Warm rich sound with natural detail. Fullness of bass. Highs aren't harsh. Solid build.

May be a little fuzzy sounding

This is a fine cd player. Musical yet detailed with good bass. Smooth sound. Jazz sounds great, horns sound natural. Electric and acoustic guitars sound very natural even distorted electric guitars sound nice.

I agree with reviewers below the bass and richness might be too much for some but I really enjoy the sound.

CDs are often harsh sounding to begin with so why not use a good warm and smooth sounding player.

Using this player with a NAD T760 and KEF Q15s and Audioquest Type 4 speaker cables and StraightWire Chorus ICs

Used this player is often sold for $400ish. I paid $800 retail but don't mind for such a nice player.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 7700, Marantz, mass market Sony 5 disc

Very detailed and smooth. Bass tight owned cd players more than twice the amount I paid for the icon, and the icon blows them away.

None that I could fine

One of the best cd players I ever owned. It is a shame cal stopped making the icon mk II. If you are looking for a cd player around $1500 to $2000 you are crazy if you dont demo one of these players first.

Similar Products Used:

Cambride audio 5oo,Forte cd

Detail, Bass response, Soundstage and Dynamics

Ummm...maybe a little bland looking

It took me a while to audition a couple different cd players for my setup. I was looking for a solid single disc player (as I was getting sick of the changers) under $1000. First I put the Cambridge CD6 up against the Cal CL 5 (Yeah I know its a changer) to compare the sound, and I was surprised that the $600 CD6 sounded smoother than the CL5. I was set to purchase the CD6 a few days later when I went into my usual dealer University Audio and found that they had just taken a Cal Icon MK II in on trade. I took one listen to it and found that it was more dynamic and all around better sounding than the CD6. We even compared the Icon to the Cal CL15 and could hardly make a case that would justify spending another $1000. I gladly took the six year old player off their hands for $400 that afternoon.
I have no regrets whatsoever about this purchase; if you can find this player for around $500 I can guarantee that you will not beat it at that price. It may be cosmetically a little boring but I didn't buy it to decorate the house.
Also, the Ben and Chris at University Audio were a pleasure to work with.

System:
Paradigm Monitor 9's
B&K ST1400 Amp
B&K PT3 Preamp
Tara Labs Prism Biwire
Tara Labs Axiom Interconnects
Cal Icon MKII
Paradigm PS1000

Regards
CJ

Similar Products Used:

Cal CL 5, Cal CL 15, Cambridge CD6

build quality, full sound

can't read the panel from across the room

After borrowing a friends Denon for a few months I decide to get a player. My friend had recently upgraded to Naim from Marantz. What I did'nt realise was that for several months prior when I had listened to his system, it was through a CAL Icon MkII. He suggested that I try one and am I glad he did. Copared to the Denon, this machine is incredible. The music is much fuller, more bass is retrieved, the teble is much, much snoother and the soundstage is much wider. I know there are many newer and more expensive machines, but if you can get your hands on one of these with the Powerboss option for under $700 I think you'll be pleased.

Similar Products Used:

Denon

great transport

sound,useless bells and whistles

I want my Marantz back!
bad midrange,somewhat brittle high end.
This unit refuses to sound musical.[crappy dac]?
Dont think there are any more cal audio products in
my future at this price/performance level.

Similar Products Used:

sont es,marantz 67se

Sound Staging, Neutrality, Dynamic Range

None

I Had Bought My Icon MKII New, And Found It To Be A Splendid Player But It Did Have Many Colorizations, And All Though I Enjoyed The Player As Is I Sent It Back To CAL To Get The HDCD Power Boss Upgrade. When I Recieved My Player Back It Had Been Reborn, As An Extremly Neutral And Very Dynamic Player, I Had The Ability To Put My Player Head To Head With The AR CD1 And Levinson 39, I Found The Icon HDCD
To Be Better Then The AR CD1 In Dynamics, And The Icon Imaging Sounded Very Close To The Levinson 39. This Player Will Brutaly Show Your Systems Short Comings, And Should Be Matched To High End Amplifiers And A Very Quick Speaker System, You Should Also Look Into The Best Interconnects And Speaker Cables You Can Afford...


System Tested On:

CAL Icon MKII HDCD
Bryston BP-20
Bryston 7B ST
Martin Logan SL-3
Audio Truth Emerald
Audio Truth Clear +

Similar Products Used:

Mark Levinson 39
Audio Research CD1

detail and clarity warm,smooth sound is chilling

none

Can you say score. I bought this markII after listing to my friends iconII. I found one at a audio store on demo and tried it out.Loved it but it sounded much cleaner,detailed,and brought some recordings to life,than my friends icon. Then I discovered why the (kid that sold me the player sold me one with the hdcd powerboss 20bit upgrade.that is a $600. upgrade and I only paid $550 for the whole thing. As for comparison there isn,t and my friend player is at cal right now having the upgrade installed because the difference is so dramatic. If you are looking for a cd player and if you can try one out please do. I took this player to a store near my house and the owner could not believe his ears it blew away players costing as much as $5000,away...



System
audible illisions preamp
aragon amp
icon markII w/hdcd poweboss upgrade
b&w 604 s2 speakers
dh labs cables

Similar Products Used:

cambridge audio rega planet(sounds good but crappy construction

Smooth souding, great imaging

Layout and display are not that stylish

This is basically one of the best-value-for-money CDP in this proce range.

The player still shines when connected to very high quality amps and cables.

In particular, the bass is good, and the high is reveal and not harsh sounding at all. Overall a very neutral and smooth sounding player that rivals playera costing a lot more.

Does what it's supposed to do; nothing flashy

Poor remote; no auto power

I've had this player almost a year, purchased as a demo. For a dedicated two-channel system, this player is ideal. It is dependable and very smoothe. The player doesn't add anything to CDs. There's no "digital'' effect in the play-back. Additionally, this player is really put together; quality construction is apparent.
There's a coaxial digital out for an outboard DAC, but the internal DACs are more than adequate.
I have my ICON MkII in a high-end stereo system and CDs sound just great. There's a real depth to the music. My Icon doesn't have the HDCD upgrade, but I have never been impressed with HDCD, which is a dying fad now anyway.
To sum up, this is a well-constructed, sophisticated CD player that can be had on the cheap now that CAL Audio has stopped making them. I never would have purchased this player new, when it was going for roughly $1,000. My value rating is based on what I paid.

My system:

Classe CAP-101 Integrated Amp
B&W Nautilus 804 speakers
CAL Audio Icon MkII
DH Labs Q-10 biwire speaker cables
Audioquest interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Sony

This is a very solid player (literally and figuratively). I have an Acurus A-100 amp which tends to be a bit bright at times. The Cal warms it up nicely. Of course there is always something better, but for under $1K, it outperforms the Rega Planet and definitely warrants a listen if you are considering the latter.
Jason