I paid $150 for a refurbished unit in Japan this week. It’s the first high end player I have ever purchased. It’s a beast. I’m very pleased.

No on/off switch on the remote control

By the year 2000 when I bought the Denon DCD-1450 AR (NOT its bigger brother, the 1550 AR), this was the best possible sound for about $ 600. Even nowadays, it can compete with new CD players of the same price, sounding harmonious and more vinyl-like (suited for people who don't like the "cold" digital sound). But the best thing about the DCD-1450 is its strong built, constructed like a big tank ! the disc drive itself is very reliable, there was maybe 2 or 3 CDs that this heavy duty worker coundn't read ! So if you find this player in a healthy condition, I would buy it for a cheap price.

Build,Low's,Looks

Nothing realy spectacular considering it's new peicw of E470

1 bought this player 2e hand for about $125, in perfect state, it sounds ok, nothing's standing out, it just sounds ok.

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Sony Cdp-xa2es

Heavy, solid, physically massive player;a lot of great, versatile and ergonomic (also for tape recording-editing) features like display dimmer in four steps, music calendar, pith control, fader, auto-space between selections. Focused, informative, cultured, detailed,if not too analitic, reproduction, good dynamic control good resolution throgh all the frequency, rightness and realism in the soundstage, crystal clear highs and stunning bass extension. Overall balance is exceptionally good, openess is quite right Reads also ruined compact disks, CD-RW...

Could be a little hard-listening and too digital with bad recordings, maybe not so warm and smooth in mid and high frequencies as others players, but still natural, articulate and precise, without digital nasties. Of course, not at the level of detail, openess and realism of players that cost 1500 $ or +.

I''m completely satisfacted with this CD player. It''s particulary good-looking, "handsome" and it has an intriguing design: the exquisite aluminium front panel (in gold) and its heavy-weight (7.4 Kg) contribute to make it fashionable. It appears to embody the kinds of engineering prowess and integrity that are more common at higher price-levels. I''ve had a look internally, and I''ve to say that it has features to satisfy the gadget freak (and the audiophile alike):two Burr Brown PCM61P (18bit)in conjunction with discrete two-bit converters that use Lambda Super Linear topology, so it operates up to 20-bit precision thanks to the exclusive Alpha processor; very good condensators (in excellent quantity) Elna Silmic, all discrete components, separate digital and analogue sections, a sturdy loading mechanism (positioned at the center of the unit) highly resistant to vibrations. Regarding audio pereformance, I''ve noted excellent bass extension (expecially with electronic,disco,pop music), also a quite focused and heavy-hended bass (it has more bass then all previously owned and listended CD player); the midrange is very natural and balanced, if not maniacly accurate, but tight, very coherent and precise. The highs are sweet and linear, soft, smooth and not unpleasant, harsh or overtly "digital" at all! Soundstaging is superb, (thanks also to my fantastic KEF Q series...) the different instruments are all in their right places and I can imaging the stage perfectly.IN general there is a sense of rightness all over the frequencies, and there is not any coloration introduced in the sound, only the context of the cd is reproduced in a quiet, manner, but when it wants, with the right kick!(the percussions are superb)! I completely agree with Kenneth Skog and Leon Toepoel about the fact that bad and raw recordings sound unpleasant and a bit harsh, the highs and mids can become a pain to listen to at high volumes for many hours, but this is coused by the tendence of this player to project all is inside the cds, either bad or good things... It can menage very well all kind of music but it is fantastic with melodic rock (with not many instruments = Led Zeppelin, Deep Puprle, Santana, ecc, pop music (all different varieties), techno, jazz, blues (great with these three last), but also complex orchestral and vocal materials are handled with aplomb everywhere

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owned a Marantz CD 5000, a Pioneer and a Technics (don''t remember the model), and a Philips CD880, auditioned also Teac,Arcam,Cambridge Audio,Sherwood,Marantz different players before purchasing. I h

Midrange,bass. almost everything!

Can sound a little bright with some music, but that:s all.

