Before this CD player I had Arcam Alpha 7SE. I’m disappointed with CD 73.
Treble is better at CD 73
Middle is much better at Alpha 7SE
Bus is better at CD 73
Soundstage is better at CD 73
Vocals are better at CD 73
But, overall CD 73 is overpriced. Arcam Alpha 7SE is better, due to total lacking of middle range sounds at CD73. All better things above, are not enough due to total lacking of middle range sounds at CD73.

Accuracy, definition.

None, it does as it should absolutely fantastically.

Firstly, this is a CD player that offers fantastic detail, unfortunately people people with a lesser capability to distinguish between all of the elements of music may find its too "cold". This CD player is far from it, just accurate. It depicts sound amazingly across the range well and, therefore you can choose amps and speakers to give you the muddy warmth some people seem to prefer.

The point of digital audio is for it to be represented accurately, as mentioned before, you should use other audio components to adjust the sound to personal taste. If the source is accurate and detailed you cant go wrong. CD players should not taint the original recording. People devote their lives to mastering, just because its "cold" does not mean this is not a good player. This player cannot be beaten for accuracy, both in its price bracket and in players costing double.

Smooth free flowing sound
Huge soundstage with depth
Excellent detail without sounding bright
Quick track change
Beats the NAD's and Cambridge hands down

Remote doesn't allow drect two digit entry i.e. you have to skip tracks to two digits
Can't thik of anything else, though it doesn't like sme discs. You may have an isssue with some CDR's i.e. slow accessing.

One of the most musical players I have heard below $1000. This is a smooth player with a very fluid presentation. Vocals start and stop naturally without bein edgy. A piano has weight versus sounding like a ping sound. Soudgstage is vast and has depth. The beauty in this player is in resolving details. Chorus sounds like a chorus where you can hear some singers lag behind slightly, not as one muddy piece which is supposed to be a chours. This player is NOT bright but I wouldn't recommend it with a bright amp. This is not because it is bright but because it is neutral. Compared to a NAD 542 (which is a dull player) this one may sound bright but it is way superior and sounds more natural. The ease at which music flows easily makes this THE best player under $1000 beating the cambridge 640, NAD 542 and even the marantz 6000KI.

Treble - very smooth, free flowing devoid of all edge, excellent for slow music and vocals.
Mids - very smooth, not veiled, natural, NO GRAIN in the sound
Bass - not over extended or boomy, very control and has lot of weight. This player may sound like it lacks bass but it is doing the bass just correctly. It adds weight to the sound not boom.
Soundstage - huge soundstage with superb imaging and depth
Veiling - very clean OPEN sound, nothing sund hidden
Detail - mind blowing redention of detail, the NAD 542 makes the chorus sound like one piece of sound while the Arcam truly renders the chorus the way it should sound i.e. you can hear individual voices summing the chorus

This player is not meant for those looking for sound with any bite, it is smooth, natural and complete i.e. nothing sounds lacking.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 542, Cambridge 640C, Marant CD6000KI, Advance Acoustics

Sounds nice

Does not always want to work.

What a nice sounding piece of equipment when it works.....It is very tempermental and keep giving me error messages "no disc" I am not sure I will ever buy another Arcam unit. I am trying now to get some customer service about the continous probem which I think has happend more than once.....
I have Adcom equipment and have never had 1 problem....
Stay clear if possible with Arcam unless the high end stuff is better.

Customer Service

I will let you know.

clarity,desent detail wide soundstage

kinda cold artificial sound,no depth

all i got to say is this cd player is very overrated,i find the sound cold and artificial sounding,i got this as a backup player to my denon 2900 player and i think the cd sound on my denon is alot better.i thought the cd sound would have been better on the arcam but i was wrong,for one of the below reveiws to say this arcam is night and day better than the denon2900 player is ludicris.if your looking for a single disc player skip this one look elsewhere.i might sell this and get a rotel or musical fidelity cd player

Nice looking, beautiful sounding (when it works!)

TEMPERMENTAL!! Sometimes won’t read any factory bluebook CD’s until the unist is powered off and on several times. Also, skips occasionally. Lousy! customer service from an Arcam authorized dealer!

I recently purchased the Arcam CD72 CD player along with the Arcam A80 integrated amplified from an authorized Arcam retailer. Now, this CD player has to be the most TEMPERMENTAL piece of audio equipment I have ever owned! Sometimes the CD player won’t read any disks at all! Then I have to power it off & on, then it works? (this is from day 1 of owning the unit!!). Also, it sometimes skips. What’s troublesome is that I voiced the problem I was encountering with the CD player from day 1, (as well as some concerns about the amplifier's lack of substantial power) over the phone with the retailer. (I live 2 hours away from the retailer) who’s only advice was to change my audio cables and asked me if I wanted to have the CD player shipped for service?? Hell no! I wanted a new CD player!!!! I must ask, is there any wonder that most consumers purchase mainstream products, that in recent years, have improved substantially in regards to sound & technical specs, and have no problems with doing exchanges or returns for other products from their retailer? This combo has very nice sound (once I turn the CD player off and on!) but I’d expect more in customer service from a company that does so much advertising in consumer magazines (here in the US and in Europe) as well as form an authorized dealer. The CD player should have been exchanged “No Questions Asked” and I should have been offered an exchange for another amplifier (If I chose to). Buyer Beware!

