[randog]

Does anyone have any comments on the Anthem CD-1 tube cdp?

It was manufactured around '98 with good reviews at that time. How does it hold up to today's standards?

Anyone?

Thanks,
Randog

[David Ellis]

I think it remains extremely good.  There is good reason why these CD players still sell for about $800 used from a company that is out of business.  I think this CD player easily warrants this price on the used market.

I haven't compared it to anything in the hifi realm in the last few years, but I don't think there is anything new/different in CD players over the last few years.

An EE explained that very good amplifier circuits are well regulated, and that a good CD player has 4-5 regulation circuits.  His explanation was quite long, but the need for good regulation seemed well founded.  The CD-1 has this, and very decent quality parts too.   I suppose there might be some new stuff under the hood of some new CD players, but the CD-1 has very solid parts.

One of these parts is the BB2604 op-amp.  It's a di-fet and there are two of them under the hood.  A few guys told me the 2604 opamp is found in some brutally expensive (i.e. $10k+) gear.  I believe the BB2604 or BB2134 remain very good di-fet opamps.  I looked at this about 2 years ago.  It seemed like there was another company possibly offering a better di-fet, but the specs weren't that different/better.

One thing that has changed siginificantly is the quality of capacitors.  15 years ago the Solen was IT.  This isn't true anymore.  The Sonicap and Auricap offer slightly better dynamics, and much less noise.  Replacing the Solen coupling capacitors in the CD-1 with a better capacitor makes a very significant improvement.  I tried both the Auricap an Sonicap.  The were equal, but slightly different.  Since the sonicap is cheaper, that's what I use.

Hopefully my remarks are helpful.

Dave

[randog]

As always, Dave, extremely helpful.

I have a line on one where my offer of $650 was accepted. It sounds like I should jump on it.  

I was looking for something that would mate well with my 1801's and was thinking that a tubed player might help take the edge off of some less-than-ideal recordings.

I'll contact you down the road if it's ok - to talk about the mods you suggest.

Best regards,
Randy

[David Ellis]

Well,

$650 is a very good price for these - I think.  

However, don't expect the "fat" sound normally associated with tubes to accompany this CD player.  The CD player is simply very good.  It's clean, dynamic, and adds little/no character to the CDs.  This is strictly my opinion.  

There is much more to a CD player or preamp than the inclusion/exclusion of tubes.  I think probably the most important issue is power supply regulation to the various areas of the component.   Good clean power is paramaount to good sound.  

Herein my limitation arrive.  I can identify such circuits from a schematic but cannot design them.  This is waaaaay beyond my level of ability.  I do trust that Glen Dolick did a most exellent job on the CD-1 when at Sonic Frontiers.  

Hmmm, I suppose my conviction in this matter would be thus:  If I were to spend $2k on a CD player again, I'd buy a used Anthem CD-1.  If I could spent $3k... I might go shopping, but I'd likely buy another used Anthem CD-1.  If I could spend more than $3k on a CD player...    Spending $3k+ on a CD player is just nuts