Arcam CD 72

The first time I listened to my cd72T it was clearly a step up in sound quality compared to my Nad c521 bee,which is quite rare when comparing similary priced cd players.The cd72T may cost twice as much as the nad but as other hifi enthusiasts will tell you, that doesnt always mean there will be a night and day difference between the components in terms of sound reproduction.An example of this is a freind of mine who upgraded from a cd72T to a cd92T at twice the cost and was less than impressed with the difference in sound.When upgrading a hifi component,the results can sometimes be a little dissapointing but i guarantee you if your looking to upgrade from a sub £200 cd player and choose the cd72T you will be astonished at the difference.The Arcam cd player has a great all round sound and handles all musical genre's well, even compressed tracks downloaded from the internet sound excellent. The Arcam has no major weak area's but its real strengths are its clarity,midrange transparency and the amount of detail it will retrieve.The fact it has an analogue like quality to the sound is very impressive and instantly makes the digital harshness of other players all too obvious.The only slightly negative thing i can say about the Arcam's sound is that it is a little laid back and doesnt quite give you the urge to get up and dance when listening to house,techno tracks,not that i dance round the living room or anything,but i'm sure you see what i'm trying to say. The build quality is good and the unit has both optical and coaxial digital outputs.The remote control is very attractive and well laid out which is rare,even exoticaly expensive cd players usually have ugly cheap looking remotes.The only niggle i have with the player's appearence is the gap between the top of the cd drawer and the rest of the casing, I guess this has something to do with the fact Arcam offer's an option to upgrade to a higher spec, cd92T etc.You cant buy the cd72T new anymore as Arcam have released its update the cd73T.If your looking for a cd player in the £150-£200 range and dont mind buying second hand, then i strongly suggest you go and get yourself a cd72T off ebay, you wont be disapointed!

For those that are interested here is a list of the equipment i use with my Arcam cd72T.

Arcam a75 (amplifier)
Monitor Audio S1(speakers)
Van Den Hul "The name"(interconnect)
Q.E.D "Silver anniversary"(speaker cable)

If any one is interested in what other cd players i haved owned here is a list

Nad C521 Bee
Cambridge audio D100
Sony CDP-790
Sony CDP-XE310
Various other budget cdp's from Kenwood,Technics,Goodmans,eclipse