audio research cd5

Selected Categories

• Loudspeakers
• Digital Sources
• Analog Sources
• Cables and Interconnects
• AC Power Products
• Accessories

View All Reviews

Featured Reviews

• 50 Greatest Bargains in High-End Audio
• Goldmund PH3.8 Nextgen Phonostage
• Wilson Audio Specialties Chronosonic XVX Loudspeaker, Subsonic Subwoofer, and ActivXO Crossover
• Schiit Audio Modius DAC and Magnius Preamplifier/Headphone Amplifier
• YG Acoustics Hailey 2.2 Loudspeaker

Selected Locations

• Canjam Global
• Capital Audiofest
• Rocky Mountain

View All Show Reports

Featured Show Reports

• Florida Audio Expo 2020
• The Warsaw Audio Video Show
• RMAF 2019 - Highlights and Photos
• Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2019 : Loudspeaker
• Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2019 : Digital Electronics

Featured Editors

• Alan Taffel
• Greg Cahill
• Matthew Clott
• Scott Markwell
• Stephan Scharf
• Stephen Estep
• Jeff Wilson
• Paul Seydor
• Jonathan Valin
• Robert Harley

View All Blogs

Featured Blogs

• Philosophical Notes: A New Audio Blog
• An Interview with John Bring of Cable Support Plate
• The Absolute Sound’s High-End Audio Hall of Fame | 2020 Inductees
• The Rune Grammofon Label
• Lauren Daigle’s Grammy Award Winning Album “Look Up Child” to be released December 11 in 45RPM LP Format
• Joan Osborne Has a Job to Do
• Best Products
• Back Issues
• Print Subscriber Services
• Digital Subscriber Services

Featured Music

• The Jayhawks: XOXO
• Christian Sands: Be Water
• Hank Williams: Pictures from Life’s Other Side
• Neil Young: Homegrown
• Elgar & Beach: Piano Quintets

View All Album Reviews

Featured genres.

• View All the Categories
• Martin Logan
• View All the Featured Brands

Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.

First Listen: Audio Research CD5 Compact Disc Player

• by Neil Gader
• Mar 19, 2010

It may seem odd to many of you that at this particular moment in the high end   when media servers and other hard-drive/solid state drive components are hogging most of the attention that I should get as excited as I am over a CD player but that’s exactly what happened. May be I’m just slow to come around but I still enjoy the simple ritual of placing a disc in a transport.   the irony is that at this moment I’m finding myself feeling the exactly same way I did when the compact disc was anointed the replacement for the turntable.

Fact is, the Audio Research CD5 maybe the most analog-like performing CD player (no SACD) that I’ve been able to spend time with. And this is a solid-state machine-no tubes whatsoever. I’m hearing a more effortless, fuller performance where music doesn’t seem as dessicated and divided. The warmth of harmonics stirring the air in an acoustic venue is somehow more than just a passing inference. It’s there in the space that every vocalist or instrumentalist is immersed in. It’s there in the physical dimensions of players and singers. The detail and information are all present but my ear doesn’t single them out in such cold terms. Rather, it integrates everything into a musical whole first and second, permits me to listen deeper into the recorded work.

It’s an odd thing that happens when I listen to most Redbook PCM, the music never sounds entirely settled. There’s something about its presentation that simply doesn’t transport me. Sonically there’s a picture in front of me, one that is outlined, even colored in and detailed for the most part but not entirely completed. You can see the intent of the artist but not feel the full emotional weight of the artist’s vision. Something is left unexpressed.

Posted on the Audio Research website is this general description;   “The CD5 relies on the substantial Philips PRO2M laser mechanism mounted to a machined aluminum I-beam with Audio Research’s proprietary mounting system and damping for ultralow mechanical jitter. The I-beam, in turn, is bolted to a heavy, machined aluminum plate for maximum rigidity. New high-performance circuit board material and an all-new FET direct-coupled analog output stage with beefy regulated supplies yield better performance that’s measurable: channel separation is improved from 92 dB to 120 dB, and S/N ratio is improved from 90 dB to 114 dB. The CD5 is even “greener,” drawing just 14 watts at idle compared to 26 watts for its predecessor. Analog outputs include balanced XLR and single-ended RCA. Digital outputs include AES-EBU/XLR and coax/BNC. The line cord is detachable with a 15-amp connector.”

What this description didn’t prepare me for was just how good the darn thing could sound. The “magic” for me is probably occurring mostly at the harmonic level­–that is, the upper octave information that is most audibly affected by phase errors and jitter.   The CD5 doesn’t have the balled-fist tightness and constriction that digital so commonly possesses in the treble. the CD5 is harmonically enriched and open.  It seems to even close the energy gap in the areas of dynamics and transparency-regions where SACD often dominates.   Finally, what it’s causing me to do is start spinning discs that I’d either been disappointed in or simply gave up on in disgust –just like in the vinyl days when I’d install a new cartridge. Don’t know if or when I’ll be formally reviewing the CD5 but I’m going to keep spinning discs until I can nail down just what makes this machine so special. Price: $5995. audioresearch.com

Tags: AUDIO RESEARCH

Latest Videos

Full Fremer at Florida | FLIAX 2024

Schiit Tyr MonoBlock Amplifiers Review | Thomas Tan Reports

Hegel 190v Integrated Streaming Amplifier Review | Tom Martin Reports

PS Audio StellarGold DAC Review | Adrian Alexander Reports

By Neil Gader

My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.

Read Previous

Verity audio finn loudspeaker (tas 201).

Jonathan Valin to Address Golden Ear Club

Read next from blog.

