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New member Username: NicosPost Number: 1 Registered: Jan-07 | Re: Esound CD 5 I recently found myself looking for a new CD player to replace a Marantz CD17. I wanted a step up in sound quality but baulked at the prices of many Hi-end players and, was not satisfied with the many mid-fi offering's sound quality. This is when I heard some made in China players at a local Hi-fi shop (Shanling and Jolida). Price and sound quality seemed to cover the middle ground I was looking for. On researching these products I stumbled across three online sites selling Chinese audio exclusively. http://www.cattylink.com/ http://ornec.com/ http://www.nysound.com/ Cattylink were the most competitive price wise and had many positive comments regarding their service in forums. They seemed to have exclusive distribution rights to a player I had not heard of before The E Sound CD 5.The player. The CD 5 had many positive reviews in the forums and attracted me as it did not have valves yet was said to offer some of the sound qualities of smoothness of valves without the disadvantages. So for about NZ$ 1200 delivered I ordered the E Sound. Cattylink's service was very good and the player arrived about 1 week later. This is one solid CD player! Look and feel is high end much better than I expected for the price. Once plugged in the sound did not disappoint either. The System used was the Plinius 8150 integrated amp and Quadral amun 3 way floor standing. Immediately I was struck the dynamics and depth of the sound stage over the CD 17. Individual instruments were now more recognizable and seemed to take on texture and shape giving the music a 3 Dimensional quality. Rock and blues was improved with more detail and weight and much tighter yet rich and textured bass. Classical music also showed great benefits of this player, gone was the Glare and the shrill, thin sound. The CD 5 created weight and a smooth dynamic sound, Chords and harmonies seemed more true, almost as though someone tuned the instruments! However the remote control is of poor design with small buttons and short range. Also after about 1 week the LED display stopped working. This didn't really bother me and I had read that LED displays could introduce distortion to the signal. The free RCA interconnects provided (Golden raincoat ) ,are not bad however my Ear Science ones provided a bigger sound stage. Over all I am very happy with sound of the CD 5. While the product is not perfect and clearly still under development it offers those on a limited budget a chance to own and enjoy high end sound and that cannot be a bad thing. |