Piano M1 may be best value on the planet.

tabrink · « **on:** 28 Aug 2010, 03:27 am »

The Piano M1 is a freakin' ridiculously good CD-player which rivals players 10 times its fighting weight. Spent some time with my Piano this week. And this puppy is a winner.
The sound is sooo robust! Pumped up and bouncing off your chest!
I spent a fortune trying to get my Imac to equal the Piano and it ain't happening..
I was this close to being a hard drive guy but the Piano has made me bring the cds back to my listening room.

Mariusz · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 04:45 am »

X2 - great CD player

eclein · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 06:33 am »

Mine is coming early next week and is the same color scheme as this Sensation.(I am so pumped!!)..

PSB Guy · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Aug 2010, 02:09 pm »

Quote from: tabrink on 28 Aug 2010, 03:27 am

The Piano M1 is a freakin' ridiculously good CD-player which rivals players 10 times its fighting weight. Spent some time with my Piano this week. And this puppy is a winner.
The sound is sooo robust! Pumped up and bouncing off your chest!
I spent a fortune trying to get my Imac to equal the Piano and it ain't happening..
I was this close to being a hard drive guy but the Piano has made me bring the cds back to my listening room.

One more fan of the Piano here

. My downstairs M901/Piano rig has replaced my Virtue One/PC rig as the main go-to. It's fun spinning the CDs again, I forgot how great they could sound.

Cornelis

tabrink · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 05:21 am »

Hey whoa! You can spend a fortune on USB cables, modded squeezeboxes, 5 figure DACs, $449 power supplies or just buy one of Seth's Pianos and revive those redbooks!
Makes him look really smart doesn't it, Next thing you know he will get this ego thing going on!.
Melissa reel him in!

marvda1 · « **Reply #5 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 05:29 am »

I fell in love with it first!

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 06:20 am »

Quote from: tabrink on 28 Aug 2010, 03:27 am

The Piano M1 is a freakin' ridiculously good CD-player...

Aren't you using an EE DAC with it? If so, how does it sound in comparison without the DAC? I nearly bought a Piano but the long delay between loading a disc and it being ready to play was a deal breaker for me, so I bought a Cambridge Sonata with a Beresford 7520 instead. Now contemplating the EE but the Beresford needs at least another 75 hours or so to break in.

marvda1 · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 01:13 pm »

wind chaser, what was the long delay in reading the disc? the only long delay is when you first turn the unit on with the power button as the circuits warm. after it's on, mine is ready to play when you insert new discs in no more than 3 seconds and it's allways ready to play by the time i get back to my seat which is only 9ft. away.

OzarkTom · « **Reply #8 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 01:40 pm »

Quote from: marvda1 on 29 Aug 2010, 01:13 pm

wind chaser, what was the long delay in reading the disc? the only long delay is when you first turn the unit on with the power button as the circuits warm. after it's on, mine is ready to play when you insert new discs in no more than 3 seconds and it's allways ready to play by the time i get back to my seat which is only 9ft. away.

Yep, I will vouch for what marvda1 says about that wind chaser, only about 3 seconds.

S Clark · « **Reply #9 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 02:59 pm »

Mine came in yesterday so I will reserve judgement until it has burned it for a few days. Right out of the box, it is clean with good bass, but there are some things that my old Cambridge 640c w/ Monica dac do better. It will interesting to see where the Piano is after burn in. I have high hopes for increased detail and imaging. Oh yeah, it is definitely faster loading than the Cambridge.

wsturner · « **Reply #10 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 04:42 pm »

I got tired of trying to maintain a huge CD collection. I now rip everything to lossless (flac) files, and stream through Squeezebox.

I wonder how this compares to just plopping a CD into the Piano?

Scott

eclein · « **Reply #11 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 04:54 pm »

Quote from: wsturner on 29 Aug 2010, 04:42 pm

I got tired of trying to maintain a huge CD collection. I now rip everything to lossless (flac) files, and stream through Squeezebox.

I wonder how this compares to just plopping a CD into the Piano?

Scott

I'll let you know when I get mine, right now I play wav files via SB Duet and use a PS3 as transport via toslink to my DAC for CD's. I wanted to hear a great quality CD player with its own DAC instead of wearing out my PS3. I'm stoked to receive mine....

PSB Guy · « **Reply #12 on:** 29 Aug 2010, 05:28 pm »

Quote from: wsturner on 29 Aug 2010, 04:42 pm

I got tired of trying to maintain a huge CD collection. I now rip everything to lossless (flac) files, and stream through Squeezebox.

I wonder how this compares to just plopping a CD into the Piano?

Scott

I also have all my CDs (700+) ripped uncompressed (AIFF) which I play through a Valab NOS DAC -> Virtue One in my office system. The sound is very similar to what I get with the Piano, which uses the same DAC chip as the Valab. I use the same speakers (PSB Image B5) and a similar amp (Sensation M901) in my living room system. Even with the differences between the two systems, mainly room size, speaker placement and subwoofer, they have much the same sonic signature.

Cornelis

eclein · « **Reply #13 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 12:04 am »

I have a stack of CD's all ready.....

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 12:14 am »

Quote from: marvda1 on 29 Aug 2010, 01:13 pm

wind chaser, what was the long delay in reading the disc? the only long delay is when you first turn the unit on with the power button as the circuits warm. after it's on, mine is ready to play when you insert new discs in no more than 3 seconds and it's allways ready to play by the time i get back to my seat which is only 9ft. away.

I read about it in a couple of places... the following quote is from TNT...

I gave the M1 a few days to burn in, leaving it running on repeat to clock up around 80 hours before I actually listened to it seriously. The M1 does take a while between closing the CD drawer and being ready to play. At first I thought that there may be something wrong with the CD that I put in but it was the same with all of them. It took in the region of 5-15 seconds (depending on the CD) before the display came up and the music could be started. Given that you don't put CD's in for every track, this wasn't too much of a problem, although it did remind me why I love my Logitech Squeezebox so much!

Here's a link to the full review...

neyloj2 · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 12:17 am »

So is this a transport, do you still need a dac?. I also read a review about a 5 to 15 second delay from closing door to music playing.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 12:22 am »

I wanted something with a small footprint so the Piano would have been perfect, but...

srb · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 12:26 am »

Quote from: eclein on 30 Aug 2010, 12:04 am

I have a stack of CD's all ready.....

Are you really ready? Have you .....

1. Trued the edges and cut a 38° bevel with an audiophile CD trimmer?

2. Coated the edges with an audiophile CD edge marker?

3. Applied audiophile CD cleaner-protectant to the discs surface?

4. Treated the discs with an audiophile electromagnetic clarifier (preferably quad-beam)?

Steve

eclein · « **Reply #18 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 12:31 am »

Steve-I only got the triple beam...damn!!! I knew I shoulda got the quad...

marvda1 · « **Reply #19 on:** 30 Aug 2010, 12:35 am »

don't know where he got 5 to 15 seconds to play a disc. as i said only on the initial startup does it take a while before the info is displayed, after that about 3 seconds. ask any m1 owner or get in on the tour and time it yourself. i don't count the time while the tray is closing unless it just sits there and looks at me before it starts to move. i haven't read anywhere that a piano m1 owner was complaining about the time it takes to read a disc. read my review athttp://www.stereomojo.com/Virtue%20Audio%20PianoM1%20Cd%20Player/VirtueAudioPianoCDPlayer.htm