Sound stage, Very analog sounding, build quality, extremely musical and very rich sounding

Cheesy remote, weighs a ton

Extremely very rich and analog sounding cdp. Very musical in digging out details and nuances. Mids are lush, instruments are rich sounding. Excellent digital section that does not digital or "matter of fact sounding" as like the Meridian. Soundstage opens up and lets you enjoy the music. No need to sit there and nit-pick each instrument - everyting is just there. Excellent cdp and well worth the money.

Similar Products Used:

Meridian 508.24

just gets it right

build quality in some non-essential details

This is a great CD player that does everything right. It just makes the music sound great, and it was worth the investment. I've seen reviews that labeled this machine "jaw-dropping". I found this to be an overstatement if you've already got a good machine. However, the improvement was significant. Another reviewer below said it best - little but persistant annoyances that I thought were due to other factors disappeared, and my system just clicked into place. This player has the punch and detail of digital with the natural warmth of analogue.

Build quality in almost every way is very satisfying. I couldn't believe how cheap a lot of the competitors' machines felt, especially in the slide mechanism. This truly looks and feels like the expensive player that it is. I was surprised, however, to find that the magnetic puck used to hold down the CD is loose in the nice metal jacket that it sits in. I called the dealer, and he said they're all like that, and he uses Super Glue to fasten it in place. I gotta Super Glue something together for the $4,000 CD player I just bought? Sony would never accept this as acceptable QA. Nevertheless, the unit is so good in every other way that it was a nit. So be prepared to do a little glueing on the magnetic puck, but after that be ready for some very enjoyable listening.

Associated equipment:
Aerial Acoustics 10T speakers
Classe CA-401 SS power amp
VTL 2.5 tube preamp
Nordost Blue Heaven cables and interconnects

Similar Products Used:

A/D/S CD-4 (last generation audiophihe machine)

This Cd Player is beautiful and fabulous. The sound is incredible, im using this cd player with Hybrid Component (pre and power amp) listen and you will see what a very good CD can do for your system. (Dont try it if you cannot buy it, otherwise you will be despite)
Happy listening

This is a product everyone should get to know. I claim this cd player is one of the best in the world, and with NO equal at about 3000§. Playes with seemlessly ease and unstrained in the overall frequencies, and is unbelievably dynamic.I give this 5 stars without hesitating.

This incredible machine seems to be even more incredible. Just let that beauty warm up a few days and you will get something you could call music from heaven. Sound is simply holographic and absolutely three dimensional. Micro and macro dynamics with great resolution gives you ability to enter among musicians and shake their hands. Deep bass moves your body and sweet treble heals your soul. Midrange sounds tube like. Great music, great construction. It's worth much more than $ 2,65K. Overall rating: 5 stars. No doubt.

Musicality,Clarity,Built quality

Non-HDCD player, Product knowledgible service

I have just bought EMC 1 for 3 days to uplift audio performance from my existing DVD player (Pioneer DVL-K88). After let it breaking in for 72 hours as recommended, it sounds so musical. It might take me a couple month to have fun with this gear and discover the real performance achievable.
My next upgrade will be on pre&pro to replace the A1. The longer term will be on the main speakers.
I am so excited and joyfully to complete my audio&video systems in the very near future. It will be welcomed and appreciated If anybody could suggest the synnergized pre&pro as well as speakers. Thanks in advance.
My system:
AV: YAHAMA DSP-A1
DVD: Pioneer DVL-K88
Digital Interconnect: Monster 1000D
SVDO: Monster 1000SV
CD: Electrocompaniet EMC 1
Analog Interconnect: Nordost Blue Heaven
Speakers: Bostonacoustics VR970(Front) VR10(Center) VRS Pro (Surround)
Speaker Cables: Transparent Music Wave (Front) Van Den Hul Clear Water (Center&Surround)

Similar Products Used:

Classe 1 and 1.5, Marantz 16, Micromega stage 6

Clarity of the high end without harshness....airy, but precise
Brilliant soundstage
Solid midrange....full and vibrant
Bass presence....without the unwanted thumps or muffles

The CD is stabilized with a puck.....PIA!!!!
No HDCD
Poorly produced CDs sound poorly produced

As you can see, I have owned a good number of players. After collecting approximately 3000 cds, my search for the optimum machine to play them on has finally ended......
This is an absolutely remarkable player that comes as close to analog as I have ever heard. Much more musical than the previously listed players that I have either owned or own at present. Second to none in delivering "the music," without sounding harsh or analytical, this player shines with all program sources except those that are poorly recorded to begin with. Especially nice with some of the newer 20 and 24 bit remasters coming out, and even gives SACD a run for the money.
I have to agree with Howard, below, that to take full advantage of the sonic capabilities of this machine, you should use balanced cables for the outputs, rather than the standard unbalanced RCA outputs....never would have believed it, but the difference is profound!!!

Similar Products Used:

Sony SACD1, Sony CDP-XA7ES, Denon 1650AR, Krell KAV300, Wadia 820, Classe 1.5, Rotel 990, Musical Design CD2 Signature Reference, various Sony ES players

Best digital ever heard

Makes you reach for your check book without blinking an eye lash

Just upgrade my EMC 1 to MKII status. This upgrade replaces the original 24/96 DAC with an all new 24/192kHz chipset.
I thought that you could do no better than the orginal player. WRONG! This new upgrade elevates this player to All World status. I am an Electrocompaniet enthusiast so I have tempered my views with those of the shop where I purchased my player. Everyone in the shop was in awe of the sound coming from cdp. This player is superior to the Elgar $12K combo. Hard to believe but this unit establishes a whole new level of expectations in Digital reproduction. This hobby is so subjective and most of you folks reading this review don't know me from adam. I could have ears of tin. That is what always makes me chuckle about this sight. Hearing abilities are so diffferent from person to person. I hope this review will get some of you out to your local store to hear this player. It has made music leap from discs that I never knew was there. It has made listening to music more enjoyable. That is the point of this hobby in my opinion.
My hat is off to Per Abrahamsen and the staff of Electrocompaniet. One of the finest products I have ever had the pleasure to listen to and own. Hear it for yourself and you will be reaching for the check book.

Similar Products Used:

EMC-1 (with original DAC 24/96)

Bass control,soundstage,warmth,built quality.

Non forgiving to bad recordings, does not read some cd's

This is the best you can get out of regular CD format playback in the market today.
I recently bought a Sony 9000ES SACD/CD/DVD player and compared the SACD playback with the EMC-1. A good 96/24 recording sounds extremely close to SACD but regular CD's are far distant than SACD.
Let's see what the future will bring us!

Similar Products Used:

Resolution Audio Cesium, Goldmund

Great soundstage depth and air. Extremely musical,but not soft, rolled-off or fuzzy.

Cheapo remote, but works fine (sensitive receiver in unit and doesn't seem critical of angle used to have IR command received and executed)

Extremely musical CD player. It does not present detail in any etched manner, but sounds like real music.... alive, engaging, and energetic. One caveat, I have tried multiple brands of interconnect cables, both single ended and balanced...In every case the player sounded MUCH better with the balanced cable (no matter which brand!) The sound stage depth and palpability were far superior with the balanced interconnects. Although light, the magnetic clamp appears to work just fine (on the CEC 5100Z mentioned above, the clamp occasionally stuck to the spindle causing
the spindle to sometimes "lift" when removing).

Similar Products Used:

BelCanto DAC1(with both the Cal delta and Pioneer DVD525 as transport, CAL alpha(upgraded to 96/24)/delta, CEC 5100Z