really makes a drum kit sound real. Great with a piano too

wish you could see what level volume the player was at

It is a wonderful sounding player. What I have learned from listening is that the pre-amp is very important in how forward systems will sound. After I bought the LS16, if the sound was ever a little forward this pre amp tamed it wonderfully. My system now sounds just as good as some twice the money. Also, interconnects are just as important as any piece of equipment. This really is a great sounding player for the money. Instruments like drums and pianos that are very difficult to reproduce sound incredibly real. The only player that sounds(a little)better that I have heard is the Audio Research CD2. It costs twice as much. Take a walk around the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas and see what transports quite a few audio companies use. I think you will see CAL alot. What people have to realize is that system matching is the real critical part of listening pleasure. In some system the CAL may not work as well as others but that goes for any source. This is a very well designed piece and should not be overlooked when reviewing various other sources available. It gets my thumbs up and will be a part of my system for many years to come.

Similar Products Used:

ARC 100.2, ARC LS16, B&W Matrix 805, Rel Strata II

After having owned the CAL CL-15 for about a year and a half I feel I have a good enough handle on it's strong and weak points. My system has varied but I have reached a point where the obvious weak link was the cl-15. My system is: Aerial Acoustic 8's, Taddeo Digital Antedote modified by Jena Labs (check Positive Feedback for info--this is a must have component for use with any digital medium), Joulle Electra pre-amp (probably the best pre-amp on the market below $15k, Atma-Sphere MA-1's (140 wpc monoblock OTL's). I suspected that I was having problems with rfi-emi saturation on my power line when I asked a local dealer to listen to a Meridian 508.24. He at one point had tald me of the Meridians superior power supply had eliminated certain gremlins. When I took it home I was not prepaired for what I heard. The reviews of this machine seemed to focus on pace, dynamics and harmonic balance. These are all things I had not felt I was missing with the CL-15 until I had heard the Meridian. I will say this; the CAL sounded nearly as good in HDCD mode with a well recorded HDCD encoded disc. The rub is the Meridian sounded at least as good with a non HDCD disc provided the recording was decent, but stayed the same on HDCD encoded discs. I do not wish to downplay the sound of the CL-15, for the bucks (the Meridian costs over twice as much) it may be the top player on the market. If anyone out there looks at Stereophile and follows the lab test reviews I wish to draw your attention to humps in the noise floor in the bottom end of any machine out there using Pacific Microsonics HDCD DACS. I know that 100 db or so down is supposed to be inaudible but just maybe this has something to do the sameness all machines using these DACS exibit, all the music is there but not quite "musical."

