I've owned two of these now. When my first one died, I was gutted. I couldn't afford much at the time, so made do with a really cheap replacement for some time. One day I realised why I'd stopped listening to music! I've just bought another of these from ebay and suddenly remember what it is I loved about my previous CD4. I can't name many other players in this price bracket can deliver the warmth and body that the CD4 offers. Marantz CD63 would be the notable exception, but in its day it was twice the price of the CD4. The bottom end has weight and is well rounded, the midrange is smooth and the top is delicate, without that digital sound.

Put it next to some really high class players and it's out of its depth, but hook it up to a good amp and speaker combo and it'll beat many players several times the retail price. I can't say I've found anything it doesn't deal with well. These are getting a bit old now, so I don't expect this to last forever, but I'd highly recommend one of these if it comes to you at a good price.

Good build. Good sound. Simple to use and nice chunky engineering , a poor mans Linn?

Been known to have skipping problems. Display is poor and now packed up

Overall the CD4 is a fine sounding CD Player, very capable especially for the money. It does have reliability problems as mentioned by an earlier reviewer. I took one back coz it kept skipping. The replacement has worked fine for 3 years now, although now the display has given up and left a blank screen.

Similar Products Used:

same priced Yamaha

Neutral, uncoloured presentation - very natural sound.

Can sound a bit flat / shows up poor quality recordings.

This is CD player that is very good for the price. It has a very natural sound and you feel in nearly all cases that you are hearing the sounds that the artists who recorded the music wanted you to hear. It can sound a bit clumsy at times when things get complex, but during quietier moments it really comes into its own (within it's price range). I used to own a Sony and compared it to a Sherwood Multichanger, and the extra detail from this player was easily audible. Recommended to almost anyone, except maybe people with systems that they think already sound a bit too flat.

I used it with:

B&W 602 speakers
Cambridge A3i Amp (since changed to NAD 340, I actually think the NAD makes a better pairing with the CD player than the Cambridge amp!)

I later added a Cambridge DACMAGIC 2 (note: not 2i), which made little to no difference, so I wouldn't recommend trying to upgrade the CD4 with this.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Sherwood

Good Stereo image and detail for the price.

Slightly rough at times for classical (not smooooth enough for strings).

Picked up a used one on eBay. Well worth the price paid. I tried the Cap Plug tweek mentioned in and earlier review. It does work.

Similar Products Used:

CD4SE, D300

Very musical, involving, build quality, great for human voice

does not handle easily complex music, display

Purchased some 2 years ago, and listened lots of other CD players, but still very much satisfied.

On the back panel " Digital to analog conversion designed in conjunction with Pink Triangle" !!! Very interesting.

If you have enough space behind the speakers, very deep space! Also firm bass, and very articulate midrange with a lot of air.

What I most like in it is the musicality. It is very involving, and makes you just enjoy the music. This is what I miss from most audiophile products.

It is the greatest for me on human voice. Just loves operas!Nicely reveals the 'natural' character of instruments. Little coloration. Probably great for country too.

On the flip side, not suited well for big bands, or symphony, or other very complex music. Some may find the overall picture a little bit dark.


Used with Cambridge Audio A1 MK3, XLO inteconnect, bi-wired XLO pro speaker cables, and Acustic Energy AE100 speakers.

A very nice neutral and detailed sound.

Display is hard to read.

I use the Cambridge in my analog system; VPI turntable, Rega
arm and cartridge, McIntosh MC240 amp and MX110 tuner/preamp and Near 50Me speakers. I find the Cambridge to have more clarity and detail than the NAD 514, but lacks the warmth/you are there feeling of the Arcam. But, I really like the Cambridge for the money, and I feel the build quality is a step above the NAD. I have owned the Cambridge CD4 for over one year and had no reliability problems. I would recommend the Cambridge to anyone wanting quality CD sound for an entry level price. 5 Star value, honest 4 star sound.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam Alpha 5+ and NAD 514.

