The CD6002 is typical of what we’ve come to expect from Marantz CD players over the last couple of decades - it’s an enjoyable sounding player with good levels of detail and transparency at a very reasonable cost. It doesn’t suffer from the unrefined brashness of most players at this price point, nor does it sound flat or mushy, it treads the fine line between them and is an excellent compromise for any entry level hifi system.
It’s available in either champagne silver or black finish.

The Teac PD-H600 is an excellent CD player, not only is its all metal case beautifully built but it has a sound that is sweet, open and airy. It’s a very compact 29cm wide and comes with a remove control and coaxial digital output.

The Apollo is a new design from Rega which replaces the Planet. It features many technological advancements including much improved clocking, a class A output stage and a high grade dual differential Wolfson DAC, whilst retaining the cantilevered lid and rigid mounting of the transport.

Intriguingly this player automatically calibrates itself for each disc, and for the first couple of seconds the display shows ‘initialising’ whilst the player sets itself up. The transport mechanism used also dispenses with the magnetic clamp used by its predecessor and the disc itself is secured by three point ball bearings (just like those found in many portable players) which has the benefit of reducing moving mass. It is available in both Silver or Black finishes. It comes with a remote control that includes a display off function which makes a small but beneficial difference to the high frequencies.

From the first disc the Apollo is clearly a Rega CD player, it has the comfortingly warm and slightly laid back presentation that characterises them, but this latest model adds a substantial amount of information retrieval most noticeably shown as the sense of space around voices and instruments that lets you hear the acoustic environment around them, whilst counteracting the slightly recessed mid band of the Planet as well as increasing the impact of leading edges of notes.
In my opinion its clear that this player, like the Planet before it, should become the benchmark for anyone after serious CD replay on a budget.

We’re thrilled to be able to offer a CD player at this price which has dispensed with the digital filter and over sampling - in fact we believe this is the most affordable player utilising this sort of wonderful back to basics design that’s normally only seen in much dearer and more exotic machines.

It uses a pair of 16bit TDA1543 DAC’s and a discrete J-Fet/transistor output stage (not opamps) with switchable sampling frequencies of 44.1 and 88.2kHz available via the remote control. The simple output stage and very short signal path that this allows produces a sound with the characteristically wide dynamic range of a filterless design, capturing great speed and energy, which are just the sort of characteristics that makes music really come to life.

If you find most CD players overly sanitised and look for the same adrenalin rush you get from your vinyl source then this player could be just the antidote you’re looking for.

The Saturn, whilst superficially derived from the Apollo, features advancements such as twin Wolfson DAC’s, improved component quality and uprated output stage and power supply design. Sonically it builds upon the strengths of the Apollo, keeping the wonderfully spacious top end and adding resolution whilst also extending the power of the lowest frequencies.

The Thunder 2.2 SE is the latest version of this beautifully made player, the ‘SE’ modifications moving performance even further forward than its predecessor. The end result is a very enjoyable sound that has an authoritative presentation without loss of subtle detailing.

The design uses two separate toroidal transformers (see picture below), one for the digital stages and one for analogue, with a lot of attention paid to the separation of ground paths between the various stages. It has connections for both balanced (XLR) and single ended (phono) outputs, as well as optical (Toslink) and coaxial (phono) digital outputs. There’s also a connector to allow it to be upgraded with the external whirlwind power supply. It is available in either Silver or Black finish.

The CD2.2 Linear is a very special player, it uses our preferred combination of non-oversampling and no digital filter which always results in an exceptional fast and smear free performance. The output stage uses a 6H30 triode which also gives great refinement without loosing any of the dynamics or energy from the disc.
It’s possible to choose between sampling frequencies of 44.1kHz or 88.2kHz via the remote control which makes a subtle difference and allows the user to choose which sounds best in their system.

The only real negative of this player is it suffers what must be one of the most protracted burning in period of any player I can think of, and unless it has at least 50-100 hours of use it will not give you the slightest idea of what it’s capable of. But I can assure you its well worth the wait.



The very latest CD player from Audio Note. As you’d expect of Audio Note this is a non oversampling, filterless design (both analogue and digital) based around the 16 bit 1543 DAC. It uses a 6111WA sub miniature triode valve output stage, Beyschlag resistors and paper in oil coupling capacitors. It offers a sound that’s very difficult to beat at the price. Available with silver or black acrylic fascia.

The ‘mini’ droplet (named as it’s quite a lot smaller than the original Droplet model introduced a few years ago) not only looks stunning but thanks to its filterless design and E88CC triode output stage also sounds as good as it looks. The case is made from a wood, aluminium and ceramic sandwich and discs are top loaded. It features a Superclock high performance digital clock for low levels of jitter and also has an coaxial digital input so you can use its internal DAC for other digital sources.

The CD2.1x/II is essentially the same as the CD1.1x detailed above, but in keeping with Audio Note philosophy is features upgraded components including tantalum resistors, Blackgate capacitors and superior coupling capacitors. The performance of this player is simply astonishing, it has the superb texture and naturalness, almost reaching the giddy organic heights of their two box combinations. It is available with either a silver fascia or black acrylic.

The CD4.1x is a top loading player which effectively combines the CDT Two/II transport and DAC 2.1x digital to analogue converter into one box (please see the separate pages which detail these products more thoroughly). To reduce the problems inherent in one box players great attention has been invested in the power supplies to ensure that there is minimal coupling between the various stages. This makes the CD4.1x the ultimate one box solution for those that don’t have the space for a separate DAC and Transport.

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