Hi everyone!
I bought the CD6 used for 150 Euro last day and I had opened It immediately.
I find that the electronic components have an high quality but the chassi is very thin, It can be deformed
easily, and can be cause of resonances so I suggest a damping treatment inside, in fact, the shock caused by transportation of my CD6 was enough to send out of phase the mechanics, that cause a strong track skipping so I had lost a lot of time to restore the right mechanic setup :-(

What about the sound... Personaly I find It too dry, the musicians doesn't seem to me on the same stage but in
separate rooms, I prefer a sound less analytic and sharp but mor dynamic, soft, rounded and warm, but is my personal preference!... to be onest this kind of sound have a very strength point; It never tired You in
the long listening sessions.

Andrea, Italy

P.S.: If someone have user manual, schematics or documents in electronic format about CD6 can kindly sand
it to me at this mail address? zenguru10@libero.it
Thanks everyone!

Andrea

underestimated for the price, outbeats others in the class (price and performance wise)

doesnt read cdr and cdrw

used the cambridge cd6, tuner d-500 and amplifier a3i, the source van del hul interconnects, duetto cable wires and musical fidelity x-act dac. i`d say everything is clearer and more detailed compared to my musical fidelity E set it even has more bass power

Similar Products Used:

musical fidelity E series and micromega minium

Bass extension, rythm, musicality

slow access of the tunes... be patient!

I use the CD6 in a secondary system. In my main system, I use a Copland CDA-266. The CD6 is extraordinary competent for the price. Not neutral, but colored in the good way: always, always musical. Highly recommended!

On its own, through my Genelec monitor speakers, tight, strong bass presence, warm midrange which flatters vocals but not to excess, clean sweet treble. Possibley closer to analogue than others at the price. Good engineering with separate power supplies for transport/display, D/A & A/D converters, and preamplifiers. Balanced XLR outputs are useful in my studio.

The CD6 is a little ugly, and the tranformers hum. Tacky remote.

I bought this player as a replacement for an elderly Marantz which was past its best. The CD6 used to be part of my hi-fi system, along side Arcam components, but I sold the Arcam system when having my studio built (I am a musician). The CD6 now serves as a transport in combination with a Audionote DAC to monitor my recordings and mastered mixes.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Sony SACD, Musical-Fidelity, Mark Levinson.

Bass is very extended, and the global sound is rounded. It delas with classical, folk and jazz satisfactorily.

The looks is very ugly.

Weel , I already wrotre s revew 4 years ago, and now I am going to change my CD. Very good for years of using without any problem (excet that the dispaly light broke on the second year). During these four years, I had the opportunity to bring at home equipments from frients (Musical Fidelity A-300) and from dealers (POwer supply and DAC of MSB), and I could compare with my "CD6". I am not going to write a long review now. So , only two comments: The MF cost is more than double than the CD6. I was listening a whole weekend, and honestly, I did not note any differences. In fact, my wife was very "funny" about my surveys of "machines". She decided to put 10 Cds of my music, and make pass an examination, with "closed eyes". The result was very sad for me, since only in 4 ocassions I got the right CD. To me, the sound was very similar. With the MSB Link Dat, the result was different, since the sound was a little more detailed (a little, only a little), and with more air (only a little). The cost of the MSB with the power supply was $1,500. In my opinion, too much money for "a little". My conclusion is that CD6 is a very good CD that can compete with CDs of the line of MF X Ray, Marant CD 17, Rotel , etc. My congratulations to CAMBRIDGE AUDIO, since I have been enjoing a very good sound with a very serious CD player. I also used the XLR out puts, and noted a light improvement compared to RAC..

Similar Products Used:

PIONERR, DENON, MUSICAL FIDELITY A-300, MARANTZ CD 17

Hi for everyone again .Well ,i agree with the people
who keep good attention for interconnect cables for
CD-6.It's right.For example,i use only Rogers CL-100
Crystal Link and never listened better .But don't
forget-power cord is important too.Very important,
so you can rise the details level of your CD-6 up
to 3-4 Thousands USD price level of sound just using
really good cord .My recommendations are only
Acrotec ( Nippon M.Company of Japan ,6N of clear ).
And last word.If you're qualified engineer or radio
amateur , you can make "last touch" to make your CD-6
absolutely unbelieveable.CD-6 consists two OP Amps
inside ,very close to DAC - one Analog Devices and
one simple NE5532 .You can replace this NE5532 by
Burr-Brown OPA-2604 .It's incredible good OPA ,with
FET-input ,0,0003% THD and 25 V/mS slew rate .All
other information you can find in Burr-Brown IC Data
Book "Linear Products".Just try !!Your CD-6 is even
better than you could think .Best wishes to all CD-6
owners.

