Got me a new CD player!

While you were all swanning around Heathrow being unimpressed by very expensive hifi, I decided to concentrate on the other end of the price spectrum this weekend.

So I popped into Richer Sounds and bought myself a Sony CDP-XE570 CD player.

This is a smartly turned out unit with a more than respectable performance. OK so the imaging is a bit vague and the sound is a little 2-dimensional with no soundstage to speak of. The bass lacks impact and drive compared with what I'm used to. The transport is a little noisy. But the player does little if anything to offend and that's the important thing. Mid and treble are sweet and clean. There is no harshness to speak of. All in all, not bad for 80 quid.

Chris

 

What's it for Chris?? Has the Arcam gone belly up, and you needed a temp replacement? Or is this for another system? WM super modding experiment? Or are you going 'back to basics'

 

No the Arcam is fine and anyway I have two perfectly good personal players that would do as temporary music makers.

Now that could be interesting, but no, not this time.

Hmmm. I think this would be a tad too basic

Ah, that's the one. You'll all be pleased to here, no doubt, that I haven't taken leave of my senses. The player is a house warming present for my Mum and Dad. It's about time they were dragged into the digital age. They are both cloth eared so they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this Sony and a more expensive player. Soundstage and imaging are totally irrelevant. It just has to play music without offending and this the Sony will do just fine.

It will be used with a Cambridge Audio A1 amp and a pair of Wharfedale Diamonds (which were once mine new in 1985 ). I'm sure they will be delighted with it.

Chris

 

They sound very sensible.

 

They've always been deaf as posts. They have no appreciation of sound quality. I'm sure they'd be just as happy with a 200 quid mini-system. The only problem would be finding one that was simple enough for them to operate