TOP CD PLAYERS
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The various CD PLAYERS listed below are our subjective picks for the top CD PLAYERS in the world, based upon our reviews. That said, the list is dynamic and as we review new CD PLAYERS that we feel deserve a spot on the list, well, the list and thus the ranking will change to accommodate the new CD PLAYER. Things change.
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. 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. ($22,500)
Alive! Natural. Elegant. Substantive. Delicious. Its facade is elegant in a form follows function approach that says “beauty” all the while singing with one of the most ‘analog like’ and delicious voices imaginable. One may find their shoulders dropping, the furrows across their brow diminishing, a stepped exhalation, and then a welcomed ease. The unfolding event will be the NEODIO Origine S2 player spinning your CDs. The NEODIO Origine S2 is a breath of fresh air or, perhaps, it is digital as analog in the selfsame way that analog was dismissed as “obsolete,” “inferior,” “anachronistic,” when it was not, as now referenced by the ever-rising growth of album sales. And that it also beautifully decodes streams is a complimentary faucet that, again, says, “endgame component.” ($20,000)
The PerfectWave SACD transport and the PS Audio DirectStream DAC are highly recommended in a day and age when people actually think that CDs are dead. The nerve! Remember, these are probably the same people who said that vinyl was dead, as vinyl now experiences a renaissance across the world. When will we learn and listen to our hearts and our souls, not the naysayers. And should the internet of things go, well, south… We, AudioKeyReviews, happily give the PerfectWave SACD transport and the PS Audio DirectStream DAC combo our GOLDEN KEYNOTE Award for outstanding musical excellence. ($12,500)