CD & SACD Players

The ACCUSTIC ARTS® PLAYER I is a CD player and external D/A converter made by ACCUSTIC ARTS®, supporting CD, CD-R, and CD-RW playback. It uses a high-end traction-feed, vibration-decoupled tray-loading drive with an aluminium-ABS drawer guided by two metal bearings, and provides 32-bit/384 kHz upsampling, two coaxial S/P-DIF inputs, one optical S/P-DIF input, and asynchronous USB 2.0 supporting DSD256 and hi-res formats including ALAC, FLAC, AIFF, and WAV. The unit has separate power supplies for laser control, digital signal processing, display control, and the D/A converter section, two 25 VA toroidal transformers, balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA analog outputs, a resonance-minimising metal housing, a brushed-aluminium front panel, and a massive chromed-brass tray cover.

The Advance Paris X-CD9 is an integrated CD player using a Wolfson WM8762 DAC and two Raytheon 5744 subminiature signal valves, one per channel, in the analogue output section as buffers rather than amplifiers. It features front-panel CD transport controls, a central display, a valve window, coaxial connectivity, and balanced as well as single-ended outputs. Priced at £890, it is a full-width, low-profile component in the traditional integrated CD-player category.

The La Diva M2 is a dedicated Red Book CD transport from Aqua Acoustic Quality, a Milan-based Italian digital-audio specialist that designs and hand-assembles its transports and R2R DACs in-house. Each unit is designed and handmade in Italy and distributed through a limited dealer network rather than mass retail. The chassis measures 450 x 370 x 100 mm.

Flagship dedicated CD transport with a read-ahead buffered mechanism for error-free reading, plus USB playback of files from HDD/flash storage; no built-in DAC.

The Ayre Acoustics CX-8 is a Red Book CD player only — it does not support SACD playback — built around Ayre's zero-feedback, fully-balanced discrete analog circuitry and the company's Diamond output stage and Equilock gain stage. It is Ayre's sole CD player in current production and is modular, with optional USB2 (asynchronous USB, up to DSD512 RAW) and Net2 (Ethernet, Tidal Connect/Roon/JPLAY certified) digital input boards that let it double as a network-connected DAC and streamer.

The Universal Remote Control for Ayre Acoustics Products is a 30-button aluminum remote compatible with any Ayre Acoustics product across the 5, 7, 8, and R-Series lines, including disc players, preamplifiers, and digital hubs. Its button layout provides control for both analog and digital products.

The Cambridge Audio CXC is a dedicated CD transport with no built-in DAC, designed to be paired with an external DAC or DAC-equipped amplifier. It uses Cambridge's proprietary S3 servo disc drive, a single-speed mechanism, housed in an acoustically dampened metal chassis. The transport won What Hi-Fi's award for best entry-level CD transport in 2015.

The Evo CD is a dedicated CD transport built as a companion to Cambridge Audio's Evo 75 and Evo 150 all-in-one streaming amplifiers, using a custom S5 Servo drive mechanism inside an anodized-aluminum, acoustically damped chassis. It has no standalone digital output of its own — audio and control pass over a proprietary connection to the paired Evo amplifier, which handles DAC duties, so it is only compatible with the Evo 75/150 ecosystem rather than functioning as a universal transport.

The CD-300 is a tube-output CD player from Canary Audio, a small California-based tube-electronics maker that builds its components from the ground up with domestic manufacturing. It uses military-grade PCBs, silver-plated PTFE wiring, and potted transformers, assembled in small batches and sold through a limited dealer network. It serves as a successor to the well-regarded CD-200 and carries a sustained niche reputation among tube-audio enthusiasts.

The CH Precision D1.5 is a modular, upgradeable Swiss-engineered CD/SACD player-transport built around the company's proprietary in-house MORSe transport mechanism, offering reference-grade digital output and, with optional dual-mono DAC boards installed, full single-chassis playback. It supports MQA-CD decoding and can serve either as a dedicated digital transport (CH-Link HD, AES/EBU, S/PDIF, or TosLink outputs) or as a complete player when fitted with its analog output boards.

The dCS Rossini Transport is an upsampling CD/SACD transport that uses a dual-laser CD/SACD mechanism and the dCS Digital Processing Platform to read discs and output DSD, DXD, or PCM data to an external DAC, rather than housing its own D/A conversion or analog outputs. SACDs play back in native DSD, while CD data can be upsampled to high-resolution DSD, DSD128, or DXD (24-bit/352.8kS/s) and sent out over Dual AES/EBU, with additional PCM-only outputs available via AES3 and S/PDIF.