Nice unit, given its price ($300-350). I would describe it as somewhat quiet and quite detailed. Better to my ears than the Rotel 971 and Marantz 67 that I auditioned recently. At home I compared it side by side with my old Technics CD player -- what was obviously immediately was how much the Technics adds to (taints?) the music by boosting bass and giving the music a heavy quality. That's fine for some rock/punk material, but the CD4 really shines on acoustic or instrumental jazz where neutrality and detail count most. I tried both with an NAD 314 int amp, two different interconnects and two different sets of speakers: NHT Superones and Spendor S3/5s. The CD4 did well with all setups. As one reviewer below put it, the CD4 is a player you could listen to all day without tiring.

I have been looking for an inexpensive, yet decent CD player in the $300 price range for a while. I decided to spend only about $300 because I intend on coupling the player with one of the new MSB Link DACs. Therefore, my criteria was really only a digital out (preferably coaxial) and a player I could live with solo for a few weeks until the DAC arrived. I considered the entry level Sony ES, Rotel (930AX), NAD 512, Marantz CD-48, and the Cambridge CD-4. Given the price point I was at, I am sure these are all adequate to bargains. But in deciding on the Cambridge, this is what I found.
Sony ES - optical out only!!
NAD 512 - bought one, took home, display was DOA . . . imagine that
Rotel - nice, but I had availability issues (seems some older 930s did not have
digital out
Marantz CD-48 - availability problems (and I have a hard time getting used to
the thought of Marantz being a respectable product, not into Jap
gear, and dealer was pushing the 67SE)

That left the Cambridge. Because I know the MSB Link is on the way, I was not too concerned with the sound . . . but I was surprised . . . it is a great sounding player for $299. The mechanism is a little clunky but feels solid. The display is uninspired. But the sound is very nice . . . very detailed, nice midrange(Natilie Embruglia sounds as sweet as she looks) and solid bass. Anyone in my situation (looking to go separates on a budget) should check this one out (as well as the MSB Link). Fours stars overall . . . maybe 5 for the price.

Although I own an Arcam Alpha 5 plus CD player myself, I helped a friend get into some hihger end audio equipment by advising her to buy an Cambridge Amp. and Cambridge CD4 CD player as well as Castle bookshelf speakers. The advice was based purely on what I had heard at the reputable dealer I deal with: a good (not GREAT) sounding combination for less than $1200 CDN.
The CD player sounded really good for the price. Decent rhythm, good clarity, quite musical, but lacking some overall depth and character that my Arcam has. However relaibility was SHIT. After only a month of play, it started to randomly skip on different CDs. My friend took it back to the dealer who happily replaced it with another. This pattern went on for, count it , FOUR more CD players--come on Cambridge, where the hell is your Quality Control department?? To be fair, Cambridge finally gave her a free upgrade to the CD6 player which she had fairly good luck with for about 6 months before it started skipping randomly. In frustration, the dealer has given up dealing with Cambridge and my friend has now moved on to ARCAM CD player herself.

All this happened from 1996-97 so I can only hope that Cambridge has overcome their difficulties. In fairness, the company was quite fair about their dealings and tried to help out--too bad their product sucked.

I purchased my CD-4 over one year ago and it has revived my interest in listening to music. Decent stereo equipment and the pursuit of audio nirvana has always been a large part of my life. Over 15 years I have compiled a "budget Hi-Fi" system which is now, thanks to the CD-4, extremely pleasing. I like the "British sound" so I have all British-designed components. The reason the CD-4 has made such a great impact is simple: it replaced an 8-year old SONY which started to skip. The SONY was OK but I rarely had the urge to sit down to do some critical listening. My local high-end dealer convinced me to give it a listen since it fit my budget (<$500) and received rave reviews in UHF and TIER. I am truly thankful to him. It is awesome for the price. My system became musical and I heard instruments and sounds that I didn't notice before. I now sit for hours listening to music WITHOUT suffering from ear fatigue. It plays flawlessly on all my discs (including the ones that the SONY could not play without skipping). I agree with other postings that the drawer mechanism is clunky but that is the only negative that I can think of. I believe that the ideal CD player should make CDs sound like LP records. Modern CD players do just that and obviously they can now do it cheaper. Who says all CD players sound the same?