Vinyl Break-In?

• Mar 29, 2024

Selling My Records

• Mar 26, 2024

Future TAS: Transparent Audio, B.audio, McIntosh

• Mar 07, 2024

2024 Recommended Products Under $1,000

• Feb 22, 2024

Adblocker Detected

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."

Audio Research CD5 CD Player

by Tim Aucremann

My Sony D-15 portable CD player recently died, and I can’t find a replacement that comes close to its sturdy metal construction. On a stroll through my local big-box store, I saw aisles that once held CDs taken over by DVDs or different products entirely. Since the original Napster came and went, CD sales have declined sharply, and in 2008 they dropped another 20%. DVD-A and SACD deliver higher resolution, but they never got past niche status. Today’s hot audiophile trend is computer audio. Audio reviewers and industry prognosticators announce that CD is over.

It seems a medium must be declared dead in the press before it can be reborn. Since its obituary over 20 years ago, vinyl may be the most successful boutique product in audiophile history. If CD is done, it still remains the medium of choice for many audiophiles, as high-end companies continue to wring higher fidelity out of the old format. Following the critical success of the CD3 Mk II and Reference CD7 CD players, it would have been easy for Audio Research Corporation (ARC) to rest on its laurels. That did not happen. If Audio Research’s latest products are any indication, the rebirth of Red Book playback and a new golden age for CD players may have already begun.

In his 2005 review, Marc Mickelson acclaimed the Audio Research CD3 Mk II "the best Audio Research product I've heard in my system." Today, ARC incorporates the strongest aspects of the CD3 Mk II into its successor, the CD5. Like the CD3 models, the CD5 is a top-loader that uses a rigid Phillips die-cast laser transport. The newer Pro2M model found in the CD5 can read standard 16/44.1 Red Book CDs, CD-R/RW discs and the CD layer of hybrid SACDs.

The CD5’s straightforward external layout will be familiar to CD3 and CD7 owners. On its backside are balanced XLR and single-ended RCA analog outputs ready for connection to a line stage or preamp. S/PDIF BNC coaxial or balanced AES/EBU XLR digital outputs allow the CD5 to function as a transport and connect to an external DAC. An RCA-to-BNC adapter is included along with a power cord for the unit's standard IEC socket. The CD5 measures 19"W x 5 1/4"H x 12 1/4"D, weighs 26 pounds and retails for $5995 USD.

The CD5’s circuitry is fully balanced. It uses the same transformers as the CD3 Mk II, but there are also significant changes. The CD5 sports the new Burr-Brown PCM1792 balanced-output DAC -- the same used in the Reference CD8. Although the PCM1792 chip can handle 24-bit/192kHz playback, the CD5 does not upsample.

Other enhancements include a new FET direct-coupled analog output stage and a new higher-performance circuit-board material. Along with its tuned polymer feet, the CD5 further reduces mechanical jitter by incorporating additional damping on the chassis, transport, disc tray and other select parts. Audio Research’s Dave Gordon explained the new player’s substantive improvement in measured performance over that of the CD3 Mk II: "The signal-to-noise ratio improved by 24dB, channel separation improved by 28dB, and distortion is 75% lower in the CD5." He noted that reduction in electronic jitter is achieved "by re-clocking and highly stable, low-noise power supplies."

Available in black or classic Audio Research silver, the front panel offers standard CD controls and a dimmable digital display that can cycle through various playback states using the supplied remote. The CD5 can be switched between standby and fully on, but there is no on-off switch. Once connected to the wall, this entirely solid-state unit remains powered up. A small optical switch inside the transport bay prevents spin up unless the top sliding door is closed.

I found the CD5's ergonomics straightforward and the unit intuitive to operate. Playing a disc required a magnetic clamp to secure it on the transport spindle. Dave Gordon said the company experimented with dozens of shapes, materials and weights before arriving at a stiff, non-resonant clamp that does not degrade sonics. The lightweight remote enables disc and track repeat along with shuffle play and custom sequence programming.

Review context and break-in

My current digital source is the Ayre C-5xe universal audio player. For this review, I used both the C-5xe and the CD5 with my Atma-Sphere MP-1 Mk III preamp and with the very impressive solid-state Esoteric C-03 line stage. Both accept balanced and single-ended inputs, though only the MP-1 Mk III has a fully balanced circuit. Shunyata Research Antares interconnects were used across all combinations of these components. Both players were connected to a Shunyata V-Ray power conditioner with either a Shunyata Taipan Helix VX or Python Helix Alpha power cord. I have neither a CD player with a digital input nor a standalone DAC, so I did not get to try the CD5 as a transport.

My Audio Physic Avanti Century loudspeakers are each powered by 140W Atma-Sphere MA-1 Mk III mono amplifiers. Sometimes I insert a Speltz autoformer between each amp and speaker to show the amp an 8-ohm load. The amps draw power through a dedicated Shunyata Hydra Model-8 via Taipan Helix power cords. The speaker cables are Shunyata Orion, and the preamp-to-amp interconnects are balanced Shunyata Antares. My dedicated listening room is well treated with acoustic absorbers from RealTraps.

My analog front-end includes a Teres 320 turntable with Verus rim drive and an SME V tonearm carrying a Transfiguration Orpheus moving-coil cartridge. Balanced and single-ended Silver Audio Silver Breeze tonearm cables connect to either the MP-1’s native phono section or to an Audio Research PH7 phono stage.