Before I tell you how great the new CAL player is, see my Adcom GCD-700 CD player review for a description of my system. Knowing the system a component was evaluated in will give greater credence to any remarks made about that component. Comparisons were made to the Adcom GCD-700, the Wadia-16, the Mark Levinson #39, and the new Theta "Miles". In absolute terms, and by comparison, the Wadia was boring, the Adcom was "just not there", and the Theta was too digital. The Levinson, on the other hand, was awfully good, in fact REAL good. But in the end, my three audiophile pals and I gave the nod to the CAL. The CAL products have had a long and well deserved reputation of being very musical and the new CL-15 is no exception. It upholds CAL's tradition to the max and does so in spades. That's not to say that they've always been perfect. They haven't. But in the final analysis of things, they've always had the knack of possessing a level of musicality that seemed to make-up for any shortcomings they may have had and simply let you enjoy the music, hour after hour after hour. Well, cast all that aside for a minute and feast your peepers on what I'm about to tell you. If you want to experience digital without the "side effects" that have long plagued the medium, especially in the minds of the vinyl freaks, then you must audition this player. From small jazz ensemble, like Diana Krall's "All For You" on Impulse, to Eric Clapton's "Unplugged" on Reprise, to large orchestral music like Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor" on Archiv, the CAL LABS CL-15 is an unstoppable "Tour de Force" by any of the current audiophile standards. It's the most open and natural sounding digital system that I've ever heard, at any price, and I've heard plenty at ALL price levels. And speaking of price, at $1,695.00 (single-ended) and $2,195.00 (fully balanced) the CAL is downright robbery. If you've ever fantasized about what it would be like to be a bona fide thief, go buy one. This thing's a steal! At last, here's a digital system that'll allow you to play your CDs and thoroughly enjoy the music with no hint of artificiality, whatsoever, and at only a fraction of the cost of the "big boy's" digital equipment. In fact, and unlike in the past, I found myself so engrossed in the music that, for the first time, I had no interest in pondering over my components while listening (sound familiar). It was like they (the components) weren't even there. Now that's listening to music!
I'm not going to dissect the CL-15's frequency spectrum for you. I'll leave that for the gang at Stereophile or FI. What I will do, though, is tell you that from top to bottom the CL-15 is simply without fault. Descriptively speaking, the CL-15 is as breathtakingly superb of a CD player as you will ever find. Period! I had a real treat with Sam McClain's awesome "Mighty Sam" on JVC's new XRCD format (much better than the Audioquest version, which is good). Talk about jaw-dropping! If you're able to get your hands on this CD and listen to it on the CAL, well, you'd better fasten your seat belt and prepare yourself for a ride in the digital domain that's nothing short of a milestone. Talk about the "there" being there. And, if you're planning on doing so at a nearby audio dealer's shop, you'd be well served to bring a small wheelbarrow. You'll need it to cart home your jaw. On the CAL, McClain's XRCD clearly surpasses the best of analog and does so by a longshot, which is putting it rather mildly. Oh, I should mention, if you like a go-between jazz and blues, Sam McClain's album is an absolute must. Unlike so many so-called audiophile recordings, this one is excellent from start to finish. Not a bad cut anywhere on this CD. Truly 5-Star!
The California Audio Labs CL-15 CD player has built-in volume control (output voltage ranges from 1v to 6v via computer interface) that allows it to power an amplifier, directly, which is how I powered my awesome PASS LABS 1.2 200-watt monoblocks. The build-quality of the CL-15 was much better than I expected from CAL (proudly made in the U.S.A.); the unit came equipped with an IEC connector (I found the Transparent Audio "Powerlink Super" to work extremely well) and high-grade RCA and XLR output jacks. Further, the player's equipped with HDCD, which, believe it or not, actually improved the sound quality of my non-HDCD discs (a bonus!). The faceplate is very handsome and massive enough to exude the kind of look and quality one would associate with the mega-buck stuff. Easily, the CAL will compliment any audio system at any price level. The unit weighs approximately 30 pounds. Again, very well built.
Quirks? Yeah, there's a few. For instance, the remote is on the "so-so" side, there's no polarity switch on the remote, and there's no indication of the volume-level on the unit's display. When I spoke with the folks at CAL about these things, they told me it was due to the CL-15's drive mechanism and how certain features had to be eliminated to maintain a certain selling price. Very understandable in today's marketplace of audio. Furthermore, CAL apparently does a huge business overseas and, therefore, had to address that market as well their domestic market (us). Besides, CAL's modus operandi, if you will, has always been one of delivering high-performance goods at a reasonable price. In my opinion, they've accomplished their long-standing agenda ten times over. Well, that's it for the "Quirk" column and, anyway, who cares about the small stuff when you're talking about the best digital player in the world. Gee whiz guys, and gals, just sit down, shut-up, and enjoy the music like you never have before.
Like a field of well-trained thoroughbreds going for the roses in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs' famous racetrack, high-end digital manufacturers have pretty much stayed together as a pack throughout the "digital race", if you will. Well, that's been for the last 6 furlongs, or so, because now that they've past the quarter-mile pole and are heading for home, it's CAL LABS' CL-15 out in front by a margin that continues to widen as "she" heads for the finish-line with absolutely no threat from the competition. Folks, digital has never been so rewarding for this audiophile and the new CAL LABS CL-15 is definitely where it's at.
Anyone in audio who knows me knows that I don't run anything in its stock form. I "tweak" just about everything in my system and have been well rewarded for doing so. I've been able to take a $700 CD player, for example, and have it stand head-and-shoulders with players more than 10 times its price. As for my new CAL, I've done a few very simple adjustments and, because of them, have taken the player to even greater heights of mucical enjoyment. I'd be more than happy to share my experiences with you on the CAL as well as other treatments for your system. Your welcome to contact me via my E-mail address.