I had this cd-player now in 19 months and its had whitstood
several upgrades both in the amp and the speaker department.
When i first heard the 1550ar i was just blown away. The rival then was the Marantz 63se. The Denon had a greater bass extension while the treble remained smooth and detailed. The only problem i have encountered is with raw recordings like U2 and Bruce Springsteen.
Even now, when i have a NAD silverline (£1900) amp, its just
keeps on getting better and better. A true great buy for those that wants a pice of the audiophile world.

a very good and full bass; it has the right "kick" when you are listening to pop music; manages most music styles

perhaps it could sound a bit more smoother when you are listening to classical music

When I made the decision to buy a CD Player I was looking for a model around 1,000 DM. My dealer recommended me some models like the Marantz CD 6000ose and the Rotel RCD 971. Because I already own a Minidisc Player from Denon`s Gold range (the DMD-1000), it decided to give the CD-Player (DCD-1550 AR) of this range a listen as well. When I first started to compare the players I realised that the Marantz and the Rotel sounded similar. Because I was quiet unhappy with the handling of the Rotel (the knobs didn't react when I touched them not right in middle) I stopped listening to the Rotel and only went on comparing the Marantz and the Denon. After half an hour listening to them I prefered the Marantz for its smooth sound while listening to classical pieces (like the suite of Peter Tchaikovski's "Nutcracker") and the Denon for its extend bass resolution and the right "kick" you need when you are listening to pop music(like Smash Mouth's "All Star"). Because I listen much more to pop music than to classical music I was finally focused on the Denon DCD-1550 AR. My dealer suggested me to listen also to the Denon DCD-1450 AR before I buy the DCD-1550 AR, so I did. The DCD-1450 AR has the same look as its bigger brother and costs about 300 DM less. When I compared those two players I must say that the difference between them was not very big, but I think that the DCD-1550 AR plays the music a bit more detailed than the DCD-1450 AR.

The look (a beautiful gold finish) and build quality (front aluminium panel; solid metal body) of this player is outstanding and the track access faster than you'd expect!

I would recommend the DCD-1550 AR to those which are listening more to pop music, jazz, rock and soundtracks. If you are only listening to classical music I would suggest you to look for another player.

Overall, this player manages to sound fantastic and enthusiastic in many different music styles so that I must admit that this player won't be the last of this manufacturer. Now I'm looking for a new amp - I think I should listen to the Denon PMA-1500 R.

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Marantz CD 6000ose; Rotel RCD 971; Denon DCD-1450 AR

Very neutral; well balanced sound; great design

NONE!

This is truly a fantastic CD-player. I won't (can't) tell much about it; you have to HEAR it play.
But be carefull; bad recordings sound terrible on this machine. On the other hand good rcordings sound like "heaven", including every little detail.

Very balanced sound.

Hedphone jacket sounds different when display turned on/off.

I remember being on the lookout for a Marants CD63e gold edition (or something like that), and was pretty much set on that, when the dealer asked me to listen to the Denon. On the same speakers and same amplifier it blew the Marants away. Much more crisp sound, and the bas was more detailed. It sounded like a carpet was removed from the speakers.

Even though it was almost 500 dKr (about 63$) more than what I had thought about spending, I ended up with this player.

It is very solidly build, and gets rather warm when playing for many hours. The sound gets markedly better when the player gets warm.

The electronics inside look well organized and to be of a good quality (im an electronics technician), and the whole player has a good feel to it.

The track selector on the front is not as easy to use as on other products with a knob.

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NOne.

I have owned this player for about 3 weeks now, and have been happy with its performance.When I originally decided to upgrade I had my mind made up on the marantz cd 67 se,this was based on reviews of the product.
Anyways I got the money up and decided it was time to buy. So first auditions went to the marantz and I considered it sounded very good.
The salesman said that he'd recieved in the night before the new Denon range and said it might be worth a listen, so we did.
I have to say that the marantz is not a bad player at all, but when you listen to the Denon the bass is alot more in control and further extended, and the midrange while not hugely different, is slightly closer on the Denon.
The highs are very similar, but the Denon does seem to integrate them into the musical picture better,(they're not rolled off, they just dont suffer the tall poppy thing).
I ended up buying the gold finish just because sometimes its nice not to have black boxes(good job Denon).
Build quality is top notch and I would recommend the player to anyone wanting a natural sound with good deep bass control(not light either, I had to bung up the rear ports on the Kef coda 9's to drop the bass level a bit),and a nice natural mid and high range.