The CD5 needs a lot of break-in time to reach its full potential -- and it’s worth the wait. In its box you’ll find a small piece of paper (titled "Sonic Info Sheet") that starts out: "Your new Audio Research component will improve sonically for at least 600 hours of run time," and it goes on to give instructions on running in the CD5 using a disc on repeat for four weeks. Audio Research sent me a CD5 straight off the production line -- just as you’d buy new from a dealer. Straight from the box, the CD5 impressed with its resolving power -- it found more musical bits in the pits than I previously knew were there. I eagerly dug into my CD collection. To borrow an analogy from the vinyl realm: In terms of fine-spun detail, hearing this new player for the first time reminded me of switching from a nice moving-magnet cartridge to a low-output moving-coil. But all was not vinylesque during early break-in. Music through the CD5 took on a cool timbre that lent an analytical cast to trumpets and sopranos, especially in the treble, a couple octaves above middle-C. These had an incisive tint in the higher registers which, coupled with a two-dimensional flatness, told me "It's digital, make no mistake about it."

At the 650-hour mark, I found myself tut-tutting over the CD5 as an almost-great player that just missed the mark. Fortunately, I stuck with the regimen of running it continuously off hours, feeding it a new disc every few days for exposure to a broad range of dynamics and frequencies. Another ten days went by, and I was overdue for serious listening and note taking. What I heard then and going forward is what I describe below.

The most important words from the "Sonic Info Sheet" are "at least 600 hours." If I wrote this review based on what I heard before, during and slightly after the 600-hour mark, it would read much differently than it does. If you do an audition, be sure to ask your dealer how much time is on his demo unit, and do not gauge the CD5 until it has run in for at least 800 hours , and maybe a bit longer. As the "Sonic Info Sheet" foretells, "your patience will be rewarded."

The great CD5 revival

Listening to music through the CD5 brought freshness to the sound of my CD collection. As an old vinyl dog, I compliment Audio Research for reviving my interest in playing CDs in the twilight of the medium. Simply put, the more music I played through the CD5, the more I wanted to listen. This revival found me eagerly spinning discs from the early days of digital -- discs I’d otherwise written off as poor production examples. While the CD5 could not turn a poor performance into a better one, or fix a mediocre recording, many CDs I knew as hard or edgy proved thoroughly listenable through the CD5. I’m not quite ready to tell Deutsche Grammaphon that all is forgiven, but I may yet change my mind.

Consider the two-disc Amadeus soundtrack (Fantasy 3FCD-4403-2). Released in 1984, it offers great music from Mozart’s day, but I’ve always found the sonics something of a disappointment. Portions of this set can sound thin and dry with a flattened perspective. I tried disc one with the CD5 and listened to the boys choir of Westminster Abbey perform the "Quando Corpus Morietur" from Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater . Sung in a reflective choral loft close to the ceiling, the young soprano voices were clear, rich, and nicely individuated. Most impressive was the sense of a performance occurring in acoustic space, as I heard sound reflecting and reverberating within the venue. There was none of the peaky top-note forwardness I had come to expect from this recording. Valve registers and pedal action from the accompanying organ were easily heard, and I could even tell the organ’s placement relative to the elevated choir.

Next I tried "Caro Mio Ben," an Italian baroque aria from Giuseppe Giordani. Here, in a scene cut from Amadeus , is a soprano and solo piano, as a young singer (Michele Esposito) gets her big chance to audition before court composer Salieri. I have yet to hear this performance with any two pieces of audio gear that offer identical stage placement of the performers relative to each other. The CD5 placed the vocalist about even with the piano with a fairly wide distance between them. Swap an amp or preamp and the singer may move closer to the piano or in front of it. Who knows what is correct? Through the CD5 both singer and piano stood out in high relief against the backdrop of an otherwise empty stage. Gone was the hard edge of attack I expected from the piano. The ARC player nicely captured the faint quavering nervousness in the girl’s voice at the outset of the audition and her growing assurance as her song proceeds.

The CD5 brought new musical insight and renewed enjoyment from old favorites in my CD collection. Playing Kraftwerk’s Electric Caf� (Elektra 9 25525-2), the CD5 taught me one way this band pioneered their unique sound through the use of tightly controlled reverb. Sometimes notes are allowed to decay naturally -- at least as naturally as they might were they acoustically rather than electronically generated -- and with the addition of electronic reverb, that decay can last even longer. The occasional unexpected cut-off of this reverberated decay sliced notes to a knife-edge halt, delightfully disrupting my aural anticipation. The effect is quite clever and the CD5 let me hear precisely. Thanks to the CD5’s preservation of fine detail, I heard the song "Telephone Call" sprinkled with all sorts of electronic harmonics I’d not heard before. Karl Bartos’ non-synthesized voice was rich in timbre as it emerged from its own resonant space into a three-dimensional soundfield snapping with tonal transients. The man/machine contrast inherent to Kraftwerk’s music was never more poignant.

I tried another early CD -- the 1983 Deutsche Grammophon recording of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.2 performed by Ivo Pogorelich and the Chicago Symphony under Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon 410 507-2). Here, the CD5 laid out the orchestra in all dimensions as it captured a full measure of the back- and side-wall reflections that serve as sonic cues to the reality of a mass of musicians performing in a large open space. The ARC player handled complex orchestral passages without blur or confusion. Not only were musicians firmly positioned within the venue, but for the first time from a CD I heard the bloom patterns of strings hovering like a cloud above their sections, just as I hear in live performances from the Madison Symphony at our local Overture Center.

