[chriscu1]

I've been itching to upgrade my source (AMC CD8B) up into the $500-$1000 range. I had read some decent reviews on this player, and then I noticed today that Audio Advisor had a demo model for $500, so I decided to snatch it up...with the freedom of sending it back if it's not a good choice. Does anyone have one of these? Is it worth $500??? The reviews I've read say it rivals anything under $1000. It's got HDCD decoding and a pretty good DAC, along with coax and optical out....sounds like a decent package for $500.

 

[rajan]

Tuberoller has this in his store. I even think that he had a brief review of this in the forums.

 

[wasifazim]

I've heard good things about it, for whatever that's worth. Apparently the folks at Music Hall saw this player at an audio show where it was being displayed by its Chinese manufacturer..they were impressed enough by its build and sound quality at the price point that they decided to import it and slap on the Music Hall badge.

- Wasif.

 

[tangent]

I'm looking seriously at this player because it uses a Burr Brown OPA2134 opamp in the output stage. That means it's hackable. Cooool. Bo knows opamps.

 

[chriscu1]

Well I just received it and hooked it up. IMO this is a stylish looking player! It was a demo unit so I'm not sure how much it has been played, but giving a quick listen the first thing I thought was how different the sound was. You'll have to remember I've never laid down more than $200 for a CD player (although my AMC CD8B is a good entry-level player). I now think I finally get what people mean when they say "musical", and I now realize that most of the sound I had been hearing up until now has been more digital sounding. The music coming from this player is so smooth, and yet maintains detail. I definitely think it's a keeper.

Never in my wildest day would I ever imagine having a setup designed just for headphone listening that was worth $1500, and I know that's small change compared to a lot of you. To me, though, that's just plain crazy!!! Every time I tell my friends about it, they're always like, "You spent HOW MUCH on a pair of headphones?!? $100 just for some cables?!?" We're all sick.

 

[Neruda]

I was really interested in the shanling version of this player (shanling is the company that actually manufactures it). this same CDP sells for about $200 over in China, but unfortunately shanling won't sell to the US since Music Hall is distributing it for them. I'd love to buy it for $200, but unfortunately I can't afford Music Hall's tremendous markup.

still, I'm sure that this player is worth the price you paid for it. congrats on your purchase!

 

[chriscu1]

Yeah, I had read a lot about the huge difference in price. I think if you took $200 to China, in general you would get more for your money than in the US. Granted, most of this is markup, but there probably a little more to it. This player would be the greatest steal of all time if it was $200! Which is probably why it's not. Given all the features it does have though (nice Burr Brown 24/96 DAC, HDCD, coax and optical out...not to mention that cool blue light that comes on when a HDCD is played!!!), for $500 it would be hard to get something significantly better.

 

[Neruda]

I haven't heard the player, but I'll bet you're right. how fast is its operation? is it quick to start up and read CDs?

 

[chriscu1]

I wouldn't say the operation part of it is anything special. It's not any faster than my AMC. If anything, maybe a little slower. It takes a good few seconds to load a CD once the drawer is closed.