greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (12/20/84)
Enough people displayed an interest in having a synopsis of this review to make it worth posting, even though several of the models are not immediately available on the U.S. market. The German "Audio" reviews consist of several pages of text with commentary on the price, construction, and sound of the equipment, followed by a table of features with some evaluation of the level of performance for each, and a final tabularized subjective "bottom line" they call the "Audiogram". I have translated a brief synopsis of the text, and the two tables. The models compared are: Blaupunkt CP-2820 Meridian MCD (based on Philips CD-101) Philips CD-304 Technics SL-P1 The 'reference' model against which comparisons were done was: Denon DCD-1800 Paroli The Philips is a new "flagship" model which represents the current state of the art of their product line. The Meridian is essentially a Philips CD-101 which has been heavily modified internally, with resistors and capacitors replaced and other mods done to improve error correction and mechanical isolation of the drive mechanism. The Technics was a new model on the European market and the Blaupunkt was this company's first endeavour into the field of CD players. For mechanical stability, ruggedness and quality of construction, and special features, the Philips CD-304 was rated a clear first. This was also the largest and heaviest of the machines, the draw contianing the disk-drive mechanism being called a "millstone". The Technics player was found excellent in the basic laser tracking and error correction, but was easily subject to problems caused by external vibration, due to a comparatively light housing and mechanism. The Blaupunkt was found the worst in this regard, being wobbly and unstable. "Under the hood" examination showed a wealth of high-quality, expensive components in both the Philips and Meridian players, whereas the Technics and Blaupunkt relied heavily on space-saving IC's. The Meridian was the most "bare- boned" machine in terms of features: five rectangular buttons (play, pause, start, fast-forward, fast-rewind) and four tiny buttons for program/repeat functions. There is no elapsed time display, making the search for a particular passage tedious. The Technics had, in contrast, a nifty direct indexing feature, the index being typed in via a small numeric keypad. The Philips added full remote control. All players were found to be at least acceptably quiet in terms of operation noises. The Blaupunkt was the only one whose error- correction mechanism could be reduced to producing audible clicks. The Meridian was by far the slowest in operation. The associated equipment used for listening tests was: Accuphase C-280 Pre-amp Backes & Mueller BM 20 Active (self-amplified) Speakers (These run approx. $8000/pair) Among the CD's used for comparative purposes were: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Denon) Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastque (Telarc) Handel: Water Music (L'Oiseau-Lyre) Audio-Test-CD (heavy on jazz, lots of transient-containing passages) The Blaupunkt player was the least distinguished in terms of sound. There was an overall hardness and "metallic" quality to the sound, with little depth or perspective. Instrumental groupings were all in a flat plain. Somewhat better was the Technics, which was found superior in overall clarity, which was also found to be edgy and "frosty" sounding in the upper octaves. The difference was primarily noticeable on classical recordings which contained significant localization and spatial differentiation - on most pop and rock music there was little or any difference noticed between this and the 'reference' Denon player. The differences in sound between the Philips, Meridian, and the reference Denon were found to be real but of an extremely subtle nature and noticeable only on the most critical musical material. In characterizing these differences, the listening panel found the Denon sounded "cooler", but reproduced more of the soaring quality of bright female voices, as well as giving high strings more of a glow. The Philips was "warmer" and more flattering, piano passages sounding more "airy" and delicate. The British Meridian machine gave a slightly "fuller" sound, reproducing the opulence and "bloom" on individual voices and solo passages better, giving massed, complex orchestral sections a more homogenous sound. Of the three players, Denon, Philips, and Meridian, the listening panel decided an out-and-out ranking was impossible, the differences being subtle and dependent on personal taste. The Philips achieved a somewhat higher overall rating than the Meridian primarily because, being so close in sound, it had far more features for a somewhat lower asking price. Feature Table Manufacturer Blaupunkt Meridian Philips Technics Model CP-2820 MCD CD-304 SL-P1 Price (Marks) DM 1500 DM 1850 DM 1600 DM 1300 Guarantee 12 month 24 month 6 month 6 month Size (mm) 435x83x280 320x80x264 420x90x300 430x82x334 Operating modes: ================ Fast-forward/rew acceptable acceptable acceptable acceptable Speeds 3 1 3 2 Monitoring acceptable n.a. n.a. acceptable Title Search: forwards n.a. acceptable acceptable acceptable backwards n.a. n.a. acceptable n.a. Programming =========== titles 16 15 20 15 title repeat n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. disk repeat acceptable acceptable acceptable acceptable program repeat acceptable acceptable acceptable acceptable direct search: by title acceptable n.a. n.a. acceptable stepwise n.a. acceptable acceptable n.a. Display: ======== title number acceptable acceptable acceptable acceptable index acceptable n.a. acceptable acceptable playing time: current title acceptable n.a. acceptable acceptable disk n.a. n.a. acceptable n.a. countdown acceptable n.a. acceptable acceptable number of titles acceptable acceptable acceptable acceptable program overview n.a. acceptable acceptable acceptable Access times (seconds): ("Symphonie Fantastique" disk) ============ 0.-1. Title 4 5 3 3 1.-2. Title 5 7 4 5 1.-5. Title 5 13 5 6 Miscellaneous ============= Operation noise low adequate low low remote control n.a. n.a. acceptable n.a. output level control acceptable n.a. acceptable n.a. headphone level control acceptable n.a. acceptable n.a. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Audiogram (Final Evaluation) Model Blaupunkt Meridian Philips Technics CP-2820 MCD CD-304 SL-P1 Overall (max 5"*") * *** **** ** Sound average exceptional exceptional above average Tracking outstanding very good very good very good Features above adequate outstanding above average average Handling above adequate above above (user-friendly) average average average Construction adequate above outstanding above average average Price/Value average above outstanding above relationship average average