The CD5 presented Pogo’s opening notes on the piano with dynamic ferocity and conviction. I could detect how different notes radiated off its sounding board and lid. It was both startling and delightful to hear air rife with the frequencies of a live piano. The initial attack at the keys was without a hard edge, but there was no doubt I heard a percussion instrument played vigorously. Leading-edge transients in the treble and midrange had a natural quickness and flow, and, despite my listening for it, the top end never sounded goosed. The reverberation of piano notes held their richness in decay, without harmonic thinning. Strings played col legno -- struck with the stick part of the bow -- were brisk with proper timbre. The front edge of plucked strings in the lowest registers may have been just a wee bit soft compared to the mids and highs, but gone was the overt coolness I heard during the break-in period, as the CD5’s overall tonal character was now largely neutral, showing just a breath of warmth in the bass and with just a hint of cool sweetness at the top end.

Where I found the CD5 a truly special player was in its capture of the smallest sonic detail coupled with its handling of low-level dynamics. This was most evident in the midrange and upper frequencies. The CD5 had the ability to clarify tiny harmonic subtleties, turning them into the presence and vivacity of instruments and performers in real space. It took me another step closer to the perception of a live performance. Most impressively, the CD5 demonstrated that silver discs had the information on them to deliver a fleshed-out dimensionality of individual performers. From the CD5 I felt in the presence of music making that came nearer to what I’ve heard from analog front-ends. For a delightful example, listen to Kiri Te Kanawa and Lucia Popp perform "The Letter Duet" from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with Solti conducting the London Philharmonic (London 417 395-2). The two sopranos did not appear as disembodied point sources coming from a black background -- the CD5 presented them as living performers moving together on stage. Even when the singers were in close proximity, one slightly in front of the other, the CD5 preserved small subtleties of vocal weight and emphasis that told me how the voice of each blended to form their intimate harmony.

Via balanced connection to the Atma-Sphere MP-1 Mk III, the CD5 played with slightly less noise in my all-balanced system. I’d previously done a similar comparison between RCA and XLR connection with the fully balanced Ayre C-5xe and heard somewhat similar results from the CD5. In the all-balanced configuration, a faint haze fell away from the CD5’s rendition of Telarc’s wonderful recording of Vaughan William’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano (Telarc CD-60676). Bass transients became slightly cleaner, and the overall performance was more transparently rendered. Though not as distinct a difference as I’d heard with the C-5xe, the improvement offered with balanced connection was definitely audible from the CD5.

A tale of two players

My Ayre C-5xe ($5995) proved well suited for a compare-and-contrast session with the CD5. When I bought the C-5xe, SACD and DVD-A were on their way to becoming niche formats. Ayre’s marketing director, Steve Silberman, told me that CD was what the C-5xe was all about. The CD5 and C-5xe retail for the identical price and both are entirely solid state. The C-5xe uses the DSD version of the Burr-Brown PCM1792 DAC, while the CD5 uses the PCM version. Both Audio Research and Ayre adopt fully balanced circuitry as a core design principle. As long as a disc had a Red Book layer on it, these two players gave me the opportunity to compare sonics without fretting about format.

First up was Manuel de Falla’s The Three Cornered Hat , a new digital remaster conceived by Esoteric (TEAC) president Motoaki Ohmachi and brilliantly produced by Esoteric and JVC under the direction of audio writer Okihiko Sugano (Esoteric ESSD 90016). This 1961 performance features L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Ernest Ansermet’s confident baton. I did several listening comparisons with this disc over the review period, and each time the sound of the two players was very, very close. Castanets snapped with precision, trumpets were clear, the piccolo chorus trilled without becoming shrill, and bass pizzicatos were rendered with a crisp leading edge. Instruments were clearly in space with nice bloom. Soundstage width was bounded by the speakers, and depth was apparent. There was plenty of heft and punch from timpani. The Ayre C-5xe might have exhibited slightly more harmonic nuance, but differences in timbre were so small I’m reluctant to attribute them to more than the vicissitudes of my own ears. I heard the CD5 with a teeny bit more natural piccolo attack and a slightly softer front edge on bowed cellos. These subtleties may well be the sort of thing heard by an audio reviewer in a back-to-back comparison rather than observable while listening for enjoyment.

However, this comparison gets more interesting when you realize that the CD5 played the CD layer and the C-5xe played the SACD layer of the same disc. I don’t know whether the sonic similarities are due to the quality of Esoteric’s remastering or the resolution of the CD5, or the fact both players use essentially the same DAC. That I heard the two formats as near sonic twins did not seem attributable to differences between sample rates and the number of bits used to represent the audio waveform.

I listened to other dual-layer SACD discs that I knew had excellent sonics and again found similar results. Listening to both players render the Channel Classics Mahler Second Symphony featuring Ivan Fischer and the Budapesters (Channel Classics CCS SA 23506), I was surprised that the CD5 offered more transparency and slightly better dynamic punch in the midrange. I heard trumpets and bells and other upper-octave instruments present a faintly harder attack through the C-5xe on SACD. Overall, differences were minor, as both players unraveled complex dynamic passages with ease. The bottom line: The CD5 sounded as resolving on the CD layer as the C-5xe did on the SACD layer of the same disc. Given SACD’s higher sampling rate versus that of standard Red Book, I found the ambience and dimensionality of the CD5 most impressive.

