Online Resource: The Eastsound CD-E5 European Edition

[philodox]

The Eastsound CD-E5 European Edition
Easily the best deal out there for a dedicated source.



I will attempt to collect all of the data we now have on this CD player into one resource. The old thread is starting to get pretty huge, so I figured a fresh start was in order.

There is a very comprehensive list of features and the technology behind this device that can be found on the Cattylink Analog Research website.

North American Head-Fi'ers can purchase the player through Cattylink by sending them an email or through Reference Audio Mods. RAM is also offering some modification packages.

If you can speak Chinese or want to risk translating it through Babelfish you can have a look at the official Eastsound website.

Some pictures of the bottom side of the two circuit boards inside the CD player: #1 | #2

A few other links you may find interesting… Audio Asylum Thread | #2 [I’m sure there are others on there as well if you do a search.] | Audio Construzioni - an Italian website with a good review [Some information in English is listed near the middle of the page.] | Akkelis Audio - a Swedish website with some information | Audioholics - a review of its predecessor, the E3

Impressions on the Eastsound CD-E5
This page of the old thread has my limited impressions and pics: Link [Starting on post #75]
Some impressions and pics at the Hamilton mini-meet: Link
There were some impressions at the Detroit meet as well: Link
[work in progress]

Problems with the transport?
There have been some reports of issues with the transport or laser mechanism that is used in the Eastsound CD player. A Head-Fi forum user [drarthurwells] has graciously offered to assist with any repairs needed as a result of this. Please see this post for more information. If you want to try your hand at the replacement yourself, another forum member [Mike FL] has created a detailed online walkthrough that explains the entire process.

NOTE: I will try to add some links to meet impressions over the next little while once I have time to search them out. I am also slowly reading through the old Eastsound thread and will be updating this one with anything I can find. If anyone has any information or links they would like to add to this first post in the thread they can email me or send me a personal message here on Head-Fi.

[EdipisReks]

thanks for doing this, philodox! the old thread was definitely unwieldy. one suggestion i have, though, is to host the pictures on something like imageshack.us instead of linking to cattylink. even though they aren't inline, knowing headfi and its love for the eastsound they are going to get a lot of clicks.

[drarthurwells]

Any CD player can have transport laser problems - the weak part of a CD player.

If all goes well the laser lasts about 7 years or more before burning out.

Th E5 CD player uses the Philips VAM 1202 transport/laser, with an added Eastsound photo preamp circuit to improve performance of the 1202.

This is a very high-performing unit that is very reliable and inexpensive to replace.

I will provide free labor in replacing the laser unit, or the whole transport, at any future time for all E5 owners. It is a quick and easy task, and anyone wishing to do it themselves can get a link for instructions posted here by Mike Fl, or from myself. A replacement laser unit is less than $25 and the transport itself (with no laser in it) costs about the same.

This fix-it-yourself-cheaply feature is one of the strong points of the E5, since laser failure is by far the most common cause of CDP problems.

[pne]

DHL just brought mine in today, looks very very nice and solid build. I will post internal shots soon. First listenning impression is that it is a little coarse and harsh in the upper mids/treble but at the end of my 3 hour listenning session it was starting to tame a bit. Clarity and resolution is top notch. I am hearing whispers and speech I couldn't make out before on Roger Waters-Amused to death. I'll give it another few days of burn-in before i judge too critically. Quick comments are soundstage is very wide and imaging at the extremes is very good. Silver Raincoat powercord added a bit of bass depth and control, the stock interconnects are of reasonable quality and the goldraincoat's are very nice eye candy. Have not sat down for IC rolling yet. My only complaints are the transport tray moves really slowly like a ww1 tank and the remote is kinda cruddy. It has to be aimed directly at the player to read and the buttons on the player and remote feel very cheap.

My fix for the remote-It rattles a bit since it is 2 pieces of aluminum that slide together. The tolerances from factory aren't that great, but I simply added a little blue tac to the battery tray and the sliders (you'll know where once you open it) and the remote now feels like a solid chunk of aluminum and the battery wont shift inside when you use it.

EDIT- DO NOT DO THIS, I've found the tile is prone to falling off and lying on the transport. While it caused no visible damage, I'd be safe and just dampen on the outside!!



I had to open the cover to let any moisture evaporate. Especially in the wintertime when you bring in a cold piece of electronics from outside, it is good to let it sit for a few hours in room temperature to avoid moisture condensation on the components inside. Small picture but the build quality is excellent and very neat. I noticed some ugly soldering on some of the other members boards but as far as I can see it is all good on this one and will not require touching up. Good quality caps are used where it counts, I will probably replace the rest with blackgates in the future.

Here is a topless frontal shot...



It matches nicely with my gilmore lite and dt880's.

[drarthurwells]

Nice pics.

Good tips, though I had no problems with my remote - built like a tank, as is the E5 CDP.

Give it a few days to really become familar with the sound - highly signal-accurate and resolving, faithful to the signal and changes readily with different recordings, cables, headphones, amps, tubes, etc.

Look forward to your future comments.

[philodox]

Originally Posted by EdipisReks

one suggestion i have, though, is to host the pictures on something like imageshack.us instead of linking to cattylink.

Good suggestion, I will host them on my FTP once I have a chance to clear some stuff off of it.

Originally Posted by drarthurwells

Philips VAM 1202 transport/laser

I was going to make mention of this and try to find a post of yours about your offer, but you made it nice and easy for me.

I've updated the first post with a link here so that it is easily found... even if this thread gets some 1000+ replies like the old one did.

pne - Nice pictures man... it looks like they are now using a different transformer. I believe mine is a little bit different.

[Mike FL]

Thanks for the new thread Philodox. It was time for a change.

If you wish you can add the following link for the transport change details site I made up:
http://pages.videotron.com/mikedf/

On another note I received my Dimarzio interconnects a few days ago but they made a mistake and sent me the wrong length and some high definition's instead of the M-Path I had bought. They said to keep these and that they would be sending the right ones free of charge. How's that for service ?!

[raisin]

Originally Posted by pne

Cattylink was also kind enough to send me 3 half inch thick pieces of granite (thicker than the stuff on my floor!). I laid this on top of the eastsound and it is rock solid dampening (no pun intended)

You paid to ship rock from China? I hope it was very special rock.

[philodox]

Mike FL - Wow, what a nice walkthrough. Great pictures too.

What are the 'high definitions'? That is great service! Two pairs of cables for the price of one.

You can't beat that.

[lini]

Originally Posted by raisin

You paid to ship rock from China? I hope it was very special rock.

Of course that was the famous Chinese Wall Granite, which by its tradition is unsurpassed in keeping the good (in this case: sound) in and the bad (in this case: vibrations) out. Much better than the snake-oily Berlin Wall Concrete often purchased for high prices by inexperienced junior audiophiles, 'cause that will only last for a comparatively short time and will then crumble and fail - beware!

Oh, uhm - sorry, couldn't resist.

Manfred / lini