The Denon DCD-1700NE is a CD/SACD player using a TI Advanced Current Segment PCM1795 32-bit DAC and Denon's Advanced AL32 Processing Plus upsampling, paired with a vibration-suppressing S.V.H. disc drive mechanism; reviewer Paul Seydor of *The Absolute Sound* called it "a superb performer" that "gets you pretty damn close" to state-of-the-art performance for its price. Key specifications include Disc/format compatibility is SACD (including hybrid), CD, CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/+RW; disc-burned MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, DSD and DAC chip is TI Advanced Current Segment PCM1795, 192kHz/32-bit.

The DCD-3000NE is Denon's Reference Series SACD/CD player, built around quad ESS ES9018K2M DACs and Denon's Ultra AL32 Processing upsampling engine, and packaged in a rigid double-layer chassis for vibration control. It functions as both a disc transport and a full-featured digital-to-analog converter, accepting external optical, coaxial, and USB sources at up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM and DSD 5.6MHz.

Limited 110th Anniversary SACD/CD player in graphite-silver finish with a quad-DAC configuration and Denon's Ultra AL32 Processing. Each unit carries an anniversary badge and five-year warranty.

The Electrocompaniet EMC 1 MKIV is a reference CD player made by Electrocompaniet. It uses a new drive unit, a high-performance sample-rate converter, fully balanced D/A converters, and fully balanced discrete analog audio circuitry, with separate transformers and power supplies for the analog and digital circuits. Its mechanical design includes five housings shielding the analog, digital, transport, transformer, and controller circuitry, an electromechanical vibration-cancellation system, S/PDIF and Toslink digital outputs, a 12V trigger input, an RS232 port, and Soundcare superspikes.

The EMC 1 MKV is a reference CD player made in Norway; the page does not explicitly name its manufacturer. It features a top-loading CD transport, five separate housings shielding the analogue, digital, transport, transformer, and controller circuitry, a fully balanced D/A converter with discrete analogue audio circuitry, and Soundcare® SuperSpikes™ isolation feet.

The Electrocompaniet EMC 1 MKV SE is a top-loading CD player with a custom Golden Spider clamp and a fully balanced D/A converter using discrete analogue audio circuitry. Its mechanical design uses five separate housings to shield the analogue, digital, transport, transformer, and controller circuitry. It includes an Isotek power cable with 7-core geometry, high-purity copper, and high-purity FEP, plus Soundcare SuperSpikes isolation feet; the series is limited to 200 players and signed and approved by Technical Director Volker Hunger.

The Esoteric Grandioso K1X is a flagship single-chassis Super Audio CD/CD player that integrates the transport mechanism from the Grandioso P1X and the D/A conversion technology of the Grandioso D1X monaural converter into one unit, effectively combining "two revolutions" of Esoteric engineering. It uses the newly developed VRDS-ATLAS transport mechanism paired with Esoteric's proprietary Master Sound Discrete (MSD) DAC — built from 32 discrete elements per channel rather than a commercial DAC chip — supporting DSD up to 22.5MHz, PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit, and full MQA decoding.

SACD/CD player built on Esoteric's VRDS-ATLAS 03 turntable-clamping transport with the in-house Master Sound Discrete DAC in dual-mono configuration. Succeeded by the K-03XD SE.

The Esoteric K-05XD is the entry point of Esoteric's five-strong disc-player range, built around a newly designed VRDS-ATLAS "ATLAS 05" SACD transport and an in-house "Master Sound Discrete DAC" FPGA-based converter, and was praised by *What Hi-Fi?* as "without doubt one of the world's finest SACD/CD disc spinners."

The Graphite Audio IC-35 Premium Isolation Cones are mechanical isolation supports for audio components, including amplifiers, pre-amplifiers, CD/SACD players, DACs, music servers, and power supplies. They are manufactured from a polymer with anti-vibration and damping capabilities and include base cups for surface protection. Each set contains three 35 mm-high cones and three 40 mm-diameter bases; the cones have a 35 mm diameter and a maximum load of 50 kg per set.

The Hegel Viking is a dedicated 12 cm Redbook CD player designed for native 16/44.1 playback, using a dedicated laser and CD drive, a state-of-the-art DAC, and no upsampling or signal processing. Its drive and DAC are controlled by a discrete Hegel Master clock using a low-phase-noise quartz crystal and SoundEngine technology; the analog stage incorporates an analog low-pass filter and Line Driver technology. Outputs comprise one fixed balanced XLR pair, one fixed unbalanced RCA pair, and one BNC true 75-ohm digital output; specifications include 2.5 V RMS analog output, 0 Hz–22 kHz frequency response, distortion below 0.0015%, and dimensions of 9.9 × 43 × 30.5 cm at 7.3 kg.

Pure CD transport built around the Philips CDM4/19 mechanism with an OCXO clock and full complement of reclocked digital outputs, including I2S over HDMI.

The CDT3-Mk3 is the flagship Red Book-only CD transport from Jay's Audio, the personal engineering project of Hong Kong-based designer Jay Ho, built around a heavily reworked Philips CD-Pro2LF drive on a machined-aluminum "semi-floating" sub-chassis.