I'm excited to write this review of the Audio Analogue Paganini CD player because of its many atributes both sonically and aesthetically. First off, this has to be the most beautiful and stylish player I've ever seen. The front fascia is simplicity and elegance at its finest. Its unique circular configuration of select buttons are distinctive and functional. Sonically the Paganini sounds terrific with detail, dynamics and overall musicality that I prefer over my Classe CDP.5, Conrad Johnson DF-2 and Sony DVP-S7000. To say I love this player is an understatment. Hats must go off to the designers and Technicians of this stunning cd player leaving me no choice but to give it five stars.

I just auditioned this player for 4 days. It had been properly burned in by the dealer. As I have been almost exclusively listening to analogue, with a minimal amount of time on my relatively new Cambridge CD4, I was finding it irritating to listen to digital and thought I should investigate a better CD player. Right now I have the Rega home and let me tell you that it for me was more of the same but with more detail and punch compared to the Cambridge. The Paganini, however, demostrated pace, musicality, detail, bottom end presence, and grain free sound without that usual digital brittleness. This made me realize for the first time how good my little Anthem tube amp could be with great digital source. I know I could switch to late night digital listening sessions through my Musical Fidelity headphone amp without the crash and burn I was suffering after analogue listening. I'm not totally done auditioning yet, but I suspect the Paganini is gonna be hard to beat at its price or maybe even twice the money. I've contacted the manufacturer on the web as I can find very little review material. I suspect there may not be much and I really don't understand why this unit has remained relatively underground. In the end, I will probably just trust my ears on this one since the audio press doesn't seem to be in the loop for some reason.

Out of the box, put Paganini on play, then forget about it for 3 days solid. I didn't, and was initially very disappointed by the softness and sluggishness of the music played through it. I can certainly see how many reviews are poor - they haven't given time for it to burn in properly.

After a good 70 hours burn in (the instructions recommend 100 at least), the sound is transformed. It's like listening to 2 completely different products comparing the Paganini out of the box and a week later. A month later there is a further difference, but this time it's very subtle.

And how does it sound? Marvellous. The closest digital thing I have heard to vinyl - in its treatment of space, attack and naturalness.

It may compromise a little bit of the warts 'n all detail at the very top end when compared to the likes of the X-Ray, but the midrange is at least as pure, and the bass has a lovely fruity, concert hall-like quality.

The bottom line is that whatever music you play throught it, it's played effortlessly. Not too fast, certainly not too slow, and with no hint of sibilance on notoriously harsh harpsicord recitals (which no other sub-$1600 player I tried could reproduce successfully).

In summary, Paganini is a real goldilocks of a source. Just right! It would give many record player a real run for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity X-RAY, Pioneer PD505 Precision

I have just started my break-in period... I was told it takes 200 - 300 hours to break this baby in.... I want to give an initial review... then update it in a couple weeks.
First, this product definately didn't get shipped by UPS. It doesn't come double boxed, yet it made it all the way from Italy without a scratch on the box. The looks are striking. The build quality is first rate. The remote is kinda disappointing.. I expected a silver or black, medal remote.. for some reason, it is a medium blue and black plastic remote... oh well, you can't have everything... also wish there was a volume adjustment on the remote.

Out of the box, my first reaction is, it definately needs some break-in.. the sound shows big potential... so, I am optimistic.... yet, as is, my MSB DAC LINK and Yamaha cdc 655 blows it away.... (not a fair comparison, because those units were already burned in)... I am one who listens during the burn in.... so, I have hooked it up to my Cleanlines Reference 85 by Vansevers and connected a synergistic research master coupler to the 85... it adds a lot more drive and presence to the player.... The player seemed to be lacking in power, drive and was really laid back, before goosing it a bit with the conditioner...... If the burn in period is 200-300 hours, then I am sure more will be revealed in that time... at least I hope so, because my return period will have expired :).. just kidding, I can tell already, I am not returning this baby... I am giving it 5 starts based on it's potential.. it's looks... and for the sweetness that it exhibits... I have to go now, and listen some more.... The combo of Audio Analogue and Merlin TSM's are addictive.

Aside from being a beautiful looking player, the Paganini is also wonderful sounding. The revolver barrel type control buttons may be confusing upon the first few trys, (and maybe a little hard to maneuver in the dark) however they prove to be functional and easy to follow after a few trys. And besides, that's what the control is for. No one seems to be content with the control, however I quite like it. My only complaint is that you can't put it into standby via the control. Anyways, overall this is probably one of the best purchases I've made in quite some time. And I'm not just talking about audio. It conveys everything in a fashion more in keeping with analog, but I guess that goes without saying. I am less impressed with the Special Edition Puccini however. Despite its praise from various reviewers, be sure that it suits your tastes musically. It's nice to look at and even better if you listen to vocally oriented music and things of that sort, but I'm unsure of it otherwise. I got a package deal (and a pretty good one) so I'm not complaining too much. So long and goodluck with your purchase whatever it may be.

Similar Products Used:

audio analogue puccini se