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Untill very recently my preferences in audio gear have always leaned on the conservative side. My system is infused with equipment names known mostly for their high bang for the buck; Rotel, Klipsch, Cambridge Audio, Denon...etc. Well that appears to be changing.
Back in January I saw a photo of the Shanling CDT100 CD player and was immediatly struck by the appearance of the unit. Truely a piece of engineering artwork in my opinion. However, it's price at approximatly $1800 street was just a bit too much for me to allow myself to spend.
Well, last week my wife and I took a brief vacation in Las Vegas. It was our first time ever there. Well, we didn't stike it rich in the casinos, HOWEVER, we didn't loose or spend as much of the "fun money" we had designated, so to celebrate that fact I ordered the Shanling upon our return, spending the balance of our vacation funds. The unit arrived today.
The photographs of this thing can't begin to portray how beautiful it really is. But, beauty is as beauty does...and it performs well. While I am saving a full review until she has a few hours to burn in, my initial impressions are very favorable. It's strength seems to be very warm detailed midrange without being dark. This, I believe,is due mainly to the tube output stages. The detail is amazing. And it's a real kick to be able to select either tube, solid state, or solid state upscaled output along with digital out to use it as just a transport for my pre-pro to decode. It's like having 4 different machines, because I get four different sound characters. More later...back to listening!
Back in January I saw a photo of the Shanling CDT100 CD player and was immediatly struck by the appearance of the unit. Truely a piece of engineering artwork in my opinion. However, it's price at approximatly $1800 street was just a bit too much for me to allow myself to spend.
Well, last week my wife and I took a brief vacation in Las Vegas. It was our first time ever there. Well, we didn't stike it rich in the casinos, HOWEVER, we didn't loose or spend as much of the "fun money" we had designated, so to celebrate that fact I ordered the Shanling upon our return, spending the balance of our vacation funds. The unit arrived today.
The photographs of this thing can't begin to portray how beautiful it really is. But, beauty is as beauty does...and it performs well. While I am saving a full review until she has a few hours to burn in, my initial impressions are very favorable. It's strength seems to be very warm detailed midrange without being dark. This, I believe,is due mainly to the tube output stages. The detail is amazing. And it's a real kick to be able to select either tube, solid state, or solid state upscaled output along with digital out to use it as just a transport for my pre-pro to decode. It's like having 4 different machines, because I get four different sound characters. More later...back to listening!
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