I agree with all the positive and negative comments about this cd player from the other listeners. Let me share my "personal experience", may be it'll help in deciding whether this player is for you as well. Listening to it with my system is like having the actual band in the same room with the singer standing in front of me. Hope that would help. But most important of all, don't listen to me but try it yourself. Hearing is believing!

collaborating components:
Rotel RC-971
Rotel RB-970BX
B&W DM601's
Audioquest Type 4+ Hyperlitz (bi-wiring)
Audioquest Turquoise
Monster cables

Good sweet, very detailed sound

small buttons on remote control, clumsy cd tray, slow reading cd

What can I say? best value for the money. very detailed and very refined sounding cd player.

Very few

no feeling given to music. flat sounding

could not believe the difference between the rotel and the Arcam.If looking for that sound you have to spend the money.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha ,Arcam Diva 92

Fast and articulate bass, midrange presentation, details, fairly good soundstage.

A bit forward that others may not find it suitable to their liking, it’s just a matter of taste.

Bought this over its younger brother, the RCD 951. The 20 bit burr brown is better than the 18 bit installed in the 951.

The sound is great. My Pioneer DV-525 is no match to its midrange tonality, details, imaging and fast and articulate bass. An A/B comparison proved that the Rotel is a cut above the Pioneer in sound reproduction. The thing is, I’ve seen articles by some audio gurus, recommending this for pure audio application. Planethifi.com’s Gregory Kong was quite impressed in his review last year. Maybe it was a matched to the rest of his system. A clear proof that product reviews like this should never be used to anchor your decision whether to buy or not. But rather, it should only serve as a mere take off point on the products you should include in the audition.

I enjoyed the 525 for around six months. After listening to the Rotel, I realized I was missing a lot. Feeding the digital output to the MSB Link DAC smoothens the overall presentation with a more precise imaging. Soundstage deepens a bit. The forwardness that I mentioned as a potential weakness for some people was tamed.

Is it the best CD player around? Definitely not. But I give it five stars anyway, because of what it does inspite of its affordable selling price. Worth your listen.

Bryston B-60
Rotel RCD 971
MSB Link DAC III
DH Labs BL 1 S2
Monster Datalink 100 Digital Cable
Radio Shack megacable (waiting for delivery of T-14 biwire, performance should be a big improvement from Radio Shack)
B&W 602 S2 (see my review of this in the speaker section)
Custom made sand filled speaker stands on spikes

mids, hdcd

no upgradeable power cord

this cd player had a haze of somesort that masked the fine details of the music. bass is too bloated. i tried all kinds of cables to help this. vocals were good.it has no rhythem or drive, it is very dull and too laid back for my taste.yes it's better than the 951. but it is still lo-fi sounding. very poor instrument timbre. hdcd is overrated .i'm keeping the cambridge d 500. way more truthfull to the sound of the instruments etc.i sold it for half price just to get rid of it. it also grinds the tray sometimes when putting a cd in.

Similar Products Used:

cambridge d500 arcam fmj cd 23, rotel 951, older nakamichi

WOW!!!

eer..?

well...wat should I say

Similar Products Used:

marantz cd63,6000ose,rotel 951,

Sounds great.

This unit can't compare to the $3K Wadia, but paired with the CJ CAV-50 and the ACI Sapphire III's/Titan combo, I have a fantastic sounding 2nd. system for well under $5000 brand new. In fact, the sound comes quite close to the AR100.2/Morrison ELAD/Wadia/Maggie3.6 setup for well under half of it's price. No weak link in either system, folks.

Similar Products Used:

Wadia 830

At the price, it's a fantastic player. With modifications, it's incredible.

Out of the box, treble is harsh, midrange is a bit loose and the bass could be a lot tighter.

Now... Most of the negative and semi-positive reviews here describe the excessive brightness of the player. I also find that the midrange is only adequately controller and the bass could definitely be better also.
BUT, there is a solution to these problems.
Visit http://www.lcaudio.dk
I am not in any way associated with them aside from being a -very- happy customer.
I installed their L-Clock X02 along with the AD825 OP-AMP upgrades and a couple of improves capacitors. The total cost (including shipping to the US) was $153.20.
After about an hour installing these parts using the very clear instructions including lots of pictures (the downer is that you will have to be handy with a soldering iron), I was finally all set up.
All I can say is WOW!
The harshness/brightness is GONE. Listening to my system is no longer fatigueing. The midrange is so much tighter it's not funny. And the bass is deeper, louder and more controlled.

My system is as follows:
Rotel RCD-971
Rotel RC-1090
Rotel RB-1080
Mirage OM-7
AudioQuest Coral interconnects

If you're looking for a good test track, I highly recommend "Sign of the Zodiac" by Rasputina. This song will make any flaw in bass/midrange control so obvious that a deaf person could hear them. Very useful when picking out a system.

The value rating and overall rating I give below SOLELY reflect my impressions of this player AFTER modification. I would give three stars across the board for the player prior to these.

Details and HDCD

CD tray makes ticking sound when opening and closing

Great CD player

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood, Sony ES, NAD

ambience, vocals

everything slse

don't be fooled by its vibrancy articulation and vocal accuricy, it sounds bad, takes about half an hour to find out how tizzy, harsh, congested, "clancking" sounding it is.

Similar Products Used:

marantz 6000ose, nad524, arcam cd72