For a conventional CD comparison, consider the soundtrack to the movie Havana , composed and produced by Dave Grusin (GRP GRD-2003). Film-wise this was not one of Robert Redford’s better efforts, but the rhythmic Latin music is upbeat and syncopated with lots of texture from different percussion instruments. Studio production values are excellent, as Grusin delivers a three-dimensional palette of instruments emerging at different heights and depths from a black background. The performances features Arturo Sandoval and Sal Marguez on trumpets, Grusin on keyboards, Lee Ritenour on guitar, Alex Acu�a on drums, and a host of a congas, rattlers, scratchers, and shakers. The DACs in the Ayre C-5xe process Red Book CDs in their native PCM, so format-wise this comparison was on a level playing field.

Again, the CD5 and the C-5xe sounded more similar than different, and I heard no real shortcomings from either. The CD5 presented instruments as slightly larger in proportion to the soundstage, which itself was wider than I heard from the C-5xe. Once again, the ARC player’s ability to render fine dynamic detail came through in spades, and it delivered the various instruments with dimensional character and ambient air. The end result was a heightened sense of realism. It was easy to suspend disbelief and imagine real instruments in real space. I heard the crisp but delicate pluck of metal guitar strings and their shiny resonance as Ritenour’s fingers slid over them.

Tonally, the CD5 was a hair more neutral than the slightly warmer C-5xe. Both players connected me with the pulse and flow of the music. The Ayre C-5xe gave a more emphatic presentation, though by comparison it showed a teeny bit more grain. Its presentation of instruments was not as large as the CD5’s, and their outline focus seemed crisper though not quite as dimensional. The Ayre player held a slight advantage in the lower registers, with greater leading-edge firmness and slightly richer timbre. High notes from Sandoval’s trumpet came through the C-5xe with more golden hue, but the CD5 presented the horn with a vibrant ambience that made me open my eyes and look for it in the soundstage.

Caveat auditor: Even with diminutive adjectives applied, my words here may read more authoritatively than warranted by the small sonic differences I detected between these players. Dynamic shading, rich timbres, and quick transients -- each player delivered a slightly different emphasis, yet both gave an honest and resolute presentation and the music its due. Let your ears and your own sonic priorities be your guides. If you place importance on ambience and dimensionality within the musical venue, the CD5 may be the only player you need.

Into the west

If the progress measured for Red Book playback during its second 25 years turns out to parallel the achievements of analog technology in a similar period, then the CD medium may still have a future. Precedent aside, the sooner the ripping of CDs to hard disk finds acceptance, the more likely CD playback takes a different path than history found for vinyl. Nonetheless, Audio Research’s steady focus on sonic improvement gets my vote for the viability of the CD player well after the medium’s popularity wanes. The ability of the CD5 to evince musicians and vocalists with an acoustic dimensionality and presence certainly reignited my interest in playback possibilities for the digital format.

The performance I heard from the CD5 told me silver discs hold more information than I previously thought -- and Audio Research has figured out how to deliver it at an honest price. The CD5’s aggregate improvement in materials, damping, and digital-to-analog conversion delivered a new level of sonic realism that represents the best I’ve heard from the CD medium in my system -- rivaling the best, period -- all at a mid-level price. Through the CD5 I heard musical ambience that was the equal of SACD and began to approximate what I hear from LP. If, in these early days of computer audio, you need to ask why ARC is still making CD players, you should listen to music through the CD5.

...Tim Aucremann [email protected]

Audio Research • CD5 CD Player

The latest all-solid-state CD player from one of high-end audio's preeminent makers of tubed equipment.

by Paul Bolin | October 1, 2009

am by nature something of a Luddite, especially when it comes to audio equipment. There are always the adventurous sorts who are the early adopters of a new medium or technology, but I prefer to wait things out. I still recall with some vividness the first CD player I ever owned, an early Sony. It was not terribly expensive, a second-generation player that I bought from the Harvard Coop. What I remember most about it is that I never made it through a full CD on the thing without a splitting headache.

Over the years, digital playback has improved to a degree I wouldn’t have thought possible back in those early days of the medium. But apart from a pair of horribly costly but marvelous-sounding mbl separates I reviewed for The Abso!ute Sound nearly a decade ago, I have always preferred the simplicity and unfussiness of a single-box player. To be brutally frank, I am simply not technologically savvy enough to deal with something like the latest stack of dCS upsampler, resampler, transport, separate clock and all the accompanying wiring and interfaces. While I love the idea of a music server, having to load it with so many recordings and connect it to my audio system makes me break out in a cold sweat and start looking for a vodka martini. I like things to be as simple as possible, but no simpler.

All of which brings me to the quite-wonderful Audio Research CD5 CD player. It is a no-nonsense, straightforward piece of gear, handsomely styled, as solid as a brick and as intuitive to use as an axe or a baseball bat. It is also a top-loader, which appeals to my essentially analog sensibilities. Physically putting a disc into a player, securing the beautifully machined (and individually balanced) magnetic clamp and sliding the CD5’s substantial door closed may be more complicated than using a drawer mechanism, but it is more viscerally satisfying to my sometimes-curmudgeonly mindset.

Audio Research Corporation (ARC) should be no stranger to anyone reading this, and is certainly no stranger to digital playback. While ARC entered the source-component field later than most, it was immediately apparent that they had done their homework and worked out the kinks that bedeviled so many early adopters. The latest iteration of ARC's solid-state CD player is the CD5; Marc Mickelson is currently enjoying ARC’s Reference CD8, with its tubed output stage. I hope we can swap players at some point, as the difference between the two units are solely the CD8’s tubed output stage and the power-supply differences mandated by glowing glass. Apart from these distinctions, the two players are identical. Both use the same brawny Philips PRO2M CD drive mounted on an equally hefty suspended subchassis, the same 24-bit chipset (the source of and tweaks to which Audio Research will not disclose), the same fully balanced circuitry, and the same dependably excellent build quality one expects from this high-end stalwart.

