and finesse.
The Viva Egoista STX is beautiful via its molded, aluminum skin, its bright Canary yellow automotive paint and its high-gloss black front facade. And if you think that it looks good in pictures, “Watch Out!”
Design—Look and Functionality
Impressive. Solid. Exquisitely built. The Accustic Arts Player II is built as though a German luxury sedan were to marry a German sports car. Its size, weight and smoothness of operation mimicking the former; its handling of the various media, speed of operation, its deft maneuverability with formats—CD, standard and high resolution streams, and upsampling abilities—mimicking the latter.
The Accustic Arts Player II’s front face features at its far left a large, round knob—INPUT SELECTOR—that selects between USB, Inputs 1, 2, 3, and CD. In the center is its narrow display screen which features tracks and inputs. At its far right is a second round knob—CD FUNCTIONS—which when rotated (from left to right) selects between OPEN, BW, PLAY, FW and STOP. Minimalist and clear would be an accurate characterization of its facade.
The Player II, a TOP-LOADER—the pinnacle of all CDP/transport implementations—utilizes the CD Pro-8 transport with a magnetized puck which secures the disc, locking it in place. The Player II’s rather substantive, protective drawer must be manually pulled closed for CD playback to begin. For all of its potent abilities, it is plug and play, and incredibly straightforward. You remember CD players, right?
The Accustic Arts Player II, however, is no small component weighing in at 48.5 lbs (22 kg) and there is no doubt that the 2 x 25 VA toroidal transformers and its massive frame bear responsibility for the weight (and for its formidable abilities). Its width at 19 inches (482mm) and its depth at 14 inches (375mm) will only be accommodated by quite sturdy and quite wide desktops, though it would be better utilized on a sturdy component rack.
The Accustic Arts Player II will play all of your CDs, CD-R, CD-RW. It will not play SACDs. Attach a good USB cable to the designated input, I used the Audience Front Row USB cable, and your streaming media from TIDAL and Qobuz or ROON will be decoded to 24bit/192kHz and upsampled to 32bit/384kHz. It will not decode MQA.
The Specifications
Accustic Arts Player II
Playable formats: Playable disc formats: CD, CD-R, CD-RW
Analog outputs: 1 x balanced – 2 x 47 Ω (XLR)/ 1 x unbalanced – 47 Ω (RCA)
Digital inputs: 2 x S/P-DIF; coaxial – 75 Ω (RCA)/1 x S/P-DIF; optical;1 x USB 2.0 (asynchronous)
Input data format: Hi-res audio up to 24 bit / 192 kHz (ALAC, FLAC, AIFF, WAV etc.) DSD128
D/A converter: 32 bit/384 kHz upsampling technology
Distortion (THD + N): 0.01 %
Crosstalk: < 100 dB with digital 0 dB
Dimensions (H x W x D): 165 x 482 x 375 mm / 6.5 x 19 x 14.8 inches
Weight: 22 kg / 48.5 lbs.
CONCLUSIONS
Formidable. The Accustic Arts Player II rendering of CDs bested its streaming counterparts and even higher resolution versions of the same CDs(!) time and time again, regardless of genre. And this came as quite the surprise. It is also preternaturally engaging and immersive, alive, dynamic, incredibly resolving, and, at the same time, the doppelgänger of analog. This being no small task for a ‘digital playback’ component. And it serves, beautifully, two worlds—CD playback and streaming.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the many sales of my equipment that I lament most is the Accustic Arts Transport/DAC combo. The experience, however, with the Accustic Arts Player II clears that memory and replaces it with a profound new experience altogether. Ahh, but this player, unfortunately, is well out of range, otherwise it would never be let go. Fool me once…
CD playback is back, alive, standing toe-to-toe with ALL formats (while clearly bettering most), and, in this evolved iteration, it is better than ever. And with that, I, we, enthusiastically honor the Accustic Arts Player II CDP with our highest award, the DIAMOND AWARD, for cutting-edge-excellence in the rebirth of what was briefly thought extinct, dead, forgotten. Long live CDs!
Pros: Unparalleled playback of CDs which rivals even higher resolution streaming. An exceptional internal DAC that renders streaming in a transparent, detailed, and very musical way. Formidable build quality. Intuitive operation.
Cons: Expensive. Heavy
The Company
Accustic Arts
Accustic Arts Player II ($22,500)
www.accusticarts.de/en/
The Distributor
Rutherford Audio
info@rutherfordaudio.com
rutherfordaudio.com
The SYSTEMS
1.
Roon Nucleus Plus
BRICASTI M1 DAC
STAX SR-009S
Dan Clark VOCE
Meze Empyrean
Meze LIRIC
ZMF Atrium
ZMF Véríté
ZMF Atticus
LTA Z10e HPA\E
Audience Front Row Cables/Wires
RSX Power8
TORUS RM20
2.
Roon Nucleus Plus
Mola Mola Tambaqui
STAX SR-009S
Dan Clark VOCE
Viva Egoista STX HPA\E
RSX Power8
TORUS RM20