Specifications

©DAGOGO 2010 – special reprint by permission. Page 17
the greatest improvement in terms of increasing quality over any other step up in players I used.
It is clearly the best of the Ayon players as well. One might suggest that it had better be far
superior at the price point. Don’t doubt, it is… by a long shot. In fact, thinking back to all the
sources I have heard and elevation of performance between sibling players, this may be the
largest disparity in absolute performance I have encountered.
Back To The System Drawing Board?
The CD-5 is the kind of player which makes one rethink sources. I mean really rethink them, as
in, “Why have I always spent such an insane amount on speakers when a source can make this
much of a difference?” To that end, I can’t believe I’m saying this, I wouldn’t have dreamed of
suggesting it years ago: overweighting spending on speakers may not be the absolute best means
to achieve one’s dream of a no-holds-barred system. I can see working with the CD-5 and a
budget of an additional $25-30K to arrive at a rig which would rival a fair number of $100K rigs
at this past CES. So good is the quality of the CD-5’s sound that it’s the only Redbook player
I’ve used that I could confidently suggest one purchase first, then assemble the rest of the rig
around it. Like I said, this year several rooms at CES and T.H.E. show used the CD-2. Next year,
if they’re smart they’ll use the CD-5! I know of at least four or five rooms which I left thinking,
“If they had used the CD-5 they would have sounded waaaay better.”
Superlative Streaming
I have not entered yet into the realm of USB connected sources for high-end listening; however,
I have been using Sonos Digital Music System, which I link to my CD player or DAC through a
coaxial digital cable. For this review I relied upon Wireworld’s Gold Starlight 6. I have yet to
hear the Sonos sound the equal of my Redbook source, though it can come close.
To give a sense of how good streaming audio can sound through the CD-5, even though I no
longer have the CD-2, I would liken the sound of it to the CD-2. In fact, the performance of the
CD-5’s DAC section is so strong that with upsampling of the Sonos’ signal, the resultant sound
may be better than the CD-2’s Redbook performance! I admit I’m going on memory, but in use
of the player the past pattern holds, meaning streaming audio input into Ayon players sound
surprisingly close to their Redbook sound, so good is the processing.
Just prior to the arrival of the CD-5, I was giving serious consideration to a modification of the
Sonos unit. The itch to do so has largely been scratched due to the upsampling by the Ayon.
Zipping through a playlist I created to assess the quality of streaming audio in a rig I was finally
satisfied enough with the sound quality to begin using it as a source for reviewing. Up until this
point, I have refrained from using streaming music or Sonos as a tool for reporting on equipment
as it has not been up to my standard. Now, with the sound quality better than the majority of
Redbook players on the market, it is suitable. It should speak volumes when an economical