Audio Research’s chief listener Warren Gehl rang me up to offer the player for review and delivered it in person a couple of weekends later. I must mention for the sake of completeness that ARC went to the trouble of putting about 400 hours on my sample unit to save me the time of breaking it in. Warren explained that the CD5 (and most electronics) need a certain amount of break-in time for the signal paths to burn in and the capacitors to finally form. Given fifteen years of grim tedium breaking in gear for review, I knew he was speaking the truth, and I was able to get down to evaluative listening right off the bat. Let it be said that the CD5's character didn’t change in the slightest in the two-plus months I listened to it. Also worth mentioning is that ARC is one of the few audio companies to embrace a “green” attitude in designing its products. The CD5 is meant to be left on and in standby at all times, but it consumes a miniscule 14 watts in standby and only 20 watts in operation.

ne of the first discs onto the CD5's mechanism was Philip Glass’s Akhnaten [CBS 42457], a longtime musical favorite that has always managed to sound somewhat opaque and undifferentiated, albeit musically breathtaking, no matter what I played it on. With the CD5, the opaqueness I had always attributed to this being an early digital recording was largely stripped away. Glass orchestrated the opera without violins, and the cellos and basses take on a bigger melodic burden than with many orchestral pieces. A sense of clarity that had always been lacking suddenly materialized, with the string sections individualized very nicely and the lucid rhythmic drive -- always vitally important to Glass’s music -- much more to the fore. The woodwind choirs’ embroideries were no longer obfuscated by a muzzy translucence but presented with a bracing clarity. As for the singers, the massed vocals of "The Family" were sumptuous and cleanly defined. Paul Esswood’s potent countertenor in the title role and the baritone recitatives of David Warrilow were more natural and less chesty and congested than I had been used to hearing, and to much more natural effect.

Another favorite CD of mine is Shine [Starworld/BMG PD-6621] by the now-defunct Korean girl group Sugar. It combines a fizzy, engaging pop sensibility with catchy tunes, a wide variety of techno/dance influences and exceedingly slick production. That the girls can all sing convincing lead and lovely harmonies is the cherry atop the sundae. Yes, I am well aware that this is not exactly Audiophile Approved source material. So revoke my Audio Snobs’ Union card. I’ve loved girl-group pop since I first heard the Ronettes on AM radio when I was a mere sprout and this is nothing more or less than a 21st-century Asian riff on the same tradition. Besides, it always puts a big, stupid smile on my face when I listen to it.

Oddly, Shine is one of those rare recordings that sounds better and better as one’s system improves. I’ve heard it dozens if not hundreds of times, and twice on systems anchored by the CD5, where it has suddenly opened up into a broad and deep soundstage with the girls’ (admittedly rather over-compressed) voices floating rather deliciously over the cinematic techno-pop backgrounds.

The CD5’s midrange was consistently excellent. It never shortchanged harmonic completeness, and this was most notable on vocals. Eva Cassidy’s Live at Blues Alley [Blix Street G2-10046] is an exemplary live recording, apart from the obviously artificial reverb on the singer’s voice. The CD5 points out the artificiality of that reverb but without untoward emphasis and, more importantly, without compromising Cassidy’s rich voice. The acoustic guitar, charmingly sung harmonies, and yearning melody of Sugar’s "Just For My Love" had just the right blend of sweetness and bracing clarity. Fritz Reiner and the CSO’s definitive recording of Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra [RCA Living Stereo 61494-2] showcased a naturally balanced string sound with a near-ideal blend of woody instrument bodies and a naturally shimmering top.

The presentation of the top octaves is where Red Book digital has traditionally, and justifiably, been open to criticism for harshness and graininess. The CD5 showed finesse and refinement on every good recording. Subjectively, the player’s top showed no grain or grittiness anywhere, only an appealing combination of detail and oneness with the rest of the audible spectrum.

The CD5’s dynamic performance was consistently exceptional. The ARC’s ability to resolve detail in a convincing musical context stood out on Live At Blues Alley , where Cassidy showed a thorough command of dynamic nuance. The subtleties of her phrasing and dynamic shading had a convincing and flowing presence through the CD5, which tracked her voice beautifully. Dynamics had a natural liquidity with no "ratcheting," only a natural billow or swell as provided by the music. Treble dynamics, which I don’t think get talked about enough, were unusually lifelike. There was no exaggerated hotness on crescendos, no dulling of the top end during quiet passages.

Soundstaging was essentially a reflection of what was on each disc, with nothing added or subtracted. The shallow but very broad stage in Chicago’s Symphony Hall sounded just as it should with Zarathustra , and the CD5 caught what is most often heard on top-notch LPs -- the violins and violas, which are held horizontally under the chin, bloomed up expansively towards the microphones. Artificial soundspaces were truly capacious when appropriate. The cosmic expansiveness of "Clouds Again" and "Tri-Cycle Gliss" from Gong’s Live 25th Birthday Party [Voiceprint/GAS 101CD] was spot on, and so was the massively reverbed Duane Eddy-style "twangy" guitar sound created for Julee Cruise by David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti on Floating Into the Night ’s "Floating" and "Falling" [Warner Bros. 9 25859-2]. Most impressive was the length of the decay; the guitar hung in a huge cushion of air and slooowly diminished to a precisely defined point, always trailing away and never just winking out into the blackness of digital zeroes. Imaging was pleasingly precise without artificial highlighting or compartmentalizing of each voice or instrument into a neat little hermetically sealed box that stands outside the context of the whole.

nless you have a system composed entirely of lean, chilly-sounding components, I find it basically impossible not to recommend the CD5 with the highest degree of enthusiasm. It does nothing less than excellently with any kind of music one might wish to hear and brings with it Audio Research’s 40-year history of standing staunchly behind every component it has ever made and well-deserved reputation for reliability and general excellence.