Build Quality, No harsh sound

Somewhat artificial sound, Very slow tracking

After replacing my Tannoy M2 speakers(loose bass) with Royd New Sintra speakers(very agile), I believed that I could benefit from a CDP upgrade from my Denon DCM-560 CD(not bad for a changer). I found a used CD6 at a good price so I jumped at the chance. The first thing I noticed was its warmth and smoothness. While these qualities contribute to a relaxing and non-fatiguing listening experience, I just found it too laid back for my taste. It sounds like CD6 adds some sort of echo ingredient to artificially create ambience(hall echo effect?). It is most obvious when listening to piano only material, but noticeable on other instruments. Piano sounds too smooth with CD6, and all the notes sound continuous even when they are not supposed to be. It was hard to distinguish if the piano pedal was used or not. I can't explain it well in words, but if anyone else noticed this, please elaborate on the subject in better words for me. Bottom line is the piano did not sound like the real thing. It was probably due to this artificial echo thing that took definition and attack away from the piano(and other instruments at a lesser degree). Some people may say it's the rest of my system that needs to be blamed for, but the problem does not exist with the Denon. After all, it's just a matter of equipment matching. It just turned out Denon was a better match with the rest of my system and my musical taste. Just by looking at the build quality(Wow,3 separate transformers at this price!) of CD6, I really wanted to like it more than my Denon CD changer. My search for a new CDP shall continue...

My system consists of:
Denon DCM-560 CD changer
NAD C340 integrated amp
Royd New Sintra and Topaz speakers
DH Labs T-14 speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

Denon DCM-560

Excellent sound

Slow tracking

This product is really every $ worth. Have a friend who's said that this ia the best player he has heard under $1200!
I've made a test against the Pioneer DV717 top DVD-player.
The DVD-player should play like an $600 player, but the CD6 is a total winner without any comparasing!!

I bought the CD6 home about 3 weeks ago after comparing it in the store to the Rega Planet. The Rega had a smooth, gentle high-end, much like tubes or vinyl. However, its bass was also like tubes, sort of fat and bloated.
When I got to the CD6, I found the highs a little sibilant. The dealer told me that after about a 100 hour break-in the highs would become smoother. It could have been the other electronics or speakers.

The CD6 had very tight, controlled bass with good extension. I found the sound very articulate and detailed, analytical in a good sense. You could hear every little detail recorded in the music.

When I brought it home, it replaced my aging Denon DCD-1300, which was rated very well back in 1986. My current speakers are home-built, and I found that they didn't have enough treble with the CD6. I guess the Denon was harsh enough on the high-end that I had to tone down the crossover in my speakers. Despite the reduced treble, I find the sound very detailed, with very good bass control and neutral midrange and highs. The soundstage is very wide and deep compared to the old Denon.

I'm building a DAC based on the PCM63 to play around with the digital out. Perhaps I can post something after I get done.

5 stars for value and sound quality. More money will get you incrementally better sound, but it's not worth it to me, especially with the high quality BNC output on the back.

Natural Presentation

See review

As I built up my all Naim system at home, I realised I couldn't live with a crappy system in my office. At the same time I didn't want to spend too much money. A friend suggested the Cambridge CD4SE, because it produced a sense of excitement that was similar to my Naim CDX. I started with the CD4SE, but I had troubles with my office power. The Cambridge distributor here in Canada was very helpful, and they eventually swapped the CD4SE for a new D500. These two players were actually quite similar, although I did prefer the D500.

Then I got the opportunity to purchase a used CD6. I was interested in using the balanced outputs (which are a better fit for my Naim 32.5 pre-amp at work), so I purchased the player.

Visually and sonically, both players are quite similar. The CD6 sounds clearer and smoother than the D500, which really helps when resolving complex musical passages. There is increased space between the notes, and a tighter presentation.

The D500 has a little more weight and a slightly fatter bottom end, although it's not as well defined. It also has a bit more boogie than the CD6, which is something that I really appreciate.

Overall, though, I'm really splitting hairs. The players are remarkably similar, and you pretty much need to get them side by side to hear these differences. In the end, either player is a great budget buy, and I heartily recommend that you give it a try if you're looking for a player for less than $1000.

Similar Products Used:

Cambridge CD4SE, Cambridge D500, Rega Planet, Naim CD3.5, Naim CDX