Nicely Built

High Level Roll Off

Similar to the other reviewer here (A80 review), I was looking to go away from a newer home theater setup in order get back into a 2 channel system, since I listened to my home theater for 2 channel sources mostly anyway. I’ve been into music (and equipment) for many many years and have owned mid range systems ranging from old Fisher tube gear to the latest in Denon home theater receivers (analog, digtal sources). Logically thinking, a power supply made for a 2 channel integrated would operate better than a single power would for a multi channel set up, right? Well, unfortunately NO! :( At “low” listening levels (and specifically for Jazz vocals) the Arcam A80 partnered with the CD73 sounds wonderful, HOWEVER, for rock music I find that the high level cut off of the CD player to be disappointing and rather enjoying. So much so that I began experimenting with different interconnects and so forth. Bottom line and sadly, other than at low volumes where the bass, and mid bass frequencies excel, my 5 year old Denon receiver out peformes my new combo substantially. Not only does it play ridiculously louder! But, it also doesn’t distort where the Arcam loses its grip at about 90% of the volume. I find the high level cut off especially annoying when listening to rock (cymbal crown hits, tambourine, etc.) and unfortunately find myself listening to the flaws in the equipment instead of the music :( The absence of tone controls doesn't help either. Arcam has tone controls in their other 2 integrated amps in this series, as well as in their all in one Solo system. Why they didn’t include it in the A80 was a mistake as far as I’m concerned. As for now, I plan on returning both the A80 integrated as well as the CD73. For Jazz or soft pop it’s a nice detailed combo, but for loud music, especially rock, I find it weak. So weak that I suprisidlly prefer the sonics (that’s clean detailed power & drive) of my home theater setup for 2 channel sources. Hopefully, my place of purchase will refund me the monies paid for the combo that I truly can’t seem to justify the expense.

Similar Products Used:

Many of the years..

Price/performance, soundstage, accuracy, and upgradeable to the CD192T (for an additional $1200!!!)

A bit too harsh with a forward amp. CD only if it matters.

The player is used in 2 setups: (Main System) Audiolab 8000a Amp Spendor S5e Speakers (Headphone System) Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 Amp Sennheiser HD650 Headphones This review is strickly for sub $1k CD players. Of the stated constraint I narrowed my final selection to 2 players: Rotel 1072 and Arcam CD73T. I auditioned them on a $10k rig at the store and it took less than a minute of hearing the Arcam to forget the name of the other player. It was clear that the 73t was in another league on imaging, detail and overall accuracy (in that order). Bass is tight and realistic, voices have good tone and there is a soundstage that imbarassed the Rotel. I do agree with the previous reviewer that a forward sounding amp is the wrong match for this player. The in-store audition was on conrad-johnson equipment that rounded out the harshness I hear at home with my Audiolab amp. I'd blame this harshness on the extreme differnce between CJ components and my Audiolab, but my MF headphone amp gives me the same results as the CJ's...great tonal accuracy without being overly bright or harsh. Therefore, the Audiolab is being demoted to the office and I am on the prowel for a tube pre/amp/integrated. I can't recommend this player enough in this price range.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 1072 Jolidas (Tube)

Warm, sound stage

not enought bass

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Similar Products Used:

Sphinx Myth 9 MK2 Arcam CD62T MSB LinkIII with P1000 CEC TL51ZX

Reasonalbly priced, well-built, detailed, but smooth.

MIGHT be a touch harsh with forward amps and speakers, but maybe not.

I was originally going to audition the more expensive 82 (83?) CD player from Arcam to upgrade from my Cambridge 640C, but a mint 73 came up on Ebay so I went for it unheard. My immediate impression was that the bass was not as good as on the Cambridge, which has a very weighty bottom. However, after further listening, I truly believe that the Arcam has a deeper bass. You actually hear the defined bass notes reaching down the musical scale as opposed to the heavy less-defined bass of the Cambridge. The 73 also has very good detail at the top, but without the harshness on female vocals and upper piano ranges that can cause fatique very easily. Let me say that i'm using this with an Arcam P75+/A75+ biamp combo, which is very slightly laid-back and the top end of the 73 blends beautifully with the characteristics of the amplifiers. However, I can see where the 73 might sound a bit too harsh when mated with a forward amp and speakers, so caveat emptor. As a final word, I am very impressed with the sonics of this piece and I prefer the CD layer of my SACDs played on the 73 to the SACD layer played on my Phillips 795SA SACD/DVD player. OK, the Phillips is just a $250 player (Jump for one at $149 at AudioAdvisor!) but it's still SACD vs. CD. I've listened to several moderately priced (<$1000) SACD players and I really don't think the CD playback is up to snuff and you are better off going for a dedicated CD player. Anyway - I really like the 73. Detail without harshness. My favorite sound.

Similar Products Used:

Cambridge 640C