IPods? Phooey! Computers as a part of my audio system? Bunk! Simple is as simple does, and the CD5 provides simple excellence in every way that is musically meaningful. ‘Nuff said for now, though a follow-up will be coming once I hear my temporarily sidelined reference Lamm M1.2 amplifiers with the Wilson Sasha W/Ps .

© The Audio Beat • Nothing on this site may be reprinted or reused without permission.

Manual Library / Audio Research

Audio Research CD-5

Compact Disc Player (2008-12)

Specifications

Disc format: CD

Frequency response: 1Hz to 20kHz

Signal to Noise Ratio: 114dB

Channel separation: 120dB

Total harmonic distortion: 0.06%

Line output: 2.6V (unbalanced), 5.2V (balanced)

Digital connections: coaxial, AES

Dimensions: 450 x 134 x 311mm

Weight: 11.8kg

Accessories: infrared remote control

Audio Research CD Players

• Create new account
• Request new password

Latest Comments

• Re: Ta-2600
• Re: Ta-4300
• Re: Voxson, Italian Tuner...
• Re: Hk6950r

Gallery Images

Latest Reviews

• Technics Rs-615us
• Yamaha Kx-530
• Sansui Hifi Guide
• Luxman Sq-700x

Design and Content © HiFi Engine 2006-2024

Vinyl Engine | FAQ | Site Policy | Contact

Sign up for our Newsletter

Store hours: 12-5pm Thurs-Sat. Appts available Tues/Wed.

Phone 888.248.ECHO (3246) or 503.223.2292  /  Email [email protected]

5904 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy. Portland OR 97221

Save any hifi search on your hifishark.com profile to easily repeat it and even have an optional mail when new listings are found

Audio research cd

• Connect Visit a matching product below to connect. If your product is not shown, then please contact us .
• Share  Facebook  Twitter
• For Sale  (30)
• Sold/Expired 
•  Filters

Affiliate Disclaimer

Khachaturian: Cello Concerto (CD review)

Meet the Staff

I started listening to and studying classical music in earnest nearly three decades ago. This interest grew naturally out of my training as a pianist. I am now a musicologist by profession, specializing in British and other symphonic music of the 19th and 20th centuries. My scholarly work has been published in major music journals, as well as in other outlets. Current research focuses include twentieth-century symphonic historiography, and the music of Jean Sibelius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Malcolm Arnold.

I am honored to contribute writings to Classical Candor. In an age where the classical recording industry is being subjected to such profound pressures and changes, it is more important than ever for those of us steeped in this cultural tradition to continue to foster its love and exposure. I hope that my readers can find value, no matter how modest, in what I offer here.

Mission Statement

Contact information, "their master's voice" by michael sowa.

Audio Research Reference CD9 SE review

Range-topping cd player with a valve-powered output stage tested at £14,998 / $15,000 / au$24,995.

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

Audio Research’s CD9 SE is a strong high-end choice for those who still love the humble compact disc

Fluid and expressive presentation

Scale and dynamic subtlety

Digital inputs

Finish lacks sophistication

No DSD through digital inputs

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

Is there still a place for a truly high-end CD player this far into the age of streaming? Audio Research certainly seems to thinks so. With its top-loading design, valve-powered output stage and hefty £15k price tag, the Reference CD9 SE is quite some statement.

The original Reference CD9 was introduced back in 2013, and quickly built a solid reputation as one of the best players around. Surprisingly, given the chunk of time that has passed, the move to SE spec is a relatively mild one.

The main changes centre on a redesigned front panel, which now mirrors those on Audio Research’s newest products, and an upgrade to the USB circuitry. Nothing else seems to have been touched, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The original was always considered a cutting edge machine, and the market is a mature one that doesn’t move on in leaps and bounds every year.

Take the Audio Research out of its packaging and you’ll find that it’s a substantial unit. At 13.5cm tall, it’s pretty big and weighs in at a hefty 15kg. You’ll need enough space to be able to load a disc, which in most equipment racks will normally mean placement on the top shelf. You’ll also have to leave plenty of space around the player for ventilation. This thing runs hot.

Frequency response 3Hz to 96kHz

Dynamic range 110dB

Input impedance 75 ohms

Dimensions (hwd) 13.4 x 48 x 39cm

Before initial use, the first course of action is to fit the full complement of valves. Whatever you do, don’t plug the unit into the mains until after this step is complete – there are highly dangerous electric currents flowing through the circuitry.

Remove the top panel – it’s held on by cross-headed screws – and push the valves carefully into place. Both the valves and locations are clearly marked so it’s hard to get it wrong.

The unit should never be transported with the valves fitted. They could move, possibly causing damage in the process. For the tube nerds out there, you’ll find four of the five 6H30s in the output stage with the fifth one working in tandem with a 6550WE in the power supply. Valve life is quoted at a pretty standard 4000 hours for the 6H30s and around 2000 hours for the 6550WE.

Audio Research also makes a model called the CD6 SE . It’s available for a third less money than the CD9 and the difference is that the more affordable machine’s circuitry uses transistors rather than valves. Having heard the similar last generation model, we suspect that it won’t sound as good.

Once we start using the CD9 SE, we’re reminded how nice a top-loading CD player is to operate. It feels a more interactive and charming experience than using something with a conventional CD drawer or slot loader.

Sliding back the aluminium CD door reveals a Philips Pro2R CD transport mechanism, which Audio Research still considers the best dedicated option available. Don’t forget to put the magnetic puck in place after putting the disc on the motor spindle, otherwise all you’ll hear is the screech of polycarbonate on metal as it slips.

This player also has a choice of digital inputs – USB, co-ax, optical and AES/EBU are all on the menu. We’re used to premium DACs handling pretty much every music file format and resolution. Compatibility with 32-bit/384kHz PCM files and multiple-speed DSD is pretty standard at anything above budget level. So, it comes as some surprise that the CD9 doesn’t play that game. Its inputs are limited to 24-bit/192kHz at best, while DSD isn’t even on the menu.

How much this matters is open to debate. Few people will have PCM files beyond the CD9’s capabilities, but we can imagine some purists missing DSD playback. Given the price point, Audio Research has few excuses for excluding it.

We’re not sure there will be many people who buy a player like this and then connect it to an outboard DAC. But, for those that want to, there are digital outs in both BNC (coax) and AES/EBU form.

Moving to analogue, the CD9 SE has the standard pairing of balanced XLR and single-ended RCA. If you have the option, it’s worth trying both to see which one sounds better in your set-up. As long as the rest of your system is up to scratch we suspect the balanced option will win out in most cases. It certainly sounds a touch bolder and clearer in our experience.

There’s no denying that the CD9 SE feels solid and will last. The casework is suitably sturdy and we’ve no complaints about the quality of components used in the circuit. Audio Research products have almost prided themselves on having the look and feel of laboratory equipment and this CD player is no different. If you like to think of your hi-fi as a functional tool, rather than a piece of luxury electronics, you’ll find much to like here.

But, considering the superb standards of finish routinely available at this level, we want better. Would the CD9 SE be less of an Audio Research product if it were finished with the same attention to detail as products from the likes of dCS, Ayre or Burmester? We think not.

We have no such complaints when it comes to sound quality. This is a hugely accomplished performer that sets sky-high standards for one-box spinners.

Of course, you need to have a top class system to truly appreciate its talents. We use Gamut’s D3i/D200i pre/power driving a pair of Audiovector’s R1 Arreté speakers, as well as a Nagra PL-P feeding Audio-Technica’s Kokutan and Grado’s GS1000es headphones. An Apple MacBook Pro loaded with Audirvana music-playing software and Cyrus’s Signature CD transport are on hand to test the digital inputs.

We start by trying the CD9’s various filter and up-sampling options. The filter choice is between ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’ with upsampling either on or off. The decision comes down to system, recording and taste, with our preference swinging between ‘Fast’ with upsampling and ‘Slow’ without. It’s important to recognise that this is never a make-or-break thing, and there isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer.

We play Arvo Part’s Tabula Rasa set and are stunned by the CD9’s ability to render space and scale. It renders a believable acoustic, delivering enough spatial information to make it easy to guess at the size of the recording venue and the musicians’ placement within it.

Stereo imaging is excellent. Instruments are precisely placed and remain focused no matter how complex the piece gets. It’s this stability and control that makes listening to this player so easy. It simply lets the listener concentrate on the music rather than introducing anomalies that ultimately prove fatiguing over the long run.

There’s just so much detail here from the rich, harmonic texture of the instruments to the dynamic nuances that build into the irresistible ebb and flow of the piece. There are players that sound shrill with the strings on this recording, but through the CD9 SE we get all the natural bite without added harshness. This is a wonderfully fluid, refined and natural-sounding performer.

It helps that the tonal balance is nicely judged. The CD9 is just a little sweeter and fuller sounding than the norm. The player’s innate refinement means that it works well across a wide range of recordings. While its high level of transparency means that flaws in recordings will always be obvious, they rarely intrude on our enjoyment.

We switch to Bruce Springsteen’s High Hopes set and the Audio Research continues to impress. There’s plenty of drive and power in tracks such as the reworked The Ghost Of Tom Joad . We’re pleased with the attack of the electric guitars and the way the player drives the song with such enthusiasm. Those expecting a valve-based CD player to sound soft and lush are in for a real shock.

Springsteen’s voice comes through with grit and passion intact. There’s natural warmth here and the kind of dynamic nuance that only the best hi-fi manages to convey.

We try the digital inputs and the results are equally positive. That reworked USB sounds excellent. It gives a full dose of the insight and expression we hear from CD, even if ultimately our laptop isn’t as good a source (even with hi-res files) as the internal disc drive. We’re pleased to report that we don’t notice any great discrepancy between the inputs.

Despite our criticisms of some aspects of finish, there’s no denying that the CD9 SE is an excellent player. If you’re after a one-box solution, we haven’t come across an alternative that works as convincingly.

So, to return to our original question, is there still a place for a truly high-end CD player? If it’s as capable as the CD9 SE then the answer has to be ‘yes’.

Best CD players 2020

Read our Audio Research CD6 review

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.

Read more about how we test

[On the anniversary of the Moscow City Research-and-Practical Center for Tuberculosis Control, Department of Health Care of the city of Moscow]

• PMID: 18062095

Publication types

• Historical Article
• Anniversaries and Special Events
• Catchment Area, Health
• Health Services / history*
• History, 19th Century
• History, 20th Century
• Research / history*
• Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / history*
• Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / prevention & control*

Personal name as subject